New material - 1hr
Total time - 1hr
I spent another hour perfecting 'Things are getting better' i am comfortable with recording this now so i will be doing so in my next session along with 'Second Shot' which i learned in the previous session.
I will also upload photo's of the 2 songs when i get hold of a camera.
Thursday 26 February 2009
blog for Monday, 1hr previous Material, 1hr New material
Learning new material - 1hr
Practicing old material - 1hr
As i have been very busy the last week i will need to catch up on some missed blogs, this blog is for Monday the 23rd Febuary as my internet has been down. I practiced previous Material for an hour and learned another new material tune as well, the tune was 'Second Shot' The grade tunes are obviously more challenging than the grade one material with complex breathing, sustaining notes, and fast sections. It is therefor taking longer to learn each tune, i plan to record this new tune in my next session.
Practicing old material - 1hr
As i have been very busy the last week i will need to catch up on some missed blogs, this blog is for Monday the 23rd Febuary as my internet has been down. I practiced previous Material for an hour and learned another new material tune as well, the tune was 'Second Shot' The grade tunes are obviously more challenging than the grade one material with complex breathing, sustaining notes, and fast sections. It is therefor taking longer to learn each tune, i plan to record this new tune in my next session.
Wednesday 18 February 2009
1hr Previous, 1hrNew material
The first hour of my session today was running threw all my previously learnt material. i ran through the grade 1 cd and playes all the songs along with the cd, i will be uploading some tunes with me playing to a backing track in later sessions. I also ran through all scales and arpegios, repeating the over until i felt happy with them.
The second hour was learning new material, i leanrt the song Things Are Getting Better, i didnt record the song as it is fairly difficult, i will upload this tune in the next New Material practise.
The second hour was learning new material, i leanrt the song Things Are Getting Better, i didnt record the song as it is fairly difficult, i will upload this tune in the next New Material practise.
Monday 16 February 2009
2hrs new material. Old Joe Clark (click to listen)
Learning new material - 2hrs
Total time - 2hrs
Today i spent the whole 2 hours learning and recording the tune 'Old Joe Clark' which is the second tune in my Grade 2 book. The tune is fairly challenging with rapid changes between notes, sticcato note and also quiet sections which challenged my breathing skills.
Total time - 2hrs
Today i spent the whole 2 hours learning and recording the tune 'Old Joe Clark' which is the second tune in my Grade 2 book. The tune is fairly challenging with rapid changes between notes, sticcato note and also quiet sections which challenged my breathing skills.
Saturday 14 February 2009
1hr Practise, 1hr Theory
Practising previously learnt material - 1hr
Music theory - 1hr
Today i ran through all previously learnt material, all grade 1 songs, scales, arpeggios and all the grade 2 material i have already learnt. I repeated phrases which i struggled with until i was confident with them and andy notes that souded off i double checked in the score.
I also learnt and practised music theory for an hour, i looked through my sax book and tried to read the music without refering to any notes, i then found a good mucis theory webite which has handy test on timing and notes which i practices for half an hour, a couple of examples of my results from these test are shown below;
Rhythem test on medium (top), Note names on Medium (Middle), Rhythem testing on Hard (Bottom)
.jpg)
Music theory - 1hr
Today i ran through all previously learnt material, all grade 1 songs, scales, arpeggios and all the grade 2 material i have already learnt. I repeated phrases which i struggled with until i was confident with them and andy notes that souded off i double checked in the score.
I also learnt and practised music theory for an hour, i looked through my sax book and tried to read the music without refering to any notes, i then found a good mucis theory webite which has handy test on timing and notes which i practices for half an hour, a couple of examples of my results from these test are shown below;
Rhythem test on medium (top), Note names on Medium (Middle), Rhythem testing on Hard (Bottom)
.jpg)
Wednesday 11 February 2009
2hrs New Material. Watermelon Man (click to listen)
Learning new material - 2hrs
Total time - 2hrs
My Grade 2 Alto sax book arrived today so i spend this session practicing and recording the first song i the book. This book is proving to be more challening although i do feel my ability has risen to this level now. I did not find it too hard to learn the song but i did find it difficult to record in 1 take. I will continue to finnish the grade 1 book aswel as learning new grade 2 tunes and recording the rest of the Grade 2 Scales and arpeggios.
Total time - 2hrs
My Grade 2 Alto sax book arrived today so i spend this session practicing and recording the first song i the book. This book is proving to be more challening although i do feel my ability has risen to this level now. I did not find it too hard to learn the song but i did find it difficult to record in 1 take. I will continue to finnish the grade 1 book aswel as learning new grade 2 tunes and recording the rest of the Grade 2 Scales and arpeggios.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
1hr Pracising previous material, 1hr Theory
Running through previous material - 1hr
Theory - 1hr
Today i ran through all previously learnt material, i also worked out by ear all the other tunes i am yet to record and played them along with everything else. All the tunes and scales i ran through are as follows, including tunes i have yet to record;
Grade 1 Jazz book
Blues and roots
Las Vegas Tango
Sonnymoon For Two
Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen
Short Stop
Freddie Freeloader (still to record)
Standards
Solitude (still to record)
Sombrero Sam
Idaho
Is You Is, Or Is You Aint (still to record)
Mack The Knife
Contemporary Jazz
Jean Perrie
Mo Better Blues
Mannenberg (still to record)
Everything That Lives Laments (still to record)
Oye Como Va (still to record)
Grade 1 Scales -
Dorian on G
Mixolydian on D
C major
F major
Minor Pentatonic on A
Arpeggios -
G Major
D Minor
Grade 2 Scales -
Dorian on A (still to record)
Mixolydian on F (still to record)
D Major (still to record)
Major Pentatonic on F
Minor Pentatonic on G
Arpeggios -
A Major (still to record)
F Major (still to record)
D Minor (still to record)
I also worked on my music theory, writing out all of the grade 2 scales with the notes underneath and made a 'sax tab' which shows me how they correspond to finger positioning on the sax. I feel this is one of the best ways for me to learn this as i have to write everything down.
Theory - 1hr
Today i ran through all previously learnt material, i also worked out by ear all the other tunes i am yet to record and played them along with everything else. All the tunes and scales i ran through are as follows, including tunes i have yet to record;
Grade 1 Jazz book
Blues and roots
Las Vegas Tango
Sonnymoon For Two
Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen
Short Stop
Freddie Freeloader (still to record)
Standards
Solitude (still to record)
Sombrero Sam
Idaho
Is You Is, Or Is You Aint (still to record)
Mack The Knife
Contemporary Jazz
Jean Perrie
Mo Better Blues
Mannenberg (still to record)
Everything That Lives Laments (still to record)
Oye Como Va (still to record)
Grade 1 Scales -
Dorian on G
Mixolydian on D
C major
F major
Minor Pentatonic on A
Arpeggios -
G Major
D Minor
Grade 2 Scales -
Dorian on A (still to record)
Mixolydian on F (still to record)
D Major (still to record)
Major Pentatonic on F
Minor Pentatonic on G
Arpeggios -
A Major (still to record)
F Major (still to record)
D Minor (still to record)
I also worked on my music theory, writing out all of the grade 2 scales with the notes underneath and made a 'sax tab' which shows me how they correspond to finger positioning on the sax. I feel this is one of the best ways for me to learn this as i have to write everything down.
Friday 6 February 2009
2hrs New Material. Short Stop (click to listen)
Learning and recording Short Stop - 1 hr
Practicing and recording Sombrero Sam - 1hr
I decided to do another 2hrs New material today as i wanted to learn and record the last few tunes out of my g
rade one book.
I first practiced and recorded Sombrero Sam, i am not entirely happy with the recording as some of the sustaining notes are slightly off key, this will improve with time as my technique gets better, i will re-record this tune when i feel i have improved in this area.
To hear the recording of Sombrero Sam click the title of the blog above.
I have also Learnt and recorded Short Stop, this is also a challenging tune as it requires careful breathing and crescendo's which i struggled with. These 2 tunes have showed me that i need to work more on my breathing and mouth positioning, i will work on this as part of my Practising sessions.
Practicing and recording Sombrero Sam - 1hr
I decided to do another 2hrs New material today as i wanted to learn and record the last few tunes out of my g
rade one book.I first practiced and recorded Sombrero Sam, i am not entirely happy with the recording as some of the sustaining notes are slightly off key, this will improve with time as my technique gets better, i will re-record this tune when i feel i have improved in this area.
To hear the recording of Sombrero Sam click the title of the blog above.
I have also Learnt and recorded Short Stop, this is also a challenging tune as it requires careful breathing and crescendo's which i struggled with. These 2 tunes have showed me that i need to work more on my breathing and mouth positioning, i will work on this as part of my Practising sessions.
Thursday 5 February 2009
2hrs New Material. Sonny Moon For Two (click to listen)
Learning Sombrero Sam - 45min
Learning and recording Sonny Moon For Two - 1hr 15min
Total time - 2hrs
Today i learnt new material for 2 hours. I First learned Sombrero Sam which is one of the more challenging tunes in the grade one book, it has awkward timing and off key notes which i have struggled with, i aim to record this by the end of the week. I also learnt and recorded Sonny Moon For Two, this tune is also quite challenging in the way that it changes between octaves very quickly, there are also lots of instrumental gaps in the tune and quite a long improvisation section which made this tune quite challening to learn and record. The grade 2 book should be arriving on monday so i am hoping to record the last few tunes in the grade 1 book by then befor moving on.
Learning and recording Sonny Moon For Two - 1hr 15min
Total time - 2hrs
Today i learnt new material for 2 hours. I First learned Sombrero Sam which is one of the more challenging tunes in the grade one book, it has awkward timing and off key notes which i have struggled with, i aim to record this by the end of the week. I also learnt and recorded Sonny Moon For Two, this tune is also quite challenging in the way that it changes between octaves very quickly, there are also lots of instrumental gaps in the tune and quite a long improvisation section which made this tune quite challening to learn and record. The grade 2 book should be arriving on monday so i am hoping to record the last few tunes in the grade 1 book by then befor moving on.
Wednesday 4 February 2009
1hr Practise, 1hr Theory
Practising prevous material - 1hr
Music theory - 1hr
Toatal tim - 2 hours
Starting on my new schedule i have practised all my previous material for an hour and worked on music theory for an hour. For the theory i have written out a score with all the notes and also drawn diagrams of the finger possitions on the sax, if i keep doing this and learning new nots hopefully i will soon be able to start sight reading. Tomorrow i will be learning new material for 2 hours.
New schedule
As I have not been posting blogs regularly over the Christmas period and through January I have worked out a schedule to make up for lost time.
I am going to write 5 blogs a week documenting at least 10hours of practice time in all, i plan to break this practice time up between learning new tunes and scales (which will include recording new material), practicing old material (scales and tunes) and music theory ie writing out scores, learning notation and how it relates to the keys on the Saxaphone.
I am aiming to do 3-4hours of music theory per weeks 3-4hours of practicing previously learned material and 3-4hours learning new material. For example a typical week would work out like this;
Monday - 1hr Practicing old material
1hr Theory
Tuesday - 2hrs Learning new Material
Wednesday - 1hr Practicing old material
1hr Theory
Thursday - 1hr Practicing old Material
1hr Learning new material
Friday - 1hr Theory
1hour New material (recording tunes and scales learned through the week)
I think this method will keep me motivated and interested as i will not be doing the same thing everyday.
As i have Done 3hours previously this week i will Aim to do another 7hours by monday.
I am going to write 5 blogs a week documenting at least 10hours of practice time in all, i plan to break this practice time up between learning new tunes and scales (which will include recording new material), practicing old material (scales and tunes) and music theory ie writing out scores, learning notation and how it relates to the keys on the Saxaphone.
I am aiming to do 3-4hours of music theory per weeks 3-4hours of practicing previously learned material and 3-4hours learning new material. For example a typical week would work out like this;
Monday - 1hr Practicing old material
1hr Theory
Tuesday - 2hrs Learning new Material
Wednesday - 1hr Practicing old material
1hr Theory
Thursday - 1hr Practicing old Material
1hr Learning new material
Friday - 1hr Theory
1hour New material (recording tunes and scales learned through the week)
I think this method will keep me motivated and interested as i will not be doing the same thing everyday.
As i have Done 3hours previously this week i will Aim to do another 7hours by monday.
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Idaho (click to listen)
Running through all previously learned scales - 20min
Leaning Idaho - 30min
Learning Mo Better Blues - 30min
Recording Idaho and Mo Better Blues - 20min
Total tim 1hr 40min
Today, after running through all my previoulsy learned scales, i learned and recorded 2 new tunes from my Grad 1 Jazz Alto sax Book, Idaho and Mobetter Blues, i only have a couple more songs to learn befor i have completed this book so i have ordered the Grade 2 book in the series and will start working from that as soon as it arrives. Click the title of this blog to hear Idaho, the break in the middle of the tune is an instrumental break which i shortened for the benifit of the recordning. C lick the title of the next blog to listen to Mo Better Blues.
Leaning Idaho - 30min
Learning Mo Better Blues - 30min
Recording Idaho and Mo Better Blues - 20min
Total tim 1hr 40min
Today, after running through all my previoulsy learned scales, i learned and recorded 2 new tunes from my Grad 1 Jazz Alto sax Book, Idaho and Mobetter Blues, i only have a couple more songs to learn befor i have completed this book so i have ordered the Grade 2 book in the series and will start working from that as soon as it arrives. Click the title of this blog to hear Idaho, the break in the middle of the tune is an instrumental break which i shortened for the benifit of the recordning. C lick the title of the next blog to listen to Mo Better Blues.
Monday 2 February 2009
Major Pentatonic on F and Minor Pentatonic on G (click to listen, sorry if audio is very quiet)
Practicing all Grade 1 Scales and previously learned Grade 2 Scales (Dorian on A, Mixolydian on F) - 30min
Testing myself on notation and reading music - 20min
Learning New Grade 2 Scales (Major Pentatonic on F and Minor Pentatonic on G) - 20min
Recording Grade 2 scales - 15min
Total time - 1hr 25min
In this practice i focussed on practising scales and testing myself on notation. I also learned 2 new Grade 2 Scale (Dorian on A, Mixolydian on F) which can be viewed on the previous blog and heard by clicking the link at the top of the page.
I practiced reading music by looking at the score to my scales and reading out the notes then playing the scales by memory. I need to keep practicing this as it is what i struggle most with.
there is only 1 more Grade 2 Scale to learn which is Dmajor, 2 octaves, which i will aim to record in my newxt blog. I also need to buy the Grade 2 Jazz book and start leaning the tunes out of there.
Testing myself on notation and reading music - 20min
Learning New Grade 2 Scales (Major Pentatonic on F and Minor Pentatonic on G) - 20min
Recording Grade 2 scales - 15min
Total time - 1hr 25min
In this practice i focussed on practising scales and testing myself on notation. I also learned 2 new Grade 2 Scale (Dorian on A, Mixolydian on F) which can be viewed on the previous blog and heard by clicking the link at the top of the page.
I practiced reading music by looking at the score to my scales and reading out the notes then playing the scales by memory. I need to keep practicing this as it is what i struggle most with.
there is only 1 more Grade 2 Scale to learn which is Dmajor, 2 octaves, which i will aim to record in my newxt blog. I also need to buy the Grade 2 Jazz book and start leaning the tunes out of there.
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