Jazz improvisation is similar to many skills that benefit from starting off with good habits and the right foundation. Here are three activities you can do to begin improvising with greater skill and more confidence. 1. Train your ear The foundational skill of a jazz player is to play his or her instrument with the…
Explanations of behaviors abound with quadrants. My favorite, of which many others are based on is the 1. Expressive, 2. Amiable, 3. Analytical, 4. Driver quadrant. We all have dominant parts of our personality that fall into these quadrants, usually more than one. The quadrant I want to explore here is the one that describes…
Richie Beirach sent me a Youtube recording of him, George Mraz, and Al Foster playing Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way. I wrote back asking Richie about Brubeck. In truth, I haven’t listened to him much. Watch the video of Richie’s trio playing In Your Own Sweet Way Richie later wrote me this sweet…
I interviewed Ron Carter yesterday for the next Jazz Master Summit. He was gracious and full of insight. We spoke on a variety of topics, not the least of which was that second Miles quintet and how they did what they did on stage as well as their preparation for recordings. Early on, Ron told…
Researchers have identified two kinds of mindset. One, they call “Fixed” and the other, they call”Growth”. As you can imagine, they are polar opposites and have the power to determine the fate of your life. Now, if that is too dramatic for you, let’s say that those two mindsets affect how you improvise jazz. Better?…
This is a short eBook highlighting the life and music of Billy Strayhorn. These are the thoughts of Richie Beirach as someone admittedly influenced by Billy and considers him to be one of the iconic composers in jazz. This piece came about because of the composition competition during the Summer 2020 Jazz Master Summit. Our…
Last night, I watched a video of pianist Kenny Werner speak at Google about his Effortless Mastery method. In my next life, I want to work for Google. You’ve got to give Google credit for being open to interesting ideas that stretch the minds of its people. This one was on creativity. Kenny demonstrated to…
Richie and I created an eBook that highlights the ten most essential modern jazz piano players from Art Tatum to Cecil Taylor. Richie went to great lengths to explain that these are not simply his favorite players, but instead are the ones who paved a new path forward in the evolution of jazz piano. These…
At some point in the future, I want to create a product/service that helps musicians with their internet presence and marketing needs. As I look around, so many musicians desperately need help with this important element of their professional lives. Twenty years ago, we all thought, “I need a web site!” So we built one…
Last night I was asked for the one absolute best way to connect one’s ear to the instrument in order to improve jazz improvisation. Let’s think about that. Can you imagine a tone right now? Maybe it’s in your imagination or maybe it’s something you hear from a motor or alarm or something external. Now,…