Painful day : belly and back unfortunately… had enough energy to cope with my activities anyways…

Teaching (about 5 hours)

…and, yes : practicing!

I only practiced Stablemates and Metheny on Solar (I’m getting a lot out of those two simple things right now). Outside of that, I did some unorganized playing (but NOT unfocused) on standards, blues and around Garzone triads…

…still… ouch!

Amazing Day : Zero practice but…

• Nice little trio session
• Badminton Game
• Some teaching
• etc.

Monday morning : very productive (teaching, website, shores, etc.) As always, too much stuff to do and so little time… I tried to check the “to do’s” off my list as efficiently as possible.

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Finally sat down to practice around 2 PM :

• “Zoning In”, relaxing ala Kenny Werner stuff
  • really does it for me these days…
• Still Relaxed
  • Practicing the first four choruses of Metheny on Solar
    • with metronome, from 180 to 240 (fast… and deceptively easy now)
    • Great!
• Blowing on Stablemates and Cherokee for a while.

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Buritoville jam around 5 PM. Very few people BUT it was fun playing

There’s a new kind of “freedom” in my playing and I feel delighted to play even the simplest stuff. I play very “detached”, yet, very interested and curious (and hungry!) for “the next note”.

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At night : beers and hot-dogs + sleep early.

Some practice on Saturday + duo gig @ night (great, with Clinton)

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Sunday, teaching 9-5 as usual and then trying to catch up on lost hours of sleep…

As you may have read in yesterday’s post, I’m looking/practicing/reading/experimenting in order to free myself from… whatever it is that “boxes me in” when I play. I’m not sure how to describe this. Anyways, last night I had a glimpse of that freedom.

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Going in that direction, I practiced/improvised on tunes today (it’s not really important what tunes.) What matters is HOW I did this : I worked on the “Steps” described by Kenny Werner. By the end of the day (5 PM) I think I had found exactly how I experience the “zone” he’s talking about. It’s a very physical thing for me…

• Step 1 – “in the zone”, 4 fingers only
• Step 2 – “in the zone”, free blowing
• Step 3 – “in the zone”, in form and in time (woah…)

So, focusing solely on the feeling of being “in the zone” , I improvised on Blues, Cherokee and All the Things. Wow! I believe I really got it today.

That idea scares and excites me at the same time! Whenever I would solo and start focusing on the notes, I would try to re-direct my mind on the FEELING of being free (in the zone) and letting my fingers do their job. (So it’s like if you were to  play hockey focusing solely on the feeling of the skate on the ice… and not the games or the rules!)

The music that came out was surprising! No better nor worse, just… different and unexpected at times. I think that’s when the true nature of the person/musician comes out.

Started with the Kenner Werner stuff today :

• Steps from Effortless Mastery Book
  • Step 1 – 4 fingers, breathing, relaxing
  • Step 2 – Free, using the playalong …
  • Step 3 -”Letting go” on Lady Bird
    • I improvised quite a lot and after 5-10 minutes, really started to “stretch out” on the form and the changes. I had a glimpse of what I would always like to feel like when I play! It’s like letting go and observing your playing… and you smile!
  • I will try to apply Step 4 as best as I can in my situation. It’s to stay in the “relaxed zone” and let the fingers do the work… when practicing new material! Quite the challenge!

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• Pat Metheny Transcription : Continuing on Solar
  • First four choruses only
  • With recording (up to 90%) then with metronome (up to 224)
  • I was able to “let go” sometimes and stay relaxed, “in the zone”, and let my fingers dance on the fretboard. Feels good!
  • To wrap up : trying first choruses “at tempo” and playing only “what wants to come out” (leaving out the lines my hand simply couldn’t play…)

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• Trio Gig @ Night (Pierre and Clinton). Restaurant was packed with customers! (Alot of them just see us play in the window and walk straight in; jazz marketing? …or maybe it’s just the tie?)

Anyways, during the first tune, I felt something different… it’s hard to explain since it’s a “feeling” but… It’s like whatever I played was right. The tune was just a Bb blues, but when I played some “outside” notes, they sounded ok in my ear! So I went on and “explored” these wrong notes (and that’s when/where I got this feeling of freedom). I usually don’t play “out of key” too much… but this time, I stretched a lot and very far (thanks to Clinton on bass for following and enduring me…)

And, yes, it ONLY happened in the first tune of course! More on that later…

Played approx. an hour “free” today (on the guitar) again today. It feels great. I’ve been helped by reading/watching stuff by Kenny Werner in the last few days..

I think the play-a-long is worth it; it’s called Free Play. (You know that I don’t really like play-a-longs in general… so I think that there’s really “something there” for this one!)

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Piano :

• Blues in G : Trying different cadence going in measure 5
• Blues in C : Walking bass lines in LH + chords in RH.

Very relaxed and fun piano session (+/- an hour)

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… and teaching 5 hours.

When doubting as to “what to practice” (like I am right now), I feel the first answer should be “transcription” !

Great recordings never lie.

Played approximately an hour of “free” music today. It felt nice as I was “liberated” for a moment…

I also read and watched many videos in the optics of changing my whole “approach”. Less “grinding the notes out” and more “letting go” when I play/practice.

More on that later…

Teaching 9-5 on Sunday as usual then some sickness hit our household. I practiced less than an hour on different tunes/topics.

No practice Monday. Trying to get back the sleep I lost…