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ahh..working on the Coltrane solo..so well constructed..wish there was an interview of him telling of his approach to this tune
Originally Posted by kris
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10-17-2025 05:43 PM
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I'm practising my comping, obsessively.
I feel that when playing in a duo or small group you are judged by your comping ability, not by your single line prowess.
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Stolen Moments
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That’s a great one. Originally Posted by Njt3
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These past few days I have been alternating practicing classical and jazz music for an hour each back and forth. For jazz I'm now zoning in on autumn leaves, I think I did everything I could except transcribe solos of that tune. The Cannonball solo I'm doing well so far but there is that part that is hard to do precise which is 3:10-3:20
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"but there is that part that is hard to do precise which is 3:10-3:20" Originally Posted by jazznylon
That's cool, would make a good sweep picking exercise.
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Breezin’
I heard it on a TV show and it’s just a killer groove.
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always something new to learn
A Herbie Hancock tune I was not familiar with-Tell Me A Bedtime Story
Wonderful changes...
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Sidewinder, I learned it by reading and it’s gone.
Warmed up with some Kamihigashi examples. Finally started chapter 2.
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Mainly I practice tunes for jam sessions, sometimes ones I'd like to call and sometimes ones that have been called by others. For the past couple of weeks, I've been practicing Like Someone in Love and On the Sunny Side of the Street, with my usual routine to get the melody under my fingers and then gradually picking up the pace to play it at tempo with iReal. Once I have that down reasonably well, I play around with it, using iReal with fretless bass and drums only, no piano, and without the position indicator that highlights each measure. I try to get to a seamless alternating between melody, comping and ad-lib, trading fours with myself, doing chord soloing, etc., up and down the neck as I internalize it. To me, iReal is something like a metronome but it's a little more fun to play along with. When I get relatively fluent in melody, comping and ad-lib, I'll give it a whirl at a session.
Sometimes, a new tune gets called that catches my ear and I'll start to practice it. The first time I did that was years ago, when I fell in love with Beatrice after a trumpet player called it at a jam, and I've been playing it ever since. Most recently, someone called Ornithology at a less than breakneck tempo, it was actually more like a joint practice tempo than at full tempo, but it was fun to play along with it that way all the same, sight comping and doing a modest ad-lib, with a good natured spirit for the sake of mutual learning. The next day I practiced fingerings for the theme in two octaves, and enjoyed it. However, the way that I hear it usually played online or records is likely beyond my physical capabilities. But I do enjoy playing the theme and will practice it a bit in the event that it gets called again at a practice level tempo, now that I know participants are OK with that at this session venue.
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I like to playing Ornithology as part of my solo over How High The Moon. That’s typically called slower.
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Great idea, thank you. I’ll give that a try! Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Going through Steven Down’s lessons on Burrell’s Midnight Blue, very rewarding.
Alternating with Wolf Marshall’s Four on Six, played it in the old trio but I’m enjoying fine tuning with his xscription from Smokin’ at the Half-Note.
Basically just working on tunes and reading.
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Cut my fingertip yesterday, no practice for a few days. Wear gloves then you use tools guys.
I was able to stop the bleeding with superglue and finish putting the receptacle in.
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thats sucks I have done the same. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
it really sucks. : (
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Why not put the click on 2 & 4 until you have it down?
Incrementally up the challenge.
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Practice pad, drum sticks, a metronome and a copy of Stick Control For The Snare Drummer. Originally Posted by brent.h
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The Reasonably Large Band I play in is doing Michael Buble's Big Band cover of Van Morrison's "Moondance" -- not positive but I think the bass part was played by John Patitucci? [EDIT: I'm wrong, it's Brian Bromberg] -- so I'm reading down a transcription of his part. It's almost all walking quarter notes, except for the occasional hits/stabs to double the excellent horn writing. But man, there are some choice notes that seem to pop out of nowhere and really turn the harmony on its head! The arrangement is credited to David Foster and John Clayton...stellar writing, turns what is often a tired, static, clichéd cover into a genuinely exciting jazz chart.
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Last night I decided to practice the song 'Bluesette' for the first time in quite a while. I started in the same way that I always start in practising a tune, playing the chords - specifically grabbing them on beats one and three while the metronome only appears on the second beat (it's in 3/4 for anyone unfamiliar with it). I'm out of practice in doing this so it was an enjoyable challenge. I played the chords for twenty minutes then moved onto playing the arpeggios in the continuous-arpeggio-exercise way where you pick a position and switch the arpeggio whenever the harmony changes, rather than going back to the root for each chord. This I did for twenty minutes and then the next twenty minutes were for doing the same thing except with scales over each chord. Then I just practised playing over a backing track for a bit. I think I have an etude I've written for this tune some years ago - I'll dig it out later today.
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Reposting this because it's so inspiring, useful and informative.
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atm. I am trying to nail a randomly thrown(random key) D7b9 and play the proper alt scale for it.
It is harder than a #9 was. A month in and still it cheats it's key often.
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Repertoire for Thursdays gig.
three new tunes
It’s only a paper moon
When Lights Are Low
Lullaby of the Leaves
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Lovely tune usually done in 3/4. Interestingly, unless my ears are playing tricks on me, Howard Roberts did it in 4/4. Regardless, some fantastic guitar playing on his version: Originally Posted by James W
Sometimes the guitar sounds like an organ or synth, but his picking is so precise and flawless. And it almost sounds like he laid down a guide track on guitar, because if you listen carefully he seems to be playing continuously top to bottom, include the horn parts.
IIRC, there's a Howard Roberts guitar songbook that has a transcription of the solo part, something I've been meaning to look at more than a casual glance, once I've some time.
Thank you for reminding us of this tune and wishing you all the best for your practicing!
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Although I been dipping into it on and off for some time now (see post #135), and even tried it out on a couple of jam sessions (which helped) I found "Like Someone in Love" to be a tough nut to crack, at least for me. I get the tune and all, and it's nothing out of the ordinary in terms of standards, but I can't quite get a fluent ad-lib going. On the surface, one can get through just playing in C, more or less, or just varying the melody. But I really enjoy plumbing the depths of a tune that I like. I love the melody of this one, and haven't tired of it yet, so still keep plugging away at it little by little. The chording can be tricky, too, to get some fluent voice-leading going on. I'll try that again at next week's jam session.
I've also been revisiting "Alone Together," which gets called regularly at the jam sessions here. Fairly straight forward Dm tune, but the 10 bar A section is tricky, especially trading fours. Every time I play it at a jam, the drummer does it differently. If they read the players well, they'll do 6 bars instead of 4 in the appropriate places, but it gets really interesting if they keep up a strict four bar trading, because the sections can get mixed up. There are various recordings that do it in different ways, but when it comes to jam sessions, unless we're going to work out an arrangement (which usually doesn't happen at spontaneous jams) it takes some keen listening, along with eye contact and reading body language to keep those 10 bar sections together. There's been a couple of train wrecks over time, but it's still a fun tune to jam on. I play it well when shedding, but it needs more attention live.
As a casual player, if anyone is interested, my approach to practice is kind of haphazard. I work on tunes sporadically, sometimes drilling or other times noodling, giving up on it and then revisiting after most of the mistakes are forgotten. I actually enjoy learning this way.
I'm using iReal, which to me is more fun than using a metronome, and have it set for five repeats: head, ad-lib, comping, trading fours, and head out. No piano or guitar comping, just string bass and drums keeping time, and I disable the position indicator. Then I play through the list of tunes I'm practicing in random order without stopping. At the moment that list is about ten tunes (it varied over time). Then, at the weekly and monthly open jam sessions that I frequent, depending on how many participants there are, I might get to call from two to five tunes over a three hour jam. While on stage, depending on the vibe, I'll pick those tunes from the current practice list that might benefit from some live playing.
Doing things this way takes a long time as a casual sporadic player who returned to jazz in my mid fifties after a long hiatus from playing. Now in my mid sixties with fingers that ain't what they used to be, I might experience some fluency in one key only, usually the key in which a tune is played at jam sessions. Over the years, I found that's almost just enough to truly appreciate and respect those players who appear to play so effortlessly.
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I go about things similarly these days.As a casual player, if anyone is interested, my approach to practice is kind of haphazard. I work on tunes sporadically, sometimes drilling or other times noodling, giving up on it and then revisiting after most of the mistakes are forgotten. I actually enjoy learning this way.
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