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!