Recent content by Zojo

It sounds like she presents useful information, but maybe the organization isn't great. Are there any books that present similar ideas in a way that is more user friendly?

We are a family of musicians. I don't think the discussion begins and ends with what works for me personally, so I bring in what my kids do, what their teachers do, what other musicians do, and what I have read. But I was too harsh on you. You were offering up sincere advice. Sorry about...

What? Pointing out the contradiction or the condescension?

Your two points contradict each other. But hey--free advice! I know one teacher who played with Miles Davis, and another who played with Frank Zappa. I don't know if they have as much hard won experience as you, but they have their students practice with iRealB.

Hdiddy-- Regarding points 1 and 2, the same can be said of a metronome: it's not the same as a live band. Regarding point three, you can also go down a rabbit hole with a metronome. Some people who only practice along with what they hear in their heads become first class musical wankers. For...

Beethoven didn't even use a metronome.... (until someone invented it).;) You just listed a bunch of clichés about technology and practice that do not support your assertion: "These types of tools quickly became a crutch for me and held me back more than I knew. It kept me from developing my...

Yes, it's a great tool. When my kids play gigs with their high school friends, everyone puts their iPods on music stand instead of a Real Book. It looks kind of funny.

I think pursuing any kind of musical career is an exercise in risk management. My brother studied archeology at a top university, got a PhD, got published, supervised digs, but never got a professorship. There is simply way too much competition for every qualified person to get a decent job in...

Send me a copy, and I'll tell you what's up.

My sons are high school jazz musicians. One plays bass and the other plays violin. They share the same mentors--professional jazz musicians. Everyone agrees that the violinist MUST study classical technique and repertoire with a classical teacher. The bassist is expected to study either...

You can call it throwing sh** against the wall, or giving yourself permission to make mistakes. A lot of people are so afraid of sounding like sh** that they can't improvise a note, let alone a coherent line. It seems that a lot of times when people ask "How can I learn to improvise?", they...

The teacher can make a difference. My kids had several. Some inspired them and others didn't. Sometimes my kids did want to quit, so we did force them to stay with it, but only minimally. When they were little it was only 15 minutes a day.

Thanks. You too.

There are thousands of examples of musicians who practice patterns through the cycle of fifths, or modulating any other interval, or even using randomization to do exactly what I suggest. I'm surprised you are not familiar with this concept. We are only talking about pattern memorization. There...

Likewise, you are welcome to do whatever you want. Whether your schedule works fine was never in question. Many schedules will work fine. But in regard to an optimal schedule, we know a lot more about how memory works now than when your protocol was developed.