Are you stuck in a rut when it comes to improving consistently and quickly as a musician? Not to worry, it happens to everyone at some point in their musical lives. Whether it be that you never feel like you're using your practice time to it's full potential or you don't know exactly what to practice, I hope these five tips will help you in your journey to reaching your full potential. We all have the potential to become great musicians, but we need to harness that potential into a clear course … [Read more...]
A Note From A Donny McCaslin Fan
I am one of the biggest Donny McCaslin fan boys out there. In my opinion, he is one of the best modern saxophone players out there and I can’t get enough of his playing. I also have had the opportunity, through my studies, to interact and learn from him. He is a great guy who taught me concepts that I still work on to this day. Lessons that seemed simple on the outside but require a tremendous amount of work when you get into them. Let me tell you why I want you to go out and listen to Donny … [Read more...]
Inspiration: The Mark Turner Quartet
I just had the pleasure of seeing Mark Turner, Jason Palmer, Joe Martin, and Marcus Gilmore at the University of New Hampshire on recently. I hadn't seen Mark play for years and it was amazing to hear him. A few thoughts about the show which was comprised completely of Mark's original material. 1) This guy knows how to write for a chord-less band. It struck me how involved the melodies were. The majority of them had 32 or 64 bars of written material at the beginning, some … [Read more...]
Heavy Stuff From Chick Corea
If you were to wake up and base your day off of one of these points, every day, repeating the list again and again for a year, what do you think that could do for your playing and for your life in general? I'm not sure what the answer is but I think I will try it just to be safe. My guess is that I got this advice for cheap, but it will prove to be extremely valuable at the end of the year. This kind of stuff pumps me up. I'll keep you updated on my progress. Talk Soon, Nick … [Read more...]
Long Tones: The ‘Zen’ of My Warm Up
I woke up this morning, grabbed some coffee, and did my usual routine of long tones. It occurred to me how much these long tones have helped over the years and I consider it the ‘Zen’ portion of my practice routine. I have been practicing mindfulness lately with a couple of apps on my phone and I find this extremely helpful in quieting my mind for the day. It allows me to focus more on the important stuff in my life and shut out the nervous thoughts that have been known to cloud my day. It … [Read more...]
My Favorite Jazz Play Alongs
Play alongs are important for us jazz musicians. There is nothing better than working on a tune or exercise and then being able to cue up a play along and put into action what you have been working on. It’s like having a band on retainer to play whatever you want, whenever you want. The first source of play alongs that I love is a Youtube channel that has been growing over the years and now has almost every tune you could imagine. The channel is called, “Learn Jazz Standards,” and is free for … [Read more...]
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