fretless: intonation: here's a path ☮️

[LowWay]

Well, I ordered the book, but will probably send it back, as I bought the complete video course today. The book hadn't arrived yet and I wanted to get going.

 

[JazznFunk]

One of my ensemble instructors in college would, when someone would be noodling or working stuff out in rehearsal that they didn't practice, would respond with a simple 'practice at home!' statement. It's reasonable to anticipate that there would be some 'smoothing out' of ensemble passages in a group rehearsal, but no one should be learning the material at rehearsal. That said, it would/could possibly help educate someone on what to refine on their own, and perhaps help the group move on to other material in the meantime.

In Kenny Werner's 'Effortless Mastery' he touches on a lot of the same stuff. People tend to approach practice with a sense of being overwhelmed... thinking they have to get EVERYTHING done by X date, or X time.... or by the time they are X age.

When someone asked Bill Evans about his practice regimen, he said he practiced 'the minimum'.... meaning the minimum amount of material in a given period, NOT the minimum amount of time:

"If you play too many things at one time [while practicing], your whole approach will be vague. You won't know what to leave in and what to take out. Know very clearly what you're doing and why. Play much less, but be very clear about it. It's much better to spend 30 hours on one tune than to play 30 tunes in one hour." -Bill Evans

I still very clearly remember the week I started playing bass, without any materials on scales, theory, or any formal book to use. I just played. For hours. Exploring. Once I started getting some direction and materials together, I'd work on a single concept or a single song for hours on end. What SHOULD improve as the years tack on are your ears and your ability to more quickly analyze, discern, and get through material (especially stuff that just needs refreshing) much more quickly. But when it comes to learning new material or a new concept.... there's no substitute for focusing on that one thing for as long as it takes to get it... and we're never truly 100% there. Embracing the process is the key.