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And Now For Something A Little More Constructive,

The book of Hanon will have you impressing yourself as you practice, try singing a little harmony a major 3rd above the top notes in the treble clef.

Czerny is what'll glue your fingers together to play jazz greats such as Errol Garner, Ahmed Jamal, etc.

Listen to " Take A Pebble " by Keith Emerson, and ask yourself which book do you think he studied as a performance tool.

I started playing piano @ the age of five, 46 years ago. I still play the Hanons as a warm up @ 160 BPM.

Oh, I strongly suggest to practice in the dark to a metronome which silences itself, and blinks a red light. Just think of a pulsating nightclub light, moving to the tunes. This form of hypnotism will burn these into your subconcious.

When both hands start coming together you will suddenly realise your work is paying off big time.

Let Me know when you have conquered these. I could suggest some Oscar Peterson solos to write out, as the best jazz music IMO has no transcriptions.


As You Were,

JV

man or myth, Jimmy V.

hey thanks! Seems like there's always more stuff to buy at Colony music store (you know colony?). And you're right jimmy, I'm a student of jazz. But right now, it's more about motor skills than anything else. This 'n that in 12 keys, yada yada.

Hanon'll hurt ya good

Hanon is excellant, as it sounds like little songs, and can be memorized easily. The metronome I described is crucial for practice efforts. I recommend it to any musician who wishes to perform @ a higher level. I use to time it w/ a strobe also. It helps to burn it into your subconciuos.

I want to post some really cool stuff I transcribed to SFP synths, but I am struggling w/ many apps right now, Cubase is killing me w/ all of it's little windows, but if I can record w/ the 2 top hardware sequencers for 20 + years, 384ppq, and 512ppq, you'd think I could get a handle on this quickly, NOT !! Ihave ambient, jazz fusion, and my favorite New Orleans style piano to send here. My SFP / Giga compositions will be here soon.

Fierce Warriors Are Needed Everywhere,

I went through the Hanon and Czerny stuff too. Very nice calistenics.

For dexterity with emphasis on melody you can try Mendelssohn's Songs without words. I used to love playing those.

Also, The big blue Bach Chorales book. That one is to learn harmonic analysis, figured bass and the like which I have found extremely useful when writing or playing jazz harmonies. Invaluable to learn voice leading!

scope4live wrote: and my favorite New Orleans style piano to send here.

Now you're talkin'

We must bust some of that shit together with da tuba sometime, Jim - I dig it large.

Did a tour a few years back here with John "King" Cleary - him, bass, drums, tuba.

The man with the left hand

New Orleans spirit is so evident. In under a years time, musicians were already planning on what to perform for Mardi Gras even though local government was dicouraging any festival , in regards to FAT Tuesday.

I will never forget the pictue of the little boy and girl who were probably on 8 or 9 years in age, struggling to keep their instruments above water as they walked through that water looking for a place to practice amongst the Gators and poionous Cottonmouths.

That's why they have their own music to boast about. I hadn't played there 4 years but was contracted to play the Streckfuss Steamers ( riverboats ) to do the St.Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, New Orleans stint. It was the classiest job I ever did !! The rooms have the most beautiful antiques and design. Plus I got to see where the big metal gunboats used by the Union Navy battled on the river !!

I was young and walking around in amazement. I had never seen street dancing w/ music before, ever, not even on TV !! Old jazz cats would play some licks, and the little dancing children would do some improv dance, then they'd more licks and the kids would dance again, as if the musicians licks were coming from the inspiration of the last dance moves.

Well I have the best custom squueeze box samples, and practiced those chops in the dark, so I am proud ro say " I Am A New Orleans-er ". That didn't come off nearly as well as JFK's speech in Berlin did it. Oh well, I'll let the music talk.

Too good