Interesting Music Tips!

Extracted from http://www.melmartin.com:


Joe Lovano - On Practicing--"Throughout your musical life, your practice routine has to change. A lot of guys practice the same way today as they did ten or fifteen years ago---as a result their playing has never developed past a certain point."

Dave Liebman - On Improvisation--"When I was younger, what bothered me was that I couldn't play like Coltrane, that I couldn't play like my idols. What I realized, of course, is that you can't play like someone else. The message is not "Play like me," the message is "Do like me."

Hubert Laws - On Learning From The Masters--"Music is a language, and like any other language, people speak with different accents. An accent is not something you pick up from a book; it's an aural concept. When you listen to someone improvise, the notes that are played are only half the story."

Lenny Pickett - On The Altissimo Register--"Mastering the altissimo register requires both extensive practice and a firm knowledge of the basics--the ability to change the speed and force of the air stream must be accomplished--biting on the reed won't do it."

Paquito D'Rivera - On Working On Tunes--"In general, I like to figure things out at the piano. I remember something Miles Davis once said. A young musician came up to Miles and asked him for tips on becoming a better trumpet player. Miles looked at him and told him to buy a piano."

Ernie Watts - On Earning A Living--"The bottom line always comes down to what you believe. Starving musicians are the ones who believe musicians starve--they believe life is hard--that jazz musicians have to scuffle. And as long as they do, they will."




Some of the Prerequisites for a Successful Jazz Musician by John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie


I. Mastery of Instrument - "Important because when you think of something to play, you must say it quickly because you don't have time to figure how, chords changing so quickly."

II. Style - "Which I think is the most difficult to master in as much as there are not too many truly distinctive styles in all of jazz."

III. Taste - "Is a process of elimination. Some phrases that you play may be technically correct but do not portray that particular mood that you are trying for."

IV. Communication - "After all, you make your profession jazz because first, you love it and secondly, as a means of livelihood. So if there is no direct communication with the audience for which you are playing............there goes your living."

V. Chord Progressions - "As there are rules that govern you biologically and physically, there are rules that govern your taste musically. Therefore, it is of prime interest and to one's advantage to learn the keyboard of the piano, as it is the basic instrument for Western music which jazz is an integral part of."

VI. Rhythm - "Which includes all of the other attributes because you may have all of these other things but don't have the rhythmic sense to put them together, then it would negate all of your other accomplishments."

Quoted from To Be or Not To Bop