Barney Kessell's devotion to practice

[markerhodes]

Ran across this in an article at the Classic Jazz Guitar site.

PRACTICE
To maintain his impeccable technique, Kessel dedicated an enormous amount of time to practice. To keep in musical shape, his day-to-day practice regimen also included exercises written for the clarinet, violin and piano.


“He practiced 5 hours a day…religiously. He told me more than once that he never missed in his lifetime, until he became ill, more than 17 days of practice in his whole life. I believe it having known him. I don’t know how he remembers that, but I believe it.”

Classic Jazz Guitar - Articles

I feel like such a lazy punk!

[Drumbler]

Kudos to Kessel!

You can only do that if you really love what you are doing and that is a gift from God, to love what you do.

Regarding clarinet books they are good. I have this one and there are some really good exercises in it.

[docbop]

One of the good things about clarinent, trumpet, violin, etc books is the exercise besides being technical are musical too. So you are practicing playing music not some mechanial finger wiggle like so many guitarist do.

I so happy I got to see Barney Kessel play it was a great night.

[markerhodes]

So, guys, what sort of exercises are in clarinet books???

[paynow]

Originally Posted by Drumbler

Kudos to Kessel!

You can only do that if you really love what you are doing and that is a gift from God, to love what you do.

Regarding clarinet books they are good. I have this one and there are some really good exercises in it.

Man, I remember that terror from schooldays; clarinet was my first instrument and that was my first music book.

I didn't care for it then but now I wish I still had it!

[pierre richard]

the wolfhardt violin study books are also great..

time on the instrument...pierre

[hot ford coupe]

What an incredible article. Barney will always be my biggest influence.

[MackBolan]

The above mentioned article on Barney Kessel was the best article on a jazz guitarist I"ve read in years.

[Dark Star]

Dang, that was awsome & inspiring. I've always like Barney's music, but what a guy, you know?

[Drumbler]

Originally Posted by paynow

Man, I remember that terror from schooldays; clarinet was my first instrument and that was my first music book.

I didn't care for it then but now I wish I still had it!

That's funny. It would have scared me as a kid for sure!

You can still get this book and the revised version of it.

I got mine at a library used book sale for like a $1. It's from the 1950's.

[Drumbler]

Originally Posted by markerhodes

So, guys, what sort of exercises are in clarinet books???

Well, it's all single line stuff on the treble clef.

Scalar patterns, string skipping, chromatics etc.

Really good for sight reading practice

The old timers used them most likely because of the single line nature and availability.

Here's an example although not from my book:


and

[docbop]

Originally Posted by markerhodes

So, guys, what sort of exercises are in clarinet books???

As I heard it talked about once the guitar is the youngest of the instruments and especially electric guitar so the teaching materials haven't evolved, matured over 100's of years like other instruments. Other instruments there is foundation that is typically taught first and graded levels of music for the student to work through. So using other instruments books is a way to piggy-back on the foundation materials of other instruments.

[markf]

you may be interested in the petrucci music library, 35000 scores for classical music online free.

IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library: Free Public Domain Sheet Music

[markf]

i do mean thirty five thousand.

[markf]

p.s.

in that style of playing, Barney played with the most swing of any of them. and he went for it, and played stuff that he sometimes didn't make, but always swinging, and melodic.

my favourite player by far, in that style/era.

[Dark Star]

I've often thought that if I could figure out what barney was doing in this vid at 3:30 my life would be complete. It may be some rudimentary movement, but he makes it swing so perfectly:
YouTube - Barney Kessel blues

[markf]

Originally Posted by Dark Star

I've often thought that if I could figure out what barney was doing in this vid at 3:30 my life would be complete. It may be some rudimentary movement, but he makes it swing so perfectly:
YouTube - Barney Kessel blues

fantastic music, thanks.

[Tom Karol]

Great posts - thanks!

[lindydanny]

I've got a buddy who plays banjo and we were talking about practice methods. A book he has (I can't remember the title/author) had a role pattern in it that said do it 1,000 times.

It makes sense to me because I have read somewhere that mastery is 10,000 hours of experience. So, I guess Barney was a master nine times over.

~DB

[markerhodes]

Originally Posted by lindydanny

It makes sense to me because I have read somewhere that mastery is 10,000 hours of experience. So, I guess Barney was a master nine times over.

I'm glad you mentioned this. (Some) psychologists talk about the "10,000 hour rule," that being the amount of time it takes to master a complex skill (-certainly playing a musical instrument would qualify.) Malcolm Gladwell talked about this in his book "Outlers" and used The Beatles as an example. He talked about how much they played in Hamburg strip clubs (-8-hour shifts) and thought this was a great example of the 10,000 rule in action. But he was WRONG. The Beatles were great *songwriters* which is not the same thing as live performers. (I don't know that they've ever been rated among rock's great live bands.)

But back to this discussion... I think 10,000 hours is a good rule of thumb but it isn't just the time spent. Look at the people who have golfed for 20-30 years without much improvement. Closer to home, some guitarists plunk away for decades without getting better. (And that's FINE if that is what you want to do.) To get better--to get really good--you have to want to and you have to work at it long and hard. Then if you get good---rather, however good you get---you have to work to keep it! I had a guitar teacher who liked to say, "You're either getting better or you're getting worse; there's no such thing as staying the same."

[Drumbler]

I don't think 1000 times is enough.

[markf]

To get better--to get really good--you have to want to and you have to work at it long and hard.

I find it really helps to record some of my live playing, at a gig, and listen to it. It can be a real wake up.

something that seems great, feels great, later might not sound so good.

I think some players record all or parts of all of their gigs, to listen to later.

[jazzbender]

I think the 10,000 rule does specify that the time spent on practice must be focused, disciplined, and approached with passion.

[markerhodes]

Originally Posted by jazzbender

I think the 10,000 rule does specify that the time spent on practice must be focused, disciplined, and approached with passion.

Yeah, I think that psychologists assume that, but when the phrase gets picked up and used by others, it isn't always understood. Gladwell, for instance, thought the 10,000 hours the Beatles spent on stage explained their *records*.

[fumblefingers]

Originally Posted by Dark Star

I've often thought that if I could figure out what barney was doing in this vid at 3:30 my life would be complete. It may be some rudimentary movement, but he makes it swing so perfectly:
YouTube - Barney Kessel blues

sweet.

at 3:30 is one of the "easier" parts of his solo here. nice chords though.

the super fast stuff with the sweep picking always bothered me a bit. why? can't hear it very well because the volume falls off too much. too fast for his own good on those sections. its the only problem i ever had with his playing - as listener that is. and as he got older that particular part of his playing became even more difficult to execute. no surprise, he was only human.

when was this vid made? he was in great form then. thanks big time for the post.

[Dark Star]

Judging from the lapels I'd say 1973 (lol)
Seriously, I think I read somewhere that this is from '73.

[63Bigsby]

I'm with fumblefingers, that fast sweep picking is what I care about least in his playing, but I just love Barney too much to really mind about it. Interestingly though, you don't hear him doing that really on the recordings, and I mean the classic Barney stuff on Contemporary and Rerprise albums.

[lindydanny]

I totally agree with focused study versus just playing. I would have gone into that when I posted earlier, but I was at work and got a rush of phone calls.

I'm one of those people who has probably hit at least the half way mark in terms of time playing, but I'm not halfway to being a master. Specifically this is because it wasn't until very recently that I even started trying to focus on what it is that I was doing when I played. Now when I practice, I practice. And there is a definite difference between practice, rehearsal, and playing for me.

My average for the last year has been about an hour of focused practice a day. Usually I practice in 1 1/2 hour to 2 hour settings but I've missed a few days here and there during the year. So, for this last year (which is my most consistent so far) I'm at 365 hours (I started to focus at the beginning of lent last year). Only 9,635 to go!

~DB

[mr. beaumont]

Funny, I always thought Barney's playing was kinda sloppy at times.

More than made up for it in note choice, swing, and soul. But I guess one of the things I found most endearing about his playing was that he sounded human!

[markerhodes]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Funny, I always thought Barney's playing was kinda sloppy at times.]

It was, and sometimes harsh. As someone mentioned above, Kessell "went for it". He pushed himself. Played the ideas that came to him even if they were beyond him (-in the moment). But that said, he could do all sorts of things on the guitar with aplomb. His chord melody chops were fantastic, his swing and taste were world class, and he could 'tear it up' too---all in the same tune!