Anyone ever try Robert Conti Chord Solos

[EarlBrother]

I am going to read R.C.s testimonials.To see who has landed paying gigs that is mentioned in some of the promotions.Does any one know of any?

[NSJ]

I don't think it matters too much what you are studying - but that you are actually studying and following a plan that you complete. You'll need to create your own plan based on how much time you can give it - and also plan that you'll probably have to play through everyhting at least fifty times before its beginning to be ingrained in you head amd hands. Howard Roberrts said he had to play througgh a tune about fifty time before he was ready to work out improvising around it so...

By establishing the 50x routine you can then work out how long it will take to learn each line - I'd suggest you give yourself 10x per day for five days and then work out how long it is taking you to finish one line - say 30seconds a line slowly - so a book with 100 staves is going to take you 100 x 50 times x 30secs = 2500 minutes = 42 hours. Add some regular breaks to your practice routine and the best you'll manage is two hours of playing with probably another 30% of breaks. That's about a month of real tough working. Even if you take two months - its better than dipping in and out of a buffet bar of material with no structure to your study.

I think my appraoch to practice changed quite a bit after reading the books on 10,000 hours to become an expert - such as The Talent Code or Talent is Overrated. It's all about the quality of your practice is what research shows.

Well, now I feel better knowing that Howard Roberts had to work through a tune 50 times before he could begin blowing on it.

I think people underestimate how hard it is to internalize tunes so that you can play them well. Kurt Rosenwinkel said something to that effect: everybody wants to blow but underestimates how hard it is to even play the form and the melody well, in time, with basic accompaniment, without mistakes .

I'm spending this year trying to fully internalize about 100 tunes, 60 to 70% of them jazz . They are all in various stages of development . It's taking a long time to fully internalize them: by that, I mean you know it inside out, without thinking . I find that I have to have the lyrics memorized, it really helps with memorizing melodies .

[EarlBrother]

Wiki says Robert was autodidactic.Not much is said about how much time he spent practising.Being from Philly an italian surely there was some exposure to inspirations or teachers.

[TommyCorsica2]

For those struggling with chord melody, I highly recommend his two chord melody books: Assembly Line and The Formula.

His instruction is very clear, not heavy on theory, no difficult voicings. At the end of his course -- it takes a couple of months at most -- you'll be able to open a fake book, choose a song, work out a chord melody for it, then reharmonize that song almost endlessly and employ tonal colors as you please.

Bonus: You'll learn to sight read without tab!

[goldenwave77]

Wiki says Robert was autodidactic.Not much is said about how much time he spent practising.Being from Philly an italian surely there was some exposure to inspirations or teachers.

Conti did have some lessons with Joe Sgro, a legendary teacher from Philly, who was himself a violin prodigy who later turned to playing and teaching guitar. Sgro was a pretty formidable player, and I think he may have taught a number of other good players from Philly (of whom there are many). (Conti himself credits Sgro in some of the forewords to his books.)

Conti's "Precision Technique" book uses some of the Wohlfart violin studies from the 1830's (?!) to work on guitar fingering and picking. These are very pleasant and melodic to play, and I've noticed my chops getting better. Conti credits Sgro with using these melodic studies to enhance guitar technique. His picking protocols advocate "4-finger in position" playing.

I think Conti's technique is really, really good, and his phrasing very smooth and seamless. I think he is a little like Joe P. who I think tried to downplay his background, and knowledge as well.

[EarlBrother]

007 lf you go with R.C.tell him of the respect the guys on this forum hve for him. 77Thanks for the info.