Monday, October 17, 2005

Koch

Whoops…. It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. I got a little distracted with baseball over the weekend. I’ve been working on transposing Ella & Louis’ tunes to they key of their recordings and putting some classic solos in my repertoire in place. I’ve been working on Paul Desmond’s blues solo in "Blue Rondo." It’s a great solo. I’ve also been looking at Oscar Petterson’s piano voicings on the Ella & Louis CD.
I did a little bit of work on Melodic Minor scales. I’m working bridging the forms and harmony together.
I haven’t done any ET exercises. I’ll get back on that tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

GG

It seemed like a long day. I was physically tired playing guitar. I should work out more. Sitting down and crouching over my instrument all day isn’t good for me.
I tried to incorporate some balance and planing into my practice today. I worked a little on creativity by working on writing a tune and improvising over a vamp (I’ll get that recording up soon). I spent the most of my time playing along, transposing, and transcribing tunes by Ella & Louis. I’m working on my foundations and sentimentality of jazz. I need to know the style more so I’m looking to Ella & Louis to clue me in with some standard tunes. McCoy Tyner & Herb Ellis on the album as well. Finally, I spend some time on the old melodic minor scale grips again.

Note: I’ve changed my ET exercise to incorporate ascending and descending intervals; still 20 examples.
ET intervals: 85%
I was surprised at how well I did with the descending intervals. That was previously my weakest point. I’ve been singing a lot more and I’ve been noticing my own pitch-stability increase. I still have to invert the descending intervals to double-check them. I’m going to have to clean that up.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

70

More minor II-V’s!! (probably for the rest of my life).
Things are getting better and clearer. I’ve got to work on some more artist studies. I worked on some Phillip Johnston and Keith Jarrett licks today. The more I hear this the more it will make sense.
I’ve gotten a little behind on my ET studies. I’ll pick those up tomorrow.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Baseball Scales

Minor II-V’s!
I spent the first half of my day sick and the second half watching the Yankees lose the ALDS while practicing my minor 2-5’s. Towards the end I was looking at a Keith Jarrett transcription and stealing some licks. I wasn’t terribly impressed with my playing but the stuff I had worked on yesterday was clearer. Maybe tomorrow the stuff I worked on today will be better.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

sun

I had a busy weekend with a gig and a cold. I had a lesson with Tim and learned that I’ve got to work harder. I’ve been looking at the melodic minor scale since then, trying to break it down and put it into grips and licks. I’m making progress.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Schwing

I had intentions of transcibing a Tim Miller solo that I like, but I got side-tracked by Coltrane. I started working on “Blue Trane” licks. I’ll try to scribble some out by the end of the week. It was neat to work through one of his solos. It fit quite well on the guitar. After that, I started working on “Straight, No Chaser,” the head & a little bit of Miles’ solo.
I'm working on implanting the fingerings and building up speed, as well as positioning these licks into my repoitoire.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

We We

A weekend of weddings for me. I listened to some Miles Davis & John Coltrane in the car on the way home.
This week is going to be the week of licks!

ET Ascending: 65%
I started out well and then started making stupid mistakes. I started cold this morning before I picked up the guitar.