Taking Lessons

I have been taking lessons on Skype with Tim Price over the last two months and it's one of the smartest decisions that I've made in a while.

The Story

Roughly six months ago, I was in a musical rut. I was gigging quite a bit (and still am), but I wasn't inspired. I was playing the same tunes, the same way every time that I was on a job. That's what music had become – a job.

I started to resent my horns. I was only really picking them up when I was on going to a gig and the time that I did have the horn out at home, I noodled for hours – but never played anything meaningful.

After talking to my fiance about my options, the topic of lessons came up. I thought that if I could regain some focus into my practice habits, that I would become interested in learning again.

I emailed Tim Price after seeing his posts on Sax On The Web for his Skype lessons and he said that he could help.

I was not familiar with Tim's playing – I had his Blues-eum recording with Sue Terry (definitely worth checking out), I had watched the YouTube videos and I had read his blog, but I hadn't done any real extended listening or exploring.

Our first lesson was great – Tim had me play over a bunch of my favourite tunes and then he started emailing me the exercises and concepts.

I really felt (and still feel) like Tim really understands what I'm looking for in my own playing. We have discussions, tell jokes, swap stories and after every lesson I have a huge amount of creative energy that I can pour directly into my horns. One of the biggest challenges and one of the things that I look forward to every week is the spontaneity. I'm not saying that the lessons lack direction or that they are unstructured, Tim has a system, but it's not a cookie-cutter system. Every exercise or concept that we talk about or apply relates directly to what I'm doing as an artist. This extremely personal approach makes me think about these concepts deeper and I take much more initiative than I have taken in the past to make these concepts my own.

Over the last two months I can feel the direction in my playing has changed. I have a positive outlook on my practice time and I'm truly interested in the music again!

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment or email me.

Check Tim out on his website - http://timpricejazz.com/

My Tour With Amy Brandon - Day Three

I was very excited for Day Three.

This is the day of our first gig...well, it was supposed to be.

We woke up this morning to rehearse. Amy and I wanted to get our sets together before heading to our first show at the Smiling Goat in Halifax. I am normally not a fan of creating set lists, but I am usually working with my material exclusively, and so I feel much better having some sort of a plan. It was already snowing this morning and the forecast said that we were going to be hit with 30cm of snow.

We rehearsed our first set and after being warned about the roads, Amy called up the venue and we all decided that it was best to postpone our show until Sunday (November 27) afternoon at 1pm.

I was disappointed - I'm ready to get playing, but also a little relieved. My cold is lingering and I had a chance to sleep a little more than usual to try to fight it. After I woke up, we rehearsed and rearranged the second set.

Every time that we talk about or play the tunes, I'm getting more and more comfortable with the material. It's a good feeling!

So tomorrow, the tour kicks off in Fredericton, New Brunswick at the James Joyce Pub at 6pm!

Too Early?

I have a student who's in grade six (I assume that she's 11 or 12 years old - I've never asked), and she's just started to play the flute (so far, we've developped the Bb and F major scales). In her last lesson, she asked me to teach her "Lester Jumps or something like that..." so I played the melody to "Lester Leaps In" and she perked up right away and exclaimed "that's the one!"

I wrote out the melody and gave it to her. We spent the rest of the lesson firming up the rhythm (she can play the notes consistently) and I sent her home. Her homework for the next lesson - memorize the tune.

I'm very excited that a student that is young has taken an interest in the music that I love. I've asked several other music teachers in the area what they think in regards to her age, experience and their teaching methods. I have gotten too basic responses - "too early" or "go for it!"

So, I ask teachers (in all subjects), parents and anyone else who has an opinion a few questions -

If a young student shows interest in a subject, do you acknowledge it?
If not, are you stiffling their creativity in any way?