My Music Journey

  For those of you who have been following my thread, it will come as no surprise that I struggle endlessly with rhythmic timing.   The previous few weeks I have been using a setting called 'Voice Counting' on my metronome. The metronome is called Pro Metronome (free download on iPad) and voice counting is an option to replace the traditional clicks.  Its been a game changer for me. The other change I have made is, when learning a new piece of music, or returning to an old piece, I place Rhythm first. Before touching the piano, I clap out the rhythm  whilst at the same time count out loud every syllable of 1&2&3&4&.  If you are like me and struggle with rhythm, give it a try. .. its working for me.   Going to celebrate with a weekend of sailing.

Major focus this month: Rhythm and Timing.  Bossa Nova Comping: --> before playing this, in fact every piece, develop the habit of counting in . This will set the tempo and set me up for a strong groove. - record myself doing this to see if i can hear the tempo stay steady or if i tend to speed up/slow down! It Could Happen To You Chet Solo:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSkHz5trdhc -> using this piece to develop a focus timing and fingering and an intro to scat singing. -    play along with the recording when timing and fingering is down. --> Settings - Play Back Speed - 0.75 -    sing along with Chet too without playing! This is a great solo to get in my head and this will ultimately help my rhythm. Blue Bossa: Focussing on the beat 1 of the melody - RH only --> play along with Ireal! --> turn drums up in preference to the click. This helps lock in the groove. Next time:  - Try thinking or singing the melody while doing the bossa c...

Bossa Nova Comping: --> Set your own tempo and count yourself in before you start playing  - record yourself doing this to see if you can hear the tempo stay steady or if you tend to speed up/slow down! Counting in might set you up for a strong groove! It Could Happen To You Chet Solo:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSkHz5trdhc -> up to bar 8 - no need to go further for now! Just focussing on timing and fingering - play along with the recording if you can! --> Settings - Play Back Speed - 0.75 - sing along with Chet too without playing! This is a great solo to get in your head and this will ultimately help your rhythm. First 4 Bars: **Gmaj7 - Abdim7 - Am7 - Bbdim7 Check out iReal chords. Blue Bossa: **Swap metronome practise for Ireal this week! Practise might look like: - putting on Ireal for 10 choruses (or just a very long time!) - playing through each exercise twice   1. LH bossa rhythm with melody 2. LH chords with melody 3. separate hands with Ireal Pro 4...

 

 2023 Term 1 Week 10 A good last lesson for the Term. Here's what we discussed today: Potential Face-To-Face Lessons in holiday break: --> Bit excited to do a face to face lesson next week. 2 5 1 including maj 9's ! --> Try this in the key of C maj and G maj this week - use the Dbmaj one in Blue Bossa as an alternative and closely listen to the difference the chord changes make. Ear Training: --> This week more challenging as I couldn’t identify the specific song. So had to work it out one note at a time. - listen to it many many times to get it in your ears and under your fingers!  Albatross : --> spent a good deal of time working on pedalling so the chords won’t sound muddy - technique is to lift the foot as the fingers go down, think fingers down foot up. It’s a stabbing motion - happy with the result. Focus now on getting it faster over time but take my time building this up —> in the left hand accent the 1.  Corcovado:  --> Getting th...

Here's what we discussed today: 2 5 1 including maj 9's ! --> Try this in the key of C maj and G maj this week - use those scale degrees to help you translate the voicings - use the Dbmaj one in Blue Bossa Ear Training: --> dropbox folder  https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/0jijk0n5ueam15ra4jbn8/h?dl=0&rlkey=a5m6un5q91xsdmrnetasw2537 - try number 2 ! This one is very challenging Albatross : --> pedalling -follow attached chart with mark up of some pedalling - allowing the pedal to cary the sound of the chords without sounding muddy --> Practise the LH separately with metronome at 60 BPM. - low notes on strong beats of the bar 1 2 3 4 - accenting the low notes may also help with a strong rhythm - thinking about the triplet feeling (12 3 12 3 - long short long short) Corcovado:  --> First chord - change to Am6 (this is more commonly played than D7) --> use the LH comping rhythm with Ireal and try to make it all the way through the piece ♩♩𝄾 ♩. Honeysuckle Rose...

  2023 Term 1 Week 8 Here's what we discussed today: Ear Training: --> I'll do another one this week Honeysuckle Rose: Weeks objective was to --> learn the B section if you want - ear training? At this lesson I played thru entire Honeysuckle Rose melody, learned by ear from a version of Muscore. I cheated a little, looking at the chart to learn the B section.  We discussed using 6th chords and how they are used a lot in Trad Jazz. The chart I am using has lots of chords, we determined to limit the number of chords played to one per bar in most instances until I get more comfortable with playing them all. Think about timing in terms of counting, this song lends itself to playing swing because of where the strong notes are placed. Eg Bars 1 to 3, play as; 1  &  2  &  3 .  4 S  w  S  w  S .    S= Strong w = weak. Play rootless chords for Gm9 FABbD                   ...