Friday

Just over an hour:

30 minutes: Allegro Assai - up to 48bpm

15 minutes: Kabalevsky first 8 bars @ 40bpm

15 minutes: Grade 2 Sight reading ex 11-20, F, C, G, D, A, E, B major scales.

Thursday

I'm getting back into the swing of things now. I've had a busy few days but I'm starting to get to the end of my 'to do' list and enjoy my time off.

Today:

30 minutes: Allegro Assai - 40-46 bpm (lots of times thorough the whole piece)

15 minutes: starting to look at a second Grade 4 piece by Kabalevsky

15 minutes: Grade 2 sight reading examples 1-10 & F, C, G, D, E and B major scales

Exhausted

A lot of heavy stuff happened yesterday so although it was my day off I didn't get much practice done. I did spend about twenty minutes sketching through to the end of the Allegro Assai.

Today I did about an hour:

Sight Reading ex 40-50
Scales
Allegro Assai - concentrating on page two
Running through the Grade 3 material

I can't wait until next Tuesday - although I have a lot of stuff to organise and sort out I think the Christmas break will mean an increase in piano-time.

Five Tempo Method

I keep referring to this so I thought I'd better explain it. The following is cut and pasted from a handout I give to my drum students:

The Five Tempo Method

Speed – The Final Frontier!

Most musicians have at some stage wanted to be able to play a particular pattern or piece faster. The usual advice regarding this is to start slowly and gradually work the patterns up to speed. The Five Tempo Method is a way of doing just that in an organised, methodical way.

In order to practise a pattern or piece using the Five Tempo Method you need a metronome and a note of the traditional metronome markings. These are:

40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 63, 66, 69, 72, 76, 80, 84, 88, 92, 96,100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 152, 160, 168, 176, 184, 192, 200, 208

At the slower tempos the difference between the markings is small. The difference increases as you move into the faster tempos.

If you have a particular pattern or piece you want to work up to speed you first need to find a tempo that allows you to play the piece/pattern with ease. Practise the pattern/piece through at that tempo and then repeat the whole thing at the next four tempos. The aim is to play the entire exercise at five tempos. The next time you work on this pattern/piece your starting point is one tempo faster than your previous starting point.

Example:
Day 1 - 60, 63, 66, 69, 72
Day2 - 63, 66, 69, 72, 76
Day 3 – 66, 69, 72, 76, 80

Try to be patient when you reach your top speed. Keep working up to your top speed on a daily basis and eventually you will get beyond it. Remember to remain relaxed (physically and mentally) and enjoy the process, not just the result.

This method works particularly well when applied to whole pieces. If you are practising a short phrase or lick try repeating the pattern 16 or 20 times at each speed.
Give it a try – it always works for me!

Tuesday

15 minutes: Grade 1 Sight Reading exercises 41-50 & F, C, G, D, A, E, B Major Scales (at 40bpm)

15 minutes Allegro Assai bar 1-40 at 40bpm

30 minutes reviewing Grade 3 pieces

Study in F (52-60bpm)

Bach (92-108bpm)

Top Cat! (76-92bpm)

I'm using the five tempo method to work the Grade 3 pieces up to the marked tempos. I will make a new post explaining it as I keep referring to it here!

I could concentrate better today. I'm still exhausted but there were fewer distractions tonight...

Change of Scenery...

I'm staying with family for a bit so I brought my piano with me (!)

I'm a little tired today so found it a bit tricky to concentrate.

15 minutes - Allegro Assai

15 minutes - Study in F

15 minutes - Top Cat/Bach piece

15 minutes - scales/sight reading F, C, G, D, A, E, B major scales and Grade One sight reading exercises 31-40

Sunday Morning

Started the day with 10 minutes scales:

F, C, G, D, A, E major - 2 octaves ascending and descending with both hands together. I start at F and run round part of the cycle of fifths playing each scale once, then moving on. This is so that I have to actually engage my brain every few seconds instead of switching off and playing the scales 'mechanically.'

So far I'm doing this at 40 bpm. Once I'm comfortable in all major keys I'll work up to tempo using the Five Tempo Method.

I also spent 10 minutes running through Grade One sight reading exercises 21-30.

Last night I dug out some of my old Grade 1 and 2 pieces. Some of them I could play without any problems but some took a bit of work. I may make a habit of regularly revisiting old pieces to keep them up to scratch.

I'm off to get the paper and eat breakfast. More later!

30 minutes playing through the first 32 bars of the Allegro Assai at a snails pace - 30 bpm

I'm back

Had houseguests (again) for a couple of days so practice time has been practically nonexistant.

They left this afternoon so I've just managed 30 minutes working on the Grade 4 Allegro Assai. I spent about 15 minutes working through bars 17-32 and 15 minutes playing from the start to bar 32. This was at 30bpm and 40 bpm.

15 minutes scales (C, G, D, A, F majors) and Grade One sight reading exercises 11-20.

25 minutes running through the three Grade 1 pieces.

Thursday

No time for piano today.

I managed an hour of drums, soloing at various tempos.

Teaching all day then three private lessons, spent half an hour with my car trapped in some ice on a steep hill (nice) then went to my Dad's for a chat.

Back into the swing of things tomorrow I hope...

Getting better

Although my cold is at its worst so far I have been in a better frame of mind today. I went for a walk to pay some money into the bank (a good thing in itself.) I took my headphones and listened to Smokin in The Pit while I walked. It sounded like the best music I had ever heard and put a big smile on my face. I also saw one of my favourite people on my way to the bank - the ubiquitous Gap Tooth Smiler!

Gap Tooth Smiler is a chap who I would guess is in his seventies. Whenever I go for a walk this year I always seem to end up seeing him. He is always smiling and looking happy, wearing his hat and more often than not enjoying a cheeky ice cream. Hopefully I will be as active and cheerful as him if I make it to that age!

Shortly after I got home the postman came and delivered the latest issue of Modern Drummer - always the happiest day of my month :)

I'm meeting a friend for a curry tonight. He used to share a house with my brother when they were both medical students in Leeds. We used to play music together from time to time and he's staying in the area every Wednesday at the moment. The plan is to have a nice curry and then possibly call in at a jam session. I'm looking forward to it.

A new month, a new Grade and a new piece

I got the Grade 4 books yesterday and started working on the first piece - Allegro assai from the Third movement from Sonata in G by G.Benda.

This morning I spent half an hour working on the first 16 bars at 40bpm. This came together fairly well.

I have neglected my scales and sight reading a little so I intend to build those into my daily routine. In theory I should be comfortable playing the major scale (over two octaves with both hands together) in all keys by now...

I also need to keep working on my sight reading and I really need to break the habit of looking at my hands so much.

Despite these observations I am very happy to be looking at Grade Four material as I enter my fourth month of piano study. The piano playing has helped me in many ways, both musically and otherwise.

I intend to update my blog later on after a bit more practice, however the 'x' and 'w' keys on my laptop are now both playing up so writing is becoming increasingly frustrating!

Update:

10 minutes Grade 1 sight reading ex 1-10
10 minutes scales - C major, G major, D major, A major - I need to start with F major next time.
25 minutes running the three Grade 3 pieces. Bach at 100bpm, Top Cat up to 80 bpm and Study in F up to 54 bpm

Tuesday

1 hour drums: 3,3,2 licks at 138-160

Piano:

30 minutes looking at the first 8 bars of the first Grade 4 piece at a very slow tempo (30bpm.)

20 minutes running through the Study in F (40-54bpm) Top Cat (63-76bpm) and Bach (100bpm several times)

I'm still not well :( my heartbeat is racing and my mind is elsewhere... time for some red wine and relaxation. Luckily tomorrow is Lazy Wednesday!

Monday

45 minutes Study in F 40-54bpm

15 minutes Top Cat from 60 up to 138 just to see how fast it is eventually meant to be played.

15 minutes Bach 80-100bpm with extra focus on articulation.

15 minutes scales.

30 minutes drum practice. 3/3/2 ideas from 126-152.

Sunday

Its been a very strange week and I've been feeling a bit unwell (in more ways than one) so I'm going to try and keep this short.

After staying in Wylam last night I came back and did about an hour of piano:

15 minutes Study in F at crotchet=40 I'm going to start working this up to speed now

15 minutes Top Cat at 5 tempos from 60-72bpm

15 minutes Bach working from 100bpm all the way up to the marked tempo of 138 as an experiment. 138bpm was rather scrappy so I decided to run the piece at 80bpm making sure I included all of the details (dynamics, articulation etc) which were lacking at the quicker tempos.

15 minutes scales and arpeggios.

Looking over my previous posts I see that it is about a month since I started the Grade 3 pieces - I may try to get the Grade 4 book this week as a new challenge/motivational tool.

I'm trying to keep the blog centred around music, piano and drums rather than "stuff" but its been a very tough week in a year of very tough weeks and I'm having a bit of a hard time staying positive right now. Hopefully I'll sort myself out.

Update: 15 minutes more playing the Study in F from 40bpm up to 50bpm

Saturday (2nd Edition)

After my loooong sleep I went to the piano in my p-jays and hoodie this morning with a mug of tea.

I spent 30 minutes on the Study in F. I started off by working through the tricky part (bars 9-12) over and over. I started off without the metronome and then started to play the section in tempo working gradually up to 40 bpm. Once I had done this I tried the whole piece through a few times at crotchet=40. I'm now almost ready to start working the piece up to speed.

This piece has been a challenge but I also feel it has really helped me to improve. I have had to really read the music rather than memorise the piece through extensive repetition. It is quite an expressive piece when the dynamics are observed. I also feel it is helping me to develop my touch and the balance between the two hands.

After my breakfast/coffee/reading the Guardian routine I sat down and ran through the whole piece at crotchet=40 for another 15 minutes.

This afternoon:

10 minutes - Top Cat at 60bpm trying to look at the music and not my hands.

10 minutes Bach at 80bpm as above

I finished up with a quick run through the Study in F... it was better this morning!

Confession Time!

I can't believe I'm going to admit this but I grabbed a Christmas CD on my way to the car this morning - Diana Krall's Christmas Songs. I bought this last year and its actually a great CD. A fantastic band playing some really great arrangements of Christmas tunes. It is a very controlled sounding band throughout and really swings. Some of the arrangements remind me of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band, others remind me of Ellington - terrific stuff! I do miss regularly playing in a big band for many many reasons... maybe I'll find myself back in that situation at some stage. I hope so - its a wonderful thing.

Today I spent 30 minutes of drum practice time just improvising with no set structure or tempo. Some interesting stuff came out and made me wish I had a set at home so I could just sit down and do this more often. I played a couple of things that made me think of Dave DiCenso's Modern Drummer Festival performance... (except I didn't sound anywhere near as good as Dave) I really need to check out that DVD/Dave's MD interview/my notes from my lesson with DiCenso again!

This evening I hit the piano:

20 minutes playing the second half of Study in F without a metronome. This was much more successful than my attempt the other day.

I then spent another 40 minutes on the Study in F, eventually trying the whole thing through at crotchet=40. I need to spend a little more time working on bars 9-12 before I can realistically start working the piece up to speed.

I also had a couple of quick runs through Top Cat and the Bach piece to keep them fresh in my mind.

I've been leafing through some more of John Novello's book The Contemporary Keyboardist today. It has a LOT of good information and ideas in it (probably too much for a bone head like me.)

Tonight is my first Friday night in for a while so I'm off to cook Kung Pao Chicken, drink beer, watch a movie and then probably have some cheeky red wine and mexican cheese :)

Tomorrow I go to my Dad's in Wylam. It'll be good to hang out with Adie, Dipsy and the folks again - its been a while since the gang was all back together!

Tired!

Its been a tough week. I haven't been sleeping too well and I'm exhausted and need an early night!

I managed a paltry 30 minutes of drum practice today. I was working through the Jack DeJohnette/Gadd/Elvin licks from the Drum Legacy package working from crotchet=126 up to 152. I played each idea over and over (at least 20 repetitions at each tempo) and then I started to mix and match the different ideas, playing with orchestration etc. Eventually I started to improvise more freely, working those licks into my solo to practice getting in and out of the different ideas. I felt pretty positive about this today.

After a long day at work I got to the piano:

15 minutes wrestling with the Study in F. I ran through the first 8 bars a few times and then tried to start into the next section. This proved a little too tricky for me so I played through to the end of the piece a number of times with the hands separately.

15 minutes Top Cat at 60 bpm lots of times. This piece is getting better slowly but surely. There are fewer mistakes now and I'm starting to focus on some of the details of note lengths and articulation.

15 minutes Bach piece at five tempos from 88-104. I intend to elaborate on the 5 tempos method in a later blog but right now I'm tired and there's a glass of red wine with my name on it!

Work/Life Balance

I'm really glad that I have limited my teaching hours since the Summer. Having gone through some tough times and been ill for a while I decided to ease myself back into the new term by having Wednesdays off. I enjoyed this so much that I've stuck with it even when my new students all started. It means I work four busy days instead of five so I'm only a few hours down each week.

This is all part of an attempt to simplify my life and enjoy things more... it works most of the time. Although a reduction in work has some financial implications I have actually found that my life is substantially better with more time and less money (although funnily enough several things have worked in my favour financially in the last couple of months so maybe its a win/win situation after all)

Wednesday is usually a day for catching up with emails/paperwork/phone calls/planning etc so I try and get all that stuff out of the way early in order to enjoy my day off and PRACTISE!

Today:

1 Hour 45

15 minutes Study in F - concentrating on the first four bars, trying to get a nice balance between the hands, work out fingerings and 'program' the notes into my hands through repetition.

15 minutes Study in F - bars 5-8 slowly, then in tempo at crotchet=40. By the end of the 15 minutes I was playing through bars 1-8 at crotchet=40

15 minutes Study in F - Bars 1-8 at 40 bpm

Another 15 minutes Study in F

15 minutes - Top Cat at 60bpm

15 minutes Bach from 84-104 bpm

15 minutes playing through some of the stuff in the next chapter of the Jazz Piano Book

Merrily We Troll Along

Today was a long hard day at work but I've managed some piano practice this evening:

15 minutes: Wrestling my way through the first eight bars of Study in F at crotchet=40. I've been doing some work on this with the hands separately in order to work out some fingerings. I also ran through the right hand part for the whole piece so that I could get the melody in my head (I guess this is the piano equivalent of flicking to the last page of a paperback to see whodunit.)

15 minutes running through Top Cat at crotchet=60. There are still some errors in this but not always in the same places. The piece is starting to sound better now and I'm trying to pay more attention to details of articulation, dynamics and fingering and as a result spending more time looking at the written music and less time staring at my hands - a good thing!

15 minutes running through the Bach piece at six tempos (80, 84, 88, 92, 96, 100) As with Top Cat I tried to focus on the articulation and not look at my hands so much. This is a little trickier in the Bach piece as there are more stretches involved in both hands.

Back in the swing of things...

I managed a proper day of practice today:

15 minutes: Running through Top Cat... warts and all!

30 minutes: Making a start on my third Grade 3 piece - Carl Albert Loeschhorn's Study in F.
I worked through the first six bars at crotchet=40

15 minutes: Running through the Bach piece at five tempos (76, 80, 84, 88, 92)

15 minutes more on the Study in F

15 minutes: Comping practice using the three note voicings to play Satin Doll and Tune Up

It has been a slightly odd and emotional week in some ways. I'm eventually starting to learn that although I have no control over the actions/words/thoughts of other people I can learn to control my responses to them. I'm trying to learn to 'let go' of things that people do and say and not get caught up in non-productive mind games. Easier said than done but certainly the key to a happier existence (Musically and otherwise.)

Pretentious nonsense? Quite possibly but its my blog and I'll cry if I want to!

Day of rest.

I finished my run of shows last night. After tearing down and packing my drums in the car I stopped for a drink and a chat before heading home for red wine and cheese :)

I slept VERY late today and had to go into town for a couple of things but managed to get about 45 minutes of piano practice in this afternoon. I am working through Top Cat at 60 bpm and almost getting through the piece without stopping. Hopefully my practice will be a bit more back to normal this week now that I'm done with the show.

I have yet another day off tomorrow so hopefully I'll some serious work done then.

Relaxed day - 90 minutes

This week I have been dealing with house-guests, birthday fry-ups, brothers returning from the USA, rehearsals and a week of shows so practice time has been difficult to fit in. Today however was a day off so I managed about 90 minutes.

I spent 30 minutes working on my second Grade 3 piece (Top Cat!) trying to sketch all the way through it at 60 bpm. There are some challenging things in this arrangement but it seems to be taking shape fairly quickly so far.

I spent 15 minutes on the Bach piece playing a traditional metronome markings 60, 63, 66, 69, 72, 76, 80, 84 and 88.

I spent 15 minutes using the Mark Levine 3 note voicings to work through Tune Up at a very modest 80 bpm.

I then spent about 30 minutes this afternoon using the same voicings idea to work through Satin Doll. I feel like I'm making progress with my chord symbol interpretation/voicings.

I had a relaxed day today. Plenty of Dave-Time! I had a long walk along the beach in the afternoon and I feel very refreshed and ready for tonight's show :)

Saturday

3 Note voicings:

15 minutes A section of Just Friends

15 minutes B section & then the whole piece

15 minutes Bach at traditional metronome markings - 80, 84, 88, 92, 96, 100, then quite a few times through at 100bpm. I'll try and work this up to speed using the 5 tempos approach.

15 minutes Just Friends all through.

I intend to work my way through a few more standards using the 3 note voicings approach.

More Philly

Listened to Sonny Rollins' Newk's Time and Miles Davis' Round About Midnight today. I'm living in the land of Philly Joe Jones and loving it!

I only managed half an hour of drums today. I was working on the Drum Legacy Two Bass Hit licks. Singing a standard (Bye Bye Blackbird) I played a chorus of time, A few choruses trading fours using the written examples from the Drum Legacy book, A chorus trading fours improvising in the style of Philly and then a chorus of drum solo in the style of Philly. I played at four tempos from 176-200.

I played a big band gig this evening with an early finish so I was back in home in time to do half an hour of piano - a quick run through all my pieces.

Just Friends

This morning I did an hour:

15 minutes Bach at 60 bpm
15 minutes Mintzer at 80bpm. This is starting to develop more of a swing feel now - especially in the left hand walking bass line.
30 minutes 2-5-1 with the two different voicings

This afternoon I spent about an hour using the 3 note voicings idea to work through the standard "Just Friends." Being able to actually interpret a lead sheet and find suitable voicings in tempo was a major beakthrough. Just Friends only has three chord types in it but it is a start!

I also spent about half an hour running through the Bach piece without the metronome. I think I'm just about ready for a new Grade 3 piece now.

I spent another hour this evening playing through the Bach at 100bpm, Just Friends and also starting to look at a new Grade 3 piece.... Top Cat!

I'm feeling fairly happy with my progress this week :)

Too busy for piano :(

I had a pretty hectic day today. Teaching, Private Lessons and a rehearsal meant I was out of the house from 7am til about 11pm and the last thing I was going to do at that time was start practising!

I did manage some drum time before work and on my breaks:

50 mins working on the Drum Legacy "3 Card Molly" Elvin ideas from 80bpm up to 96bpm

30 mins using Max Roach's "For Big Sid" as a solo vehicle from 152bpm-184

Over the couple of days my in-car listening has been Blue Trane, Milestones, Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section and Tenor Madness. I only just realised that Philly Jo Jones is on all the discs I randomly put in the car on Monday. Hopefully I'll absorb some of his greatness via some kind of drumming osmosis.

More 2-5-1

15 minutes 2-5-1 round the cycle of fifths starting with root, 3rd 7th voicing on the 2 chord.

15 minutes 2-5-1 starting with root, 7th 3rd on the 2 chord.

10 minutes Bach piece at crotchet = 60. This piece is starting to come together now.

10 minutes Mintzer at crotchet = 80 (for a laugh)

2-5-1 & more Bach and Mintzer

30 Minutes - 3 note voicings (Root, 3rd, 7th) going round the cycle of fifths. 2 chord for a bar, 5 for a bar, 1 for two bars.

15 Minutes as above but using Root, 7th and 3rd this time.

15 Minutes Bach piece at crotchet = 60 concentrating on the middle section.

15 Minutes of the Mintzer Etude at crotchet = 60

Listened to another old favourite today - Miles Davis The Complete Concert (My Funny Valentine & Four and More.) I find these albums even more impressive than I did when I first heard them. Hopefully as my ears and knowledge improve further I will enjoy them even more than I do now!

Saturday

20 Minutes Bach, concentrating on the middle section ar 40bpm and then running the whole piece at 40, 50 and 60 bpm

15 Minutes Mintzer Etude 1 at 40, 50, 60, 70 bpm

I then dug out my copy of the Mark Levine Jazz Piano Book and spent 30 Minutes working through the three note voicings chapter - Playing the 2/5/1 progression working round the cycle of fifths.

I have reached a point with my piano playing where I am enjoying learning and playing classical pieces but I need to take further steps towards using the piano as a compositional tool. I'm hoping that the Levine book will give me the knowledge and skills to do this.

Its all gone quiet...

I listened to another favourite album today on the way to work - John Coltrane's Blue Trane. The sleeve notes contain a receipt which shows that I bought this in April 1996, a few months before I started the Jazz Studies course at Leeds College of Music. I have spent countless hours listening and playing along to this recording and still hear new things with each listen. I enjoyed it so much I listened to it again on the way home before checking out Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil.

When I arrived at work I had a brief 15 mintes practice pad time so I sung a tune to myself (Blue Trane at slower tempos and Locomotion at quicker ones) and Practised triplets playing a chorus each of Single Strokes, Double Strokes, Paradiddle diddle with one accent and Paradiddle diddle with two accents. I chose these patterns as they are the ones I am using in the solo licks I am currently trying to work into my vocabulary. I started at 100 bpm and worked up to 220bpm in increments of ten. By the time my first student appeared I felt sufficiently warmed up!

Piano practice today as been an hour of the Bach piece (four 15 minute blocks.) I'm playing through the entire piece over and over at 40bpm and making fewer mistakes now. To finish off my session I tried playing the whole thing at 50 and 60 bpm and was pleased to discover that I could do so without sacrificing too much accuracy - an encouraging sign.

Busy Day!

Its been very hectic today - lots of new students and a meeting with housemates to sort out bills (ouch!) has left little time for my musical activities. I did manage:

Listening: Hank Mobley's Soul Station... twice. I love this album it is just perfect. An object lesson in how small group jazz 'should' be played.

Drums:

30 minutes working on Drum Legacy 3/4 3/4 2/4 ideas and also the 'Gadd/Elvin' 3 over 4 ideas. I worked these at five tempos from 126 - 152

20 minutes working on the Drum Legacy Paradiddle-diddle licks, trading fours with myself (four bars time, four bars solo) at five tempos from 96-112

10 minutes trading blues choruses (12 bars time, 12 bars solo) at 120 bpm. This is a really good way to combine new ideas with existing vocabularly within a musical structure.

20 minutes trading blues choruses at 120, 140, 160, 180, 200bpm

This feels much freer than trading fours with myself. There is more scope for thinking compositionally and developing motivic ideas. I started to feel as though my recent practice material is starting to work its way into my thinking and playing - a positive sign.

Comments: Having had a few slightly sarcastic comments on my blog I have implemented a new policy. If you want to comment... show yourself! I know you're there! No more anonymous comments. Sarcasm is allowed as long as I know who you are :)

Not so lazy Wednesday

My day off always seem to somehow end up being at least as hectic as a day at work!

Today I had a huge list of things to do so I made sure to get a little practice done first. As it turns out this was just as well. My errands have ended up taking the entire day - its 7:25pm and they're still not all done.

My practice today has been an hour working on the Bach piece at 40 bpm. I've worked on the whole piece but focused mainly on the middle section.

I also spent ten minutes running the Mintzer etude at 40 bpm.

I have done a little more reading. I'm currently about halfway through (don't laugh) Buddhism for Dummies. There is a lot of food for thought in it (and also some stuff I flipped right through because I found it a bit boring!)

No time for composition or drum practice today - I really need to work on incorporating this into my day more effectively.

A different kind of listening

Instead of my usual CD listening driving to and from work today I've been in the grip of election fever and therefore tuned into Radio Five Live all day.

Drums:

I managed an hour of drum practice today. More work on the Drum Legacy DVD ideas. I'm worked on this by Singing a blues to myself (Blues on the Corner) whilst trading choruses. 12 bars time, 12 bars solo and so on. I also did about 10 minutes of free-play trading, attempting to link the new material into my existing vocabulary.

Piano:

20 Minutes Bach. The first 20 bars at crotchet = 40. I also sketched through the rest of the piece with the hands separately.

20 Minutes playing the Mintzer Etude over and over at crotchet = 40. I agree with my anonymous commentator - it is indeed tricky but I feel better about it today than I did yesterday so that must count for something.

10 Minutes Scales. A, E and B major. I'm a little tired today and made quite a few errors. Hopefully this will be better tomorrow. I think I should also move onto a new scale tomorrow.

10 Minutes reviewing the Reinecke and Biehl Grade 2 pieces at sensible tempos.

No composition today, I've done a little reading but I don't really want to reveal what I'm reading because it sounds a little too cosmic (!)

Its also good to know that at least one person is reading this blog. Somebody has left a couple of anonymous comments so I've no idea if it is somebody I know or if they've stumbled across my blog by accident. Either way... thanks for reading :)

Time management/drums/piano

There are so many things I want to explore and it can be difficult finding time to do everything. I am making the following list as a 'reminder to myself' of some of the things that I would like to make time for on a daily basis (wherever possible.)

1) Listening to music
2) Practising the drums
3) Practising Piano
4) Composing/Arranging music
5) Reading
6) Improving myself
7) Quality recovery/relaxation time

Number six is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. I am trying to learn different ways of looking at things and gain some more insight and wisdom to improve my quality of life and improve my actions and the results of my actions and my interactions with others. . .

Mumbo Jumbo? Quite possibly but that's for me to figure out!

So today I managed:

Listening: Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil and Night Dreamer albums

Drums:

I spent an hour today working on some exercises from the Steve Smith Drum Legacy DVD. I won't bore you with the details - its all in my drum practice diary.

Piano:

10 minutes: Working slowly through the next eight bars of the Bach piece verrry sloooowly.

10 minutes: Mintzer Etude. I'm going to change my approach slightly here - I'm still making lots of errors so I'm going back to just playing it over and over at 40 bpm instead of being impatient and trying to work it up to speed.

10 minutes: Scales. A major, E major and B Major. All at crotchet = 40 because of the pesky fingerings.

Composing: 15 minutes working on a short melody idea. I'm really out of the habit of composition AND also a bit rusty with Sibelius. I need to keep going with this stuff!

Reading: A book which will hopefully help me with item 6 as listed above.

Improving myself: See above. I also made a real effort to enjoy my life today instead of wishing I was somewhere else doing something else. I also tried make my interactions with others positive rather than negative or indifferent.

QRT: Went for a walk around Tynemouth and I'm about to continue by cooking, eating and relaxing :)

Nearly the end of my week off :(

As I come to the end of my week off I realise that I haven't achieved as much as I would have liked to. I have also realised that it doesn't really matter. There are some things that are more important, like spending time with family and friends- the people you care about. I'm also trying to improve myself in other non-musical ways and that requires time and concious effort too.

I have done some practice though... and a ton of listening.

Back to the Piano:

Today I played the first 16 bars of the Bach at six tempos - 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 bpm

Then I ran the Mintzer Etude at five tempos from 42 - 50

A Major and E Major Scales at crotchet = 50

A New Challenge

I saw a very good gig on Monday night - a local band playing all original compositions. There was some very nice playing and strong tunes... enough to kick my ass and make me want to go away and do some work.

I also bought the Grade 3 piano books yesterday. I spent a little time last night and an hour this morning working through the first sixteen bars of the first piece- Menuet in G from the Anna Magdalena Bach piano book.

I also spent some time playing through the Mintzer Etude - it is still difficult but sounds good.

Quick update

I've been away for a few days so practice time has been limited. I spent about an hour on Friday morning before I set off running through my current four pieces. I did the same thing last night when I got back. I worked in a less structured way than usual - more playing through the material than practising it. This morning I spent about an hour on Wonderful Tonight. This seems to be coming together quicker than the other two Grade 2 pieces. Maybe this means I'm getting better?!

Whilst I was away I bought an excellent biography of Wayne Shorter - Footprints by Michelle Mercer. I've nearly finished it already. Its definitely one of the better musician biographies that I've read (and I've read a whole bunch of them!)

I'm still listening to a lot of the first Brecker CD and it is fast becoming a favourite.

I've also been reading and toying with some of the sections in John Novello's Contemporary Keyboard Player. The improvisation chapters are based mainly on exercises Novello worked on with the enigmatic Charlie Banacos. I'm not expecting to become the next Bill Evans any time soon but its always fascinating to learn more about different approaches to improvisation.

Wednesday 22nd - Part 2

Went for a walk along the beach, listened to my new Brecker cd... then:

20 Minutes - Wonderful Tonight at 40 bpm. I played the whole piece through at 40 bpm with the hands separately and then worked in four bar blocks with both hands together. I can just about get through the first 12 bars with both hands together at 40bpm... there are some errors though!

20 Minutes - Bob Mintzer Etude 1. I ran the whole piece through (with the repeat) at five tempos from 40 up to 48 bpm. I'm still making errors but it is getting better.

20 Minutes:

Reinecke 5 tempos 46 - 54
Biehl 5 tempos 76 - 92 (I might just start running this five times at 92 in future)
G, A and D major scales

15 Minutes composition exercises from Ted Pease book.

Wednesday 22nd October - New Tune!

20 Mins - New piece...

I started my piano practice today with a look at my third Grade 2 piece. It is a short piano arrangement of (don't laugh) Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight. It doesn't seem as challenging as the other Grade 2 pieces YET. There are some tricky parts in the left hand though. I spent 20 minutes sketching through the whole thing a couple of times then tried working on bars 1-4 and 5-8 with a very slow metronome marking.

20 Minutes - Bob Mintzer Etude 1

I spent about half of the time making sure I was comfortable with the second half of the piece at crotchet = 40. I then ran through the whole piece at the same speed. I noticed myself tending to rush a little so I started to think (and sing to myself) the triplet subdivisions whilst playing. As I know from my drum practice this really works and seemed to relax me a little too. The time felt better and I seemed to have more time to make the changes. Next time I look at this piece I will try the five tempos method working at crotchet = 40, 42, 44, 46, 48

I need to make sure I don't over-do it with this piece - after the 20 minutes my right hand was starting to get tired as there are a couple of large stretches involved.

20 Minutes - Reviewing other material

Reinecke at five tempos 44, 46, 48, 50, 52

Biehl at five tempos 76, 80, 84, 88, 92

G major, D Major and A major scales at 50 bpm

I've started to blog in my practice breaks - I think this will work well as things will be fresh in my mind.

(Almost) A week on....

I can't believe it has been nearly a week since my last blog entry. Although I haven't been spending much time blogging I have managed to get quite a few hours of practice in!

Today I spent about an hour at the piano:

20 mins - Bob Mintzer Etude 1. I concentrated on the second half of the piece, particularly the right hand part. I can now just about get through the whole thing at a modest 40 bpm.

20 Mins - Reinecke. I am now running the whole piece through at five metronome markings per session. Last time I ran from 40bpm up to 48. Today was 42bpm up to 50 and so on. I run the piece several times at each tempo (trying not to look at my hands so much.)

10 Mins - Scales. A, D and G major with both hands together over two octaves. I'm still finding this tricky!

10 Mins - Biehl piece at five tempos from 76 up to the marked tempo of 92.

Tomorrow is probably my last Wednesday off as my teaching is starting to pick up. I intend to make the most of it by getting stuck into a third Grade 2 piece and trying to work the full Mintzer Etude up to speed.

15 Minutes Composition - I intend to go through some of the exercises in the Ted Pease Jazz Compositon Theory and Practice. I did a lot of this earlier in the year but I'm a bit rusty so I need to get back into the swing of things.

I've clocked up a fair bit of drum kit practice recently. This feels good but I still want a set of Roland V Drums to practice on at home!

A new CD arrived in the mail today courtesy of Amazon. I've been on a bit of a Michael Brecker trip recently so I ordered his first album. I'm especially enjoying the tune "Choices" which I used to play in a band ten years ago when I was at college. Its nice to hear it played properly!

Day Off - About 90 Minutes Piano

I really needed my day off today!

I slept late and did about an hour before breakfast. I did 20 minutes each on the Mintzer and Reinecke Pieces, 10 minutes on the three scales and 10 minutes on the Biehl piece.

This afternoon I went through the same routine but spending half as much time on each area.

I think when I get some time at the weekend I'll try to sketch through to the end of the Mintzer and move onto a new Grade 2 piece. I need to keep treading new ground in order to continue making progress.

I had to waste a load of time backing up all my computer files, re-setting my laptop and then re-installing everything. This has eaten up quite a bit of potential practice-time but at least its done now.

I need to re examine my time management and factor in some regular (hopefully daily) time to work on writing and arranging. I've neglected this a little recently but if I make it a part of my daily routine as I do with drum/piano practice I should get back into the swing of things.

More of the same

Today's routine was very similar to yesterday:

10 mins Mintzer bars 1-16

5 mins Scales - A major, G Major and G Major

10 mins Reinecke all the way through

5 mins Biehl

I'm tired today. Hopefully I'll get a lot more done tomorrow when I'm off work!

Piano - 1/2 Hour

Only managed half an hour this evening:

10 minutes Bob Mintzer Etude One - Working on bars 13-16 and reviewing 1-12

10 minutes Reinecke piece at quaver = 60 - Mainly working on the first three lines aiming to play them through with fewer errors

5 minutes G major and D major scales at crotchet = 60

5 minutes Biehl Allegro - 5 tempos from 76 to 92

I felt like I was fighting a losing battle today!

I'll have a bit more time to devote tomorrow evening so hopefully I'll do a little better then.

I also did about an hour of drum practice this morning - more trading fours with myself at faster tempos.

Rehearsal, Gig, Thoughts, Piano

The rehearsal on Wednesday went well. I thought there was some good playing all round. Some nice interplay between the rhythm section behind the soloists and also a couple of blinding solos by the two Andys.

The gig in Stockton went fairly well. I was the first Thursday night jazz session at the venue so the audience could have been bigger but apparently those who were there had positive things to say... more importantly the guy who books the gigs was very complimentary!

I didn't feel particularly free when comping. I felt like I was just treading water a lot of the time - playing the same few ideas over and over rather than making any kind of meaningful statement. I think I need to spend a lot more time practising at around the 200 bpm and up tempo range. A lot of our tunes fall into that bracket so hopefully this will help.

My own soling didn't feel particularly good. I felt I was too tense and anxious to allow myself to play 'properly.' Again more practice should improve this. The tunes I solo on are all uptempo numbers so it might be good to solo on a slower tune instead which would bring out some different ideas. I also thought it might be an idea to do a free/open solo leading into one of the tunes.

Piano wise I am starting to get much more comfortable with the first half of the Bob Mintzer etude and I have now worked all the way through the Reinecke piece (at a verrry slow tempo) I now need to move onto the next section of the Mintzer piece. This has more varied voicings and different bass line so it might take a while!

I bought the new Mintzer big band CD this week.

Bob Mintzer = insanely talented and hard working genius... Me = none of the above

Pre-gig practice and more piano

Alter Ego have a gig tomorrow night so my drum practice this week has involved running through some of the tunes from that pad and trying to get a little more comfortable with some of the soloing/time playing that I need for the gig. There's a rehearsal tonight so I'm looking forward to seeing and playing with the guys again - its been a while since we were all in the same room together!

Piano practice has been a little more structured today as I have the day off. I've decided to limit my practice to little mini-sessions of 15 minutes at a time. There is no underlying musical or motivational reason for this. It is more a question of taking care of my back which has been causing me pain for the last week. Spending a few hours last Monday hunched over my keyboard and laptop seem to have set this off.

So far I've done four blocks:

15 minutes - Bob Mintzer Etude 1, first 12 bars at crotchet = 50. Not quite comfortable yet

15 minutes - Grade 2 Scales. Review G major 8 times then D major for the rest of the block. Both at crotchet = 50. I'm ALMOST comfortable with the fingerings over two octaves with both hands together.

15 minutes - Reinecke piece. Bars 5-8 then reviewing bars 1-8 at crotchet =40. Not quite there yet

15 minutes - Playing the Biehl piece at five tempos from crotchet = 72 up to 88 and then without click trying to include the ralls and dynamics a bit more. The rest of this block was spent reviewing the Mintzer Etude.

Getting better...

Having dusted off my keyboard chops I feel I'm actually starting to get better than I was before my little break. I bought the Grade 2 Scales book and although it was hard work I'm starting to get used to playing the scales over two octaves with both hands together. The tricky fingerings and coordination took some getting used to but a few short bursts of practice took care of things.

I've also started working on a second Grade 2 piece - Carl Reinecke's Allegro Moderato (First Movement from Sonatina in G, Op. 136 No. 2)

The combination of the scales and the new piece have had me practising the way I did when I started in the Summer: verrrry slowly indeed and going a step at a time. It can take a long time just to get a few bars to feel comfortable. I've had to take the same approach with the Bob Mintzer book but it really seems to pay dividends. Working on things that I can barely play forces me to improve. Things normally take shape after a few short sessions so it isn't too disheartening but it IS hard work. The path of most resistance seems to reap the greatest rewards somehow. Now if I can transfer the same approach to my drum practice...

I've been doing quite a bit of in-car listening recently and I still can't get over how phenomenal Steps Ahead Smokin in the Pit is. Listening to that album excites me in a way that only a few other performances ever have. In spite of my initial indifference I am now completely into the latest Yellowjackets CD too. There is some beautiful playing and writing on there.

My latest idle thoughts involve a sax/bass/drums trio to work on some different ideas. I'd really have to play some serious drums then - the path of most resistance indeed!

I think that's a much longer term project. I need to focus on Alter Ego and my quartet idea for now.

More piano, more drums and some arranging

I spent most of my piano-time last week getting back up to speed with some of my old pieces. I feel like I've now regained most of my (slightly rusty) skills.

I've also been enjoying plenty of drum practice - both on the kit and also on the practice pad. I really think I need to bite the bullet and get myself a set of Roland V-Drums (Electronic drums) very soon. The expense has always put me off in the past but it really is important to be able to practise at home. I can't see myself moving into a large soundproof detached house any time soon so I think electronic drums are the way to go here.

The Bob Mintzer piano book arrived this morning and it looks excellent. I've had the day off work today and I was just practising some Grade Two stuff when the Mintzer book arrived. It looks like it will take quite a while to play all the material and probably even longer to absorb all the ideas but it seems to be exactly what I have been looking for. I spent two thirty minute blocks working on the first study and then toying with some of the voicing ideas for other chord changes.

I then spent some time on the practice pad working on some Swiss triplet ideas and then moving between singles and doubles at a variety of tempos. My hands are starting to feel like they are in pretty decent shape now following a bit of a hiatus over the Summer.

I then started to work on a quartet arrangement of There Will Never Be Another You. I am hoping to do some fairly structured arrangements of a number of standards over the coming months. I would like to do some more small-group playing alongside the Alter Ego project. I want to avoid the usual Real Book jam sound and work on some really tightly structured arrangements with some nice hits/phrasing/voicings and background figures... The kinds of things that you HAVE to consider in a larger ensemble but can get overlooked in quartets/quintets. I also want to force myself to play in a wider variety of time feels and solo more - both unaccompanied solos and solos over vamps/background figures. I intend to do the arrangements in Sibelius and then mute the drums and practice along to them. When I have a reasonable number of charts completed I will try and get some guys together to play them.

I'm really pleased with the way Alter Ego has taken shape over the last couple of years but now I feel the need to create another playing situation to explore some other ideas. Hopefully the two situations will help me in different ways... I'll keep you posted!

24th September Drums/Piano

I managed to get a good hour and a half in on the drum set yesterday. I focused mainly on improvising using paradiddle diddles, mostly in a swing context - 4 bars time, 4 bars solo - experimenting with different phrasing ideas and orchestrations at a variety of tempos.

Today is a day off so I've been out and about this morning enjoying myself. I've just spent about 20 minutes at the keyboard. I ran through G major and D minor scales and G major Arpeggios and then worked the Song of Erin back up to speed. I then quickly revisited the Duncombe Gavot from Monday.

I also ordered Bob Mintzer's "Playing Jazz Piano." I've been curious to take a look at this for a while. Since it is now on Amazon with a 'search inside' option I see enough to tell that it isn't way beyond my capabilities. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into that. The Bob Mintzer connection reminds me that I really want to get back into some composition and arranging ideas - So much to do, so little time!

I'm about to hit the practice pad and then watch some more drum DVDs for a bit of inspiration.

Inverted Paradiddle & Back to Basics

I went to work early today and managed to get a good 40 minutes practice in before my first lesson. I focused on improvising using (mainly) different orchestrations of the inverted paradiddle and inverted version of what Todd Sucherman calls the "half paradiddle" working up the metronome and trying to start phrases in different places.

After work I got a quick game of tennis in and then sat down to get to grips with my (somewhat out of shape) piano skills. I've decided to review some old material to get back into the swing of things so I started with C major and A minor scales, hands separately at crotchet = 66 and C Major arpeggio at crotchet = 58

I ran through the Duncombe Gavot (the first piece I learned) and worked through it at crotchet 60, 70, 80, 90, 100. Things are starting to come back to me.

I only did fifteen minutes today but I'm trying to ease myself back into things and schedule around work, drum practice, tennis etc.

...off to the practice pad!

Keyboard Update/Jojo Mayer/Todd Sucherman/Inspiration

I'll start with the good news. Having left my keyboard to dry out for nearly two full weeks I dared to switch it on yesterday. I held my breath, closed my eyes, gingerly switched it on (at arms length) and... it works! Its as good as new. I'm really pleased about this and intend to get back into the swing of things as soon as possible.

A combination of things have recently given me a much needed shot of inspiration and motivation to get stuck back into some regular drum practice recently. Having been ill for a few months I had lost my way somewhat and had lost interest in hings a little. I lacked motivation and inspiration and this only served to make me more down about things.

At the start of the month I attended an afternoon masterclass and evening drum clinic with the incredible Jojo Mayer. I really enjoyed his playing but I was particularly inspired by his talk of 'non-mechanical' playing and methods to avoid 'licks.' The other thing that really interested me was the fact that Mayer seemed to have had a major re-think of his approach a number of years back and tried to really forge his own path as an individual and as an artist and really try to find his own niche and his own voice. Major kudos to any artist who achieves this.

I also ordered Todd Sucherman's DVD. The whole thing is fantastic. Beautifully shot, well thought out, Incredible playing and insightful comments throughout. The combination of Jojo Mayer and Todd Sucherman has me feeling excited about drumming again and I have that feeling of "I can't wait to get behind a drum set" all over again.

My drum practice has mainly been focused on applying some of Todd Sucherman's ideas. I've been experimenting with some of his preferred stickings and rudiments on the practice pad, working my way up the metronome and then applying these on the kit (something I haven't done in quite a while.)

I think it is really important to practise in a way that will translate into your real-life playing. I have found in the past that I can spend a lot of time practising and then become frustrated because none of the stuff I practised comes out in my playing. When I do try and shoe horn some of the practised material in it can sound too much like an exercise and disrupt the overall flow of the music.

What I try to do these days is find an idea - a lick or a motif or a sticking - and experiment with it. I try different orchestrations, extend it, develop it, find several variations, try it at different note rates and in different contexts... in short I PLAY with it.

I try to set up a stylistic context - Rock, Swing, Latin, Shuffle, Whatever and trade 4 bars time and 4 bars solo with myself. During the solo sections I consciously try and start the idea on different beats or on the 'ands' and I try and really improvise with the idea and think on my feet. The whole idea is to try and create an environment that is as close as possible to an actual playing situation so that when I am on a gig the practised 'licks' come out in an organic (hate that word as applied to music!) musical way. I also try to do this at a wide range of tempos.

Rain stops play...

Having spent some time visiting my brother, sister in law and nephew in Canada I returned home and had a few days of moderate practice. I was mainly working on the Grade Two pieces I had started on before my holiday.

On Saturday much of the UK was hit by storms. Several areas (including some very close to home) suffered fairly serious flooding. I was unaware of this until after the fact. Alter Ego played a very successful gig on Friday. Having made some fairly serious decisions earlier in the week I found myself much more settled on Friday. I was free from the stress and anxiety that have accompanied previous Alter Ego performances. The gig was really well attended despite the increasingly bad weather. The band played very well and I felt 100% comfortable. The ideas flowed well for the most part, there was some nice interaction and I even enjoyed my own solos. I went to bed happy on Friday night.

On Saturday I woke up, went to buy a paper and some breakfast, came home, made coffee, ate breakfast, read the paper did the crossword and went upstairs to find...

...water. Lots of water. Very lots of very wet water. Splashes on my laptop which were alarming but not damaging. Splashes on my TV and DVD player and pools of it on my keyboard. A leaking roof was causing large amounts of water to completely soak my new keyboard. I turned the keyboard over and about a pint of water poured out of it. I am now leaving it to dry out and am currently afraid to switch the thing on.

This blog may have to deal with drumming matters until I work up the courage to try out the (uninsured) keyboard.

I took the plunge... now I either sink or swim!

Having finally worked through the Corelli Sarabanda (which was rather challenging) I decided to take the plunge and get the Grade Two piano book yesterday.

After working through my scales and arpeggios this morning I selected my first piece - Allegro Grazioso - Second Movement from Sonatina in C, op. 57 No. 1 by Albert Biehl. I love the long titles and catalogue numbers, it makes me feel like I'm playing real music for a change! If this were a drum book the piece would be called 'A Stick in Time' or another similarly bad pun. Because the drum set and drum education are still fairly recent musical developments, the pieces that beginners learn are often written specifically for the method books and grades. It is a refreshing change to play real music by real composers who probably even wore those big white wigs and everything.

I pleasantly surprised myself by covering the first page (half of the piece) in a fairly short session this morning. The piece is definitely more involved than the Grade One material but I find that my reading is improving, which is speeding up the learning process. I'm playing the music a lot slower than the intended tempo but I feel I have made a really strong start into the piece.

I recorded The Abbey Road Sessions last night on TV as I had heard that Herbie Hancock's band would be on (featuring Vinnie Colaiuta on drums.) The tunes were taken from the River album which is a bit more relaxed and low-key than my usual listening material. The programme makers included a short excerpt of the band playing some really exciting music for a few seconds (which sounded amazing and ended with Vinnie jumping up from the drum kit in delight) and then went on to include two far more pedestrian tunes - snooze. I would have liked to have seen one tune including burning, virtuosic, edge of the seat improvisation to contrast with the tasteful, sympathetic, musical stuff. In all seriousness though I liked the fact that they actually put Rascal Flatts, Kate Nash and Herbie Hancock on the same bill. I consider this a positive step forward though UK broadcasters seem to be far far behind the rest of Europe in the diversity of their music programming.

Late nights, early mornings and piano

This morning the sun woke me up fairly early and I headed straight to the keyboard. I'm still running through the scales and arpeggios in rotation and starting to gradually work them up the metronome.

Once I was fully awake I played through the Corelli Sarabanda. As soon as I could play the tricky second half of the piece I tried the whole thing through at crotchet = 40. I managed to get through the piece without major problems so I spent a while working it up through the traditional metronome markings. So far today I covered 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 and then stumbled at 63.

Yesterday's listening was Hank Mobley's Roll Call... a lot. Another really good album. Oddly enough I prefer the rest of the album to the title track (which we play in Alter Ego.) Maybe I'm listening to that one with drummer's ears too much instead of just enjoying the music.

I may have to go for a long walk in the country today. It is fairly decent weather outside and I need to work off last nights steak, chips and salad!

Two weeks on...

It is two weeks since I bought my NP-30 and started down the piano path - an ideal time for reflection.

I am really pleased with my progress so far. In the past I knew what the notes on a piano were and I knew what notes were in which scale or chord. I knew how chord progressions 'work' and so on but in terms of actually playing a piece... well simply put - I couldn't!

I have now worked through most of the pieces in the 2009/2010 Grade One Book, a couple from the ABRSM jazz book and a couple in the 2007/2008 book. I'm getting through the material quicker now and starting to play the pieces much more musically (I think.)

I've found that whilst I'm off work for the Summer I go straight to the keyboard when I get up and end up doing about an hour. I do the scales/arpeggios for the day while I wake up. Today mas D major and A Harmonic Minor scales and F major arpeggios. By the time my hands and brain are working I move into the newest piece I am working on at a very slow, meditative tempo. By the time I look at the clock an hour has usually gone by. Its then on to breakfast and coffee, usually a game of tennis/walk at the beach and then back to the keyboard (and drum pad) for a few shorter sessions where I run through material I have already covered rather than learning new things. Its all working out very well so far. Not sure how things will go when I return to work though...

Last night I tried to recreate a dish I ate in a restaurant last week. I really liked how it turned out. Oyster Mushroom and Pancetta rissotto cooked with white wine and served with salad. Now that's some good eating!

Stockton Festival/Alter Ego/More Piano

Stockton

Yesterday I performed with Alter Ego as part of the Stockton International Riverside Fringe Festival. I felt that we played really well, especially given that there were three deps in the band! Once the first tune was out of the way I started to feel at ease and enjoy things more - the band is definitely relaxing into the material and there was some nice interaction and good soloing all round. Luckily the performance was recorded by several camcorders so I had the chance to watch a little footage last night. I was pleased to get this kind of feedback. It was especially interesting hearing back some of my own soloing which at the time I thought was terrible. It turns out it sounds fine.

More than one person said that they enjoyed my Art Blakey-isms... which is curious because although people say it quite a bit I've never consciously tried to 'cop' any of Blakey's stuff. I do however have a huge number of CDs with Art Blakey on so I guess it happens by some kind of musical osmosis. Either way I'm absolutely more than happy to take the compliment. If I can get a few more comparisons to Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams and Vinnie Colaiuta I'll be even happier!

Hopefully some clips will make it onto youtube or www.myspace.com/alterego septet sometime soon. It also looks as though we have picked up a couple more gigs in the next few months - all good, positive stuff.

Piano

I bought myself the 2007/2008 Grade One Piano Pieces on Friday and started off by working through the Mozart Allegro in F (K. 1c)
I was pleased with the fact that I got through the piece fairly quickly. It isn't quite up to allegro speed yet but my reading/technique seems to be improving. This morning I started working through Corelli's Sarabanda which is a little trickier but is coming together nicely.
I've started to practise scales/arpeggios in rotation. Each day I do one scale and one arpeggio - lots of repetitions. Next day, next scale and so on. I'm also increasing the tempo slightly each time I come back round to C major.

I'm currently listening to a lot of Steps Ahead - Smokin' in the Pit and Hank Mobley's Soul Station.
Smokin in the Pit has fantastic tunes and great playing all round whereas I think Soul Station is one of those rare 'perfect' CDs - an essential lesson in how to play small group jazz. Its incredible how Art Blakey seems to play hardly anything most of the time and still sound fantastic. He takes a very relaxed approach when compared with his Jazz Messengers playing. Inspirational stuff!

I'm also reading The Art of Practicing by Madeline Bruser. Its well worth a read.
Other good texts I've gone through recently include Victor Wooten's The Music Lesson. It is a little new-age here and there but there is some great food for thought in there. I also read through Daniel Levitin's This is Your Brain on Music - another fascinating book. Check them all out!

Practice Pad

I'm staying with family for a couple of nights so I don't have access to my keyboard at the moment. I did however bring my trusty R-Tom practice pad so I spent a couple of longish sessions using it yesterday. The first hour I ran through Alan Dawson's Rudimental Ritual at a moderate tempo. For those who don't know Alan Dawson was a drummer/teacher in the Boston area who played with many greats including Booker Ervin and Dave Brubeck. He was a very well respected educator having taught Tony Williams before going on to instruct at Berklee for a Loooong time teaching others including Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, John J R Robinson etc etc. The Ritual is essentially a technique exercise using many many drum rudiments constructed in four bar phrases. It is a great workout and exactly what I need to get my hands back in shape right now.

In addition to the Ritual I spent quite a bit of time playing single strokes and double strokes along to the metronome holding the rolls for a long time (a hundred minim counts) and gradually working up the metronome.

I found it interesting to observe my body while I was playing. I certainly found myself doing a little breath-holding and occasionally tensing up - things which I tend not to do when practising piano. I also considered how one dimensional this kind of pure technique practising really is.

All my idols from Tony Williams to Vinnie Colaiuta and beyond have very good physical skills and this is one thing I have always wanted to achieve for myself. I've always spent a large portion of my practice time working on my hand technique. Having limited access to an actual drum kit I've always been of the opinion that I'd rather spend eight hours working out on a pad than not do anything at all. Recently though I've found myself really aching to spend more and more time just playing on an acoustic set and trying to address all the other important areas of creating music: Time playing, improvisation, motivic development, soloing, interacting with others, reading, coordination, IDEAS etc etc etc. Whilst I am always captivated by performances like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhLXm4LiODQ

... I am usually (well always) bored by performances where the physical performance is superior but the other elements are lacking.

I'm not sure how exactly to remedy this in the immediate future but the comparison with my piano practice has definitely given me some food for thought.

Piano wise: I think I'll pick up the old Grade One piano book today and I may actually get myself a book like the Alfred Adult Beginner Course. Although these books start a little too simply they are a way of getting from A to B in very small, easy to digest steps. The Grade Pieces are very well selected and arranged but the Grade system is an assessment tool and not a curriculum.

Rehearsal, more piano, more stuff

Tuesday's rehearsal went well. I felt a little weird behind the kit at first but by the time we had run through a few things I felt comfortable. We had three deps, all of whom did an incredible job reading through the (quite tricky) tunes and there were some really nice solos too. I am much more relaxed about Sunday's gig now. With the seven piece band I always try and tread a fine line between a) trying to stay out of the way and just create a nice foundation for people to play over and b) trying to really interact, play in the moment and make things happen. Time will tell which one of these approaches I will lean towards on Sunday.

www.myspace.com/alteregoseptet has details of the gig.

I did quite a bit of piano work yesterday. I'm still concentrating on the Kirnberger at a very slow tempo. I'm also running through the other four classical pieces and a few tunes in the ABRSM grade one jazz piano book.

I bought myself a CD of the pieces and found it interesting to hear the tunes played 'properly' for a change. I also had a big look at a lot of piano music yesterday and decided I will try and work through some more Grade One stuff before embarking on Grade Two. I tried to get the 'old' Grade One books yesterday but the shop had sold out so if you're reading this Andy... bit of an exchange?

Kirnberger Minuetto/Herbie Hancock/Stuff

I am starting to make headway with the Kirnberger Minuetto. As I mentioned I feel a bit like I'm starting from scratch again as I'm having to go ultra slow in order to play this music at all. The piece is basically constructed in two eight-bar phrases so I spent some time yesterday working on the first half and this morning I covered the second half. I finally put the whole thing together at crotchet = 30 and then worked up to crotchet = 40. Occasionally I'll stop to play the two hands seperately to work on fingering and also hear the individual lines more clearly. In some respects it is actually harder to play parts of the pieces this way.

This morning I opened my mail and found a leaflet from the Sage Gateshead which informs me that Herbie Hancock will be returning on the 14th November. A little online research told me that it wouldn't be Vinnie Colaiuta on drums this time around - A real shame as I would have loved to see my hero up close again. I'm sure that the band will still be excellent and I'm looking forward to it already.

Yesterday I went to the Cinema to see the new Batman movie. The trailers deeply distressed me - a movie starring Adam Sandler as an Israeli super-soldier who makes a new life in the west as a camp hairdresser with 'hilarious' consequences? A cartoon version of Star Wars? A self referential 'comedy' featuring Ben Stiller as an action hero actor, Jack Black as a comedy actor and Robert Downey Jr as an award winning serious actor... oh and they're making a war film... and Robert Downey Jr is blacked up... in 2008... 2008! I thought that Hollywood had finally run out of ideas until the main feature started and I realised that the Dark Knight contained way way way too many ideas. The film would have been excellent if it were about two hours and eight plot ideas shorter. I envied the childred whose parents took them out of the cinema when they were bored. I am also very surprised that the fim has been given a 12A certificate. It really isn't suitable for children.

Rant over... sigh

Tonight I have a rehearsal with my band Alter Ego:

www.myspace.com/alteregoseptet

We are preparing for a festival gig on Sunday and it will be the first time I have picked up a pair of drumsticks since my last gig. I think this is actually the longest I have ever gone without practising the drums. I'm hoping that the listening and piano playing I've done will see me through. I don't really know why I haven't practised. I have had a strange month, been off work, felt generally down and just needed a break from my normal day to day life for a bit. Its very odd as normally this time of year sees me doing a ton of practice. Hopefully the rest will do me good. Okay - back to the woodshed.

Monday

Last night I spent a few hours playing through a couple of pieces in the ABRSM Jazz Piano Grade One book. The idea was to give myself a bit of a break from the classical pieces whilst improving my reading. I managed to get through a couple of the blues tunes fairly easily. This was quite revealing - I first bought the book a few years ago and had a little look at it but couldn't play more than a few bars of one tune back then.

This morning I started by running through all scales and broken chords. I did a run-through of the four classical pieces I have looked at so far. I then decided to embark on a new piece: a Minuetto by Kirnberger. This seems quite a bit trickier than the material I have covered so far. I felt like I did last Tuesday when I first attempted to play the Duncombe Gavot. I'm having to take it verrrrrry slowly and work a few bars at a time. There are a number of position changes in both hands, quite a few accidentals and also two trills - written as quintuplets with a slightly tricky fingering. A lot to get my teeth into!

The super slow practice always helps me to really feel relaxed and get inside the piece, hearing the way the melodic lines and harmony work. I really appreciate these (seemingly) simple, perfectly constructed pieces.

Sunday

I spent about an hour yesterday trying to play the Vivaldi piece in time with a metronome. Things are definately falling into place here. I feel like I'm getting past the mechanics and into the music now. I was practising this at a modest 60 bpm yesterday but today I have worked it up to 100 bpm. The last eight bars aren't quite comfortable yet - I usually play them correctly but they don't feel like I "own" them yet!

Duncombe's Gavot is coming along nicely. I am playing this at 76 bpm now. The parts are starting to get programmed into my hands and as a result I find myself making fewer errors. Those errors which do ocur are usually down to a lapse in concentration.

I have the Song of Erin up to speed now and am enjoying playing it through.

I have also got Trudging up to speed - this is quite a fun piece to play.

I think I'll try and tackle another piece later on - I had a flick through the Grade Two book yesterday and it looks a little scary so I intent to cover all nine pieces in the Grade One book before diving into the more challenging material.

Saturday 26th July 2008

I had quite a good day yesterday. I'm now running through the three pieces slowly but fairly fluently. Last night I made an attempt at working through the simple arrangement of Vivaldi's Autumn from the Four Seasons. I was playing through slowly without metronome. This piece is a little more challenging as it involves reading and playing more chordal material than the other three pieces. I managed to work through the whole piece a few times in one sitting though which is a sure sign of progress - last Tuesday it took me all evening to work through the first few bars of Duncombe's Gavot, a much easier piece.

Today

I started my early morning practice by working through exercises 1 - 5 in the ABRSM sight reading book. I was pleasantly surprised by my ability here!

I ran through all the scales I have covered so far. If I stumbled I would play that particular scale over and over. I repeated this process with the arpeggios.

Gavot is now coming along nicely and I am gradually working up the metronome. Today I managed 60 bpm then 62, 66, 69, 72

Song of Erin is up to speed now but I'm trying to improve my dynamic control and also trying to nail the left hand note durations.

Trudging is also much better than yesterday and sounds reasonably fluent at 50 bpm

Long term I need to stop looking down at my hands so much and work on challenging sections of each piece in isolation rather than just running the pieces through.

Friday 25th July

I seem to have settled into a nice little practice routine while I am off work for the Summer. I have been getting up fairly early and doing about an hour and a half of practice before breakfast - this is where most of the "real work" is getting done. I'll then come back to the keyboard several times through the day and do another few (shorter) blocks of practice.

Last night I couldn't sleep so I got up and spent about an hour from midnight starting onto my third piece - Aprad Balazs' "Trudging."

I found this piece a little trickier to get to grips with because it has lots of double-stops (not sure if that is correct terminology in piano-land) in the right hand and also has a number of accidentals and changes left hand position a few times. I just about got through the thing last night.

This morning I got started with the Balazs piece and worked it up to a modest crotchet = 50
I ran through the Dunhill's A Song of Erin, working up from crotchet = 60 to full speed (120)
I ran through the Duncombe Gavot going from crotchet = 30 up to crotchet = 60

I'm really pleased with my progress so far but I am definately starting to memorise the pieces rather than reading them. For this reason I think it will be worthwhile to learn all of the Grade One pieces rather than just the three needed for an exam. The more new pieces I work through the more reading I will have to do. I am tempted to get a copy of the Grade Two book but I don't want to rush things too much. Although I have come a long way in four days I have been going very slowly and deliberately. I really need to get myself a lesson booked too to make sure I'm not spending hours practising incorrect techniques and suchlike.

I'm in need of a break so I'm going to hit the tennis courts with my friend Andy - check out his blog at http://jazz-research.blogspot.com/

Thursday 24th July

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday working on the Duncombe Gavot. It is getting better but it takes a while to get back into it each time I start playing.

For a bit of variety I also started working through Thomas Dunhill's "A Song of Erin" which seemed a little easier (at first glance anyway.)

This morning I was up early again and hit the keyboard with a mug of tea and my p-jays on.

Scales - About 30 minutes:

D major - lots of repetitions. Despite knowing the notes I still find the correct fingerings a bit of a challenge. I eventually managed to play the RH version and the two LH versions eight times each at crotchet = 60

I ran through C and G majors doing 4 reps of each version.

Arpeggios:

C, G and F majors RH and LH versions at crotchet =46

Duncombe Gavot

When I first tried to play this (at a very slow crotchet = 40) I failed miserably!
I decided to slow things down even more so I set the metronome to quaver = 60.
This really worked well. I can play the piece in its entirity with most fingerings and notes correct. Occasional errors here and there but dotted around - I don't always stumble at the same points. I hope I will be able to work this up to speed gradually.

A Song of Erin

I started playing this at half speed - crotchet = 60
I like playing this piece. I find it quite restful and although the notes look easy there is quite a bit of subtlety involoved. I have to pay attention to note lengths, my natural instinct is to hold some of the left hand notes down for too long. Fingering is also an issue though to a lesser extent than in the Gavot. I'm also keen to make the most of the dynamics. I actually worked this piece up to crotchet = 100 so I'm pretty pleased.

General Stuff

I'm really pleased I have started down the piano path. I felt really relaxed yesterday after a few hours practice - a feeling that I seldom get after drum practice. With drumming I have been practising so much and for so long that there is a greater sense of "work" about it. With piano I am much happier to play really slowly and allow things to happen at their own pace. I seem to breathe more deeply too. I felt really relaxed yesterday for the first time in a long time (but thats another very long and involved story.) I went for a three hour walk along the beach in the afternoon, stopping for an Ice cream and (a couple of hours later) a pint of Deuchars in the sun :) ...Happy Days.

Day Two

Woke up early and decided to get some work done first thing.

Ran through the C Major scales (Right and Left hand versions)
I played each one eight times at crotchet = 60
I then did the same with G major.
C and G Major arpeggios eight times. Dotted crotchet = 46

In future practice sessions I may start with a new scale/arpeggio before running through the ones I have already covered.

I spent about an hour getting stuck into the Duncombe Gavotte and feel like I'm actually getting somewhere now. I can just about get through the piece at crotchet = 40... It is meant to be at 100!

I need to try and get into the habit of looking at the music and reading it rather than memorising the thing and staring at my hands.

As an experiment I tried playing the piece with the two hands seperately. I was surprised to discover that I can do this up to the marked tempo whilst reading. I find it trickier to get the correct fingerings when using both hands together - even at ultra slow speed.

In a moment of rest I discovered that the NP 30 has a halfway decent Fender Rhodes type sound - even the ugly sound when you really lay into it. Spent about two minutes pretending to be Chick Corea and then got back to work.

First practice session

Along with the keyboard I bought three books:

ABRSM Grade 1 Piano Pieces
ABRSM Grade 1 Piano Scales & Broken Chords
ABRSM Grade 1 Piano Specimen Sight Reading Tests

Having set up my keyboard and played with sounds for a few seconds I started to start at the very beginning - C Major scale over two octaves, hands seperately. Right hand was fine and already up to speed (a moderate 60bpm) My left hand... I need to work on! I need to internalise the fingering and develop more control. At the moment there is too much variation in dynamic level when moving from one note to the next.

Having warmed up I started working on the first few bars of William Duncombe's Gavot. Reading the notes is fine, playing the notes is almost fine but I really need to focus on maintaining "correct" fingering so I don't tie myself in knots or worse still run out of fingers in the middle of a phrase. Hopefully this will work itself out.

I've done fifteen minutes and had a little rest - I'm heading back to it now!

In the beginning...

Today I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a Yamaha NP-3o "Portable Grand" Digital Keyboard. As a child I was always fascinated with music. The following years saw me move from home-made instruments through to cheap keyboards, guitars, guitar lessons, drum lessons, music lessons, music exams, drum exams, orchestras, bands, music college, more bands, more exams, gigs... many many gigs, drum teaching, yet more bands and then... I turned thirty.
Having become increasingly interested in harmony and composition/arranging I decided I really needed to address my (alarmingly poor) piano/keyboard skills. After a bit of procrastination I finally handed over my bank card and left the shop with my new toy.