music performance education group

practice tips
 
here are some great practice tips kindly donnated to musicpeg members from the guys who know how!
 
gary bayley listening tip
ray beavis all instrument tip
steve berry bass tip
jon hiseman drum tip
 
 
 
 jon hiseman's tip
 
play with a band
it's important to realise that with the exception of the odd drum solo moment, the drums are only useful when played inside the music, inside the band. so the first thing is to find a band to play it with - playing on your own will only take you so far, and many drummers who spend a few years practicing on their own can find it difficult to play with others. so finding people to play with early on is important whatever your, or their standard.

lessons
if you like drumming and want to really be better, the first thing to do is take piano  - yes piano lessons. the piano is an orchestra - it will teach you to read music much easier that learning to read on the drums. it will teach you to follow other musicians parts and interpret them for the drums. it will teach you the language all the other musicians will be speaking around you all the time  - and it will teach you that you are different - you are a drummer.
if you can find a drum teacher who understands what you want to play have drum lessons too, but as with most modern instruments, keep an open mind about what you are taught - there are often better ways to do things that the way the teacher prefers - don't be afraid to experiment.

split personality
try to develop a split personality. like no other instrument, the drums can lend themselves to technical accomplishment only with the music long forgotten. i've heard many a bandleader say ; "he plays a lot of drums and no music!" but it's the band leader who will be booking you.
when you practice play and think the drums - when you play with your group forget the drums and play with the band. give them a magic carpet ride - don't speed up - don't slow down  - just groove along and they and the audience will love you for it.
practice to a cheap drum machine or your computer music software - it's very good for your time keeping.

loud and soft
whether you play a small or large drum kit you really only have loud and soft beats to make your drumming move people. listen to your favorite drummers - in any rhythmical pattern, check out which beats they play loudly and which quietly. record yourself - listen to whether what you meant to play - what was in your head  - is it really what the audience will hear. are your accented hits really standing out from the ones you meant to be quiet? not making enough difference between the loud and soft beats is the biggest single fault i hear in young drummers.

the exercise
finally here is a killer exercise for players who are already playing around in bands and who want more natural technical ability.
this will increase power and speed while giving great control over loud and soft.

if you have never played or don't know what a paradiddle is, don't try this exercise until you have bought and had a go at a drum tutor book with exercises in it based on the paradiddle. then have a go at this.

rudiments are the "scales" of drumming. they almost all contain loud and soft beats (accents and taps) they are not used much in
modern rock drumming but they continue to be used by jazz drummers. however, if they are practiced by all, they will improve the
drummers technique, touch and feel, whether they are ultimately used in band playing or not. there are many books available for rudiment study.
 
"idle hand high"
 
this exercise involves the paradiddle, one of the basic 26 american rudiments.

rh= right hand
lh=left hand
paradiddle - consists of four stokes - first one accented.
two positions: accent position and tap position.
start position:
rh tip of stick at eye level (accent position)
lh tip of stick  20 cm above centre of drumhead (tap position)

1. rh plays accent and returns directly to 20 cm above centre of drumhead -tap position -  level with waiting lh
2. lh plays tap and returns directly with tip of stick at eye level - accent position now waiting to play the next accent
3.rh plays tap returning to tap position
4.rh plays tap returning to tap position
 first paradiddle completed and hands are reversed waiting to play the left hand lead paradiddle in the same way:

1. lh plays accent and returns directly to 20 cm above centre of drumhead -tap position -  level with waiting rh
2. rh plays tap and returns directly with tip of stick at eye level - accent position now waiting to play the next accent
3.lh plays tap returning to tap position
4.lh plays tap returning to tap position

start out of time, checking hand position after each stroke. when you are sure of your hand positions play to a metronome or drum machine  but very slowly continually checking hand positions. very gradually increase speed. when you are pretty fast and fluid with the paradiddle, any other rudiment that involves accents and taps can be practiced with this method.

do this practice for 30 mins each day. then forget it and practice/ play normally. what you learn from this exercise will go into your playing naturally over time
 
 
steve berry's tip
 
sound and volume (dynamic)
 
new and up-and-coming bassists all too often have listening experience based on recordings (cds etc), where their favourite players are usually heard in a beautifully balanced sound picture. hearing the music live is by far the less common reference point.

so it is that we aspiring bassists wade cheerfully into a gig with all kind of wonderful intentions, only to see them crash and burn as a hideous, muddy mess booms around the room. somewhere in that morass, our great and lovely ideas - lost to all intents and purposes as an indecypherable mush...

standing waves. non-directionality of low frequencies. ultra-directionality of higher frequencies. low-ceiling induced bass traps. parallel, hard surfaced walls lending to a squash court-style acoustic. i could go on. so many factors. so many potential pitfalls between our dream and the reality.

so, my advice: become a geek, and proudly so. learn about venue acoustics, instrumental resonances and how electronics and equipment impinge on all of that.
best of all - turn down.
to be asked to 'turn up a bit' is usually a sign that you are being sensitive to the dangers of over-amplified bass, the sort that swamps everything in its' path.
to be asked to 'turn down please' is the phrase you don't want to hear. it suggests you may already have taken your eye off the ball and failed to hear the room's characteristics, failed to listen to everyone else in the band and attempted to balance yourself into it.

lastly - monitors. all manner of musicians (not just bassists) need to re-think monitors. they aren't there to serve up a cd quality mix of the whole band, personally tailored to suit you.
learn to listen on stage. make the extra effort to hear someone else naturally, acoustically. play a little bit quiter if necessary in order to hear them. use dynamics to their full range.
then, if there's still a blind spot, someone who just can't be heard well enough for you to play together, ask for a tiny bit in the monitor, until there's just enough to solve the problem. don't just get the monitor engineer to whack the control straight to eleven, so that your trousers (or skirt) flap around your ankles in the gale emanating from the cabinet.

the less the monitors can be heard in the auditorium, the more chance the out-front sound engineer has to actually and siccessfully balance the band in the main system.

remember, gigs went really well for millenia. music has moved and uplifted people for age-upon-age. mains electricity and noisy boxes have only been around a comparatively short time. used carefully they can help and augment the naturally wonderful beauty of sound and music.
 
 
 
ray beavis' tip

diatonic 7th arpeggio exercise

here is an exercise i have adapted from british trumpet player and life-time music educator, dick hanson. it can be applied to all instruments, although range has to be taken into account.

i feel it is the most beneficial exercise in learning and using diatonic chords/arpeggios, enabling spontaneous access to them during improvisation.

even when you have done it many, many times and feel that you know it inside out, it will remain a good maintenance exercise for ever.

remember, its not going to happen over night. i still use the exercise regularly as a toner, endeavouring to play it as musically and rhythmically as i can.

by sticking exactly to the format shown above, each arpeggio is covered in both upward and downward direction.

practice in all 12 keys!

i was tempted to write this in all 12 keys, but feel that it is most beneficial when done in your head.

go to g major (1 sharp), play the scale in order to reinforce it in your mind and fingers, and then proceed through the exercise slowly, and as rhythmically as possible.

gradually progress through the keys either building a sharp at a time, or 1 sharp, 1 flat, 2 sharps, 2 flats, 3 sharps, 3 flats etc.

if you are more advanced and perfectly able to play all 12 major scales i recommend playing the exercise in C, then C#, D, Eb, F, F# etc etc

 
 
 
gary bayley's tip

the history of music is an aural tradition although you wouldn't think so given the books of words that need to be waded through in order to complete a music course.
regardless of your technique and your splendid instruments and associated gear you will only really play convincingly in a style if you immerse yourself in examples of it. that is to say - listen to loads of recordings that act as examples of how it is done and how to do it.  sadly i know a few guys who manage to be technically competent, imaginative yet play totally inappropriately in their bands!
listening is an under-rated skill. i don't mean listen to the tune and hum along, i mean listen to every instrument. it is a great exercise to play a track listening to the drums and imagining you are the drummer and asking 'what is he playing?', 'how is he doing it physically speaking?' and a bit more philosophical 'why is he doing this rather than something else? is it a question of taste or does it serve a functional role?'. now do the same again thinking from the perspective of the piano / guitar / trumpet, and so on.
here are some examples to listen to regarding small group jazz.
1 zoot sims. down home. this is a 'pick-up session', zoot is sitting in with the dave mckenna trio and the cd goes out under zoots name making out it is his established band. the tunes selected are known to all band members so serve as the 'common ground'. make sure you get the version with out-takes where you can here bits of discussion.
2. sonny rollins. saxophone collossus. although it could be argued that here again this band was assembled for the recording, these guys were the state-of-the-art masters and it is their ability and vision that enables them to blast through new compositions in total empathy.
3. miles davis. live in europe. listen to the version of 'autumn leaves' which lasts almost fifteen minutes. a common standard tune that nonetheless the band mutates stylistically once a new soloist starts. miles is laid back, george coleman burns using double timing, herbie hancock shows he is totally at home with bach. this live performance seems to have 'movements' like a classical work.
4. miles davis. e.s.p. compare to 3. the chemistry is complete when the compositions are penned by wayne shorter (replaces george coleman) specifically for this group. the soundscape swirls. each soloist is less a soloist and more a time-share group leader; rather than a queue of soloists trotting out individual contributions they all produce a well rounded piece that has real development throughout.
5. keith jarrett. my song. takes the e.s.p. formula (which even nowadays modern jazz groups aspire to) a notch further. how does drummer jon christennsen do that? how does he seem to swing and keep time yet when you listen carefully he seems to be hitting everything and anything at random? beautiful melodies, i have never met any pro that says this is not an essential recording to learn from. three of the four are european, does this matter? could you tell? does the music reflect the cultural perspectives of the musicians?
6. dave holland. extended play. just as integrated as 4. and 5. but less melodic and much more rhythmically entwined and convoluted. this recording demonstrates a band that is more than the some of its (ridiculously talented) parts. billy kilson is astonishing on drums, dave holland doesn't keep time, he is the time!
finally - i recall reading an interview with the fine trumpeter randy brecker; he said something like - missing a few practice sessions didn't really affect his playing but if he went more than two days without listening to music.............

 

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