Like many musicians, I am constantly trying new methods and approaches in my personal practice. If I hear a new sound on a record or come across a new way of approaching something, I'll often try it out in the practice room to see if it's going to suit me. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.
These days I'm fairly sanguine about trying different things, but I remember a time when I lived in fear that I was practicing the 'wrong thing'. What to practice is the question that torments jazz students on a daily basis.
I have talked before about how the enormity of topics that an emerging jazz musician has to study can be overwhelming. So many developing players continuously flip-flop from one topic to the next, from one instructional method to another, desperately looking for the 'right' approach in other words, the one that's going to make them a better player overnight.
If this is you, even though you might be logically aware that such a method probably isnt out there, there is something beguiling about the lure of the new. Maybe, just maybe, you'll stumble across something that makes everything fall into place and you'll suddenly be the monster player you always dreamed.
The bad news is, of course, that the magic pill, the golden method or the secret jazz scale does not exist, and musicians only improve by putting in the hours at their instrument. Anybody who tells you differently is selling something.
There is a basic and obvious correlation between the amount of practice done and the degree of improvement. It is rumoured that Charlie Parker used to practice 14 hours a day and John Coltrane would practice so much that he often fell asleep with the saxophone in his mouth.
It's not really surprising that these are the two most influential saxophone players of all time is it?
Charlie Parker has always been a source of encouragement to me because, unlike some players, there is a lot of documented evidence about a time when he couldn't play.
It can be easy to imagine the great players simply springing from nowhere, fully formed as musicians and just waiting for the world to catch on to their genius.
This is primarily because they sound great on all the recordings even early ones where they may not have found their unique voice yet. However, the reality is that they were only allowed to record when they had reached the stage of sounding great. Nobody gives recording contracts to musicians who can't play (well, not in the jazz world anyway!) and they were only allowed into the studio after years of hard work, study and practice.
It can be so easy to forget that even the great musicians had to spend years in the obscurity of the woodshed. There isn't much information on most players about these years for the simple fact that they weren't famous yet. And why weren't they famous? Because they couldn't play!
That is why Bird's story is so encouraging. There are stories of him turning up at Jam sessions in Kansas City and being terrible. And I mean in an only-knowing-two-tunes-and-not-realising-there-were-different-keys kind of terrible. There are many musicians who remember him when he didn't have a clue what he was doing. It's hugely inspiring and reassuring to know that even someone as great as Charlie Parker used to suck!
If we accept that there is a direct link between practice and improvement then, finally, here's the good news:
It doesn't matter what you practice.
Honestly. As long as you are spending time with your instrument you will get better. Musicians generally develop in organic and non-linear ways and every moment you spend making music on your instrument will contribute to your development.
This means that there's no need to worry while you are studying one thing whether you should be studying something else - because anything you do study will contribute to your development as a musician.
Whilst there may be those who initially disagree with that statement, look at this way: If you practiced anything for 14 hours a day for the next six months, would you be a better musician at the end of that period?
Now having said all that, the question that musicians ask most often is not "How do I get better?" but "How do I get better faster!?"
Everybody's in a hurry to improve quickly and the amount of things you need to master to play jazz even competently is huge. Sometimes it feels like it will be impossible to get through it all in one lifetime.
Unfortunately, impatience alone will not make you into a better player if it did we'd all be masters by now! Next time I'll be sharing some tips on things you can focus on to try and maximise your development and speed up the process as much as you can.
Until then, please don't worry about what you're practicing just make sure you are. If you're practicing, you're getting better. It's as simple as that.
