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This is a back dated post for the session on the 22/04/2021. Our listening is 'The Bridge' by the Sonny Rollins, selected by Gareth. The album features: Sonny Rollins - Tenor Saxophone Jim Hall - Guitar Bob Cranshaw - Bass Ben Riley - Drums - (Harry Saunders on Drums for God Bless The Child)
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Discover.Welcome to Discover | Learn | Play.
This is a back dated post for the session on the 08/04/2021. Our listening was 'The Shape Of Jazz To Come' by the Ornette Coleman, selected by Clive. The album features: Ornette Coleman - Alto Saxophone Don Cherry - Trumpet Charlie Haden - Bass Billy Higgins - Drums Discover.Welcome to Discover | Learn | Play.
This is a back dated post for the session on the 25/03/2021. Our listening was 'Blues-ette' that by the Curtis Fuller quintet, selected by Richard. The album features: Curtis Fuller - Trombone Benny Golson - Tenor Saxophone Tommy Flanagan - Piano Jimmy Garrison - Bass Al Harewood - Drums Discover.Welcome to Discover | Learn | Play. Thanks for those who attended last night. If you haven't listened to Dan's choice of album from a fortnight ago here it is: 'My Funny Valentine' by Miles Davis. A great conversation about the album too! The next CD to be discussed is 'Inside Straight' by The Cannonball Adderley quintet (Picked by Dom) - see below. Here's a link to the album on the following platforms: Apple Music Spotify Amazon YouTube - (Link to Inside Straight - you'll need to fish around for the rest of the album!) Learn & Play.In tomorrow's session, we will be looking at some exercises which will help you to achieve the following: - Learn the basic chord sequence to a blues. Below are the exercises which we will aim to play through together tomorrow evening. Please download these and have them to hand during the session. For those of you who are more advanced and would like more of a challenge don't worry - I've got it covered!
If you are interested in joining in the session (free), please contact me and I'll provide you with a link to attend. The session starts tomorrow evening at 19.00 (GMT) and finishes at roughly 20.30 (GMT). Lastly, If you find any of the information or handouts above useful, please donate as it helps to make this possible. Thank you! Connect with me:
www.benlowman.com www.instagram.com/ben_lowman www.facebook.com/benlowmanmusic www.youtube.com/benlowman www.twitter.com/ben_lowman Discover.Welcome! Here is the next album for discussion - 'My Funny Valentine: In Concert Live.' by Miles Davis. Here it is on Apple Music. Here it is on Spotify. Here it is a link to the first track on YouTube. Previous albums from session # 1 and #2 were: #1 - 'United we Swing.' - Wynton Marsalis Septet. Here is some information about the album and here it is to purchase amazon, though if you are able to buy it from the artist please do! #2 - 'As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls.' - Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays. Here it is on Amazon. Learn.Here are some quick notes on practising. I intend to do a longer article soon, but here are some bullet points to get you started on creating a productive practise regime. - Strive to create order out of chaos. When learning an instrument, you produce cacophony - this isn’t music, it’s chaos. It may be fun to play, but not pleasant to listen to. By organising and understanding what you play, you help to create order out of the chaos. This is identical to the way in which a baby learns to speak. Initially you hear babbling, then vowel sounds followed by harsher sounds such as T P K. Initially, none of these sounds are structured coherently, but with enough mimicking listening, visual and kinaesthetic cues, a child refines these sounds into words. Once basic Nouns and verbs are mastered, a child then starts gluing them together into sentences. This leads to effective communication which is, arguably, what we are trying to do in music - to communicate and express ourselves. - Master the basics. If you can do the simple things well, the complicated passage/ exercises/ phrases you come across are usually a combination of a few simple elements. - Practise with intent & focus. First and foremost, without intent and concentration progression will be stumped, regardless of how much or frequently you practise. Intent and concentration is the most important part of practise. (Having a regular practise environment free of distractions helps with this). Create a routine which can make focusing and concentration easier. Assuming your concentration is in check, you must now consider frequency. A short period of regular focused practise is much more productive than having infrequent longer practise sessions. It should come as no surprise that longer practise sessions are something for a more advanced student who’s developed their ability to concentrate and be consistent with practise. To start with, practice only as long as your concentration can be kept then gradually expand this. Lastly, add to the length of your practise sessions. When your concentration and frequency is in check, add to the length of practise time. The suitable amount of time to practise is equal to how long you can play with intent and focus. - Ask questions whilst you practise to keep your mind focused. Remembering this great poem by Rudyard Kipling - it tells you all you need to know. ‘I have six men who serve me, Lastly, here is another extract which I have found useful when considering practise, both for structure as well as mindset by Claude Gordon. This book is designed to systematically develop strength and muscle coordination along with the wind control so that the student will play naturally and easily as his fears disappear. Play.We'll be playing instruments in the next D.L.P. meeting, the focus will be the blues.
If you are interested in joining the meeting (Thursday nights at 19:00 GMT) Get in touch. |
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