Remember THIS Next Time You Need MOTIVATION to Practice
Had a Zoom call yesterday with students of my course, Improvising with the Blues Scale (without sounding like an amateur).
We were talking about getting bored and/or frustrated while practicing.
Isn’t playing music supposed to be fun?
Of course it is.
Then why are we sometimes so averse to practicing?
The short answer is…music is hard, and things that are difficult are not always fun.
TOUGH LOVE ALERT: If you want to get good at music, you need to do more than just mess around on your instrument when the mood strikes.
Not every exercise is going to feel like playing music that you’re passionate about.
Basketball players may not enjoy doing squats in the gym, but they know it will help their game.
Keep this in mind next time you’re struggling to find the motivation to work hard in the shed.
Okay, here’s the good news. For all y’all that are interested in becoming monster soloists, there is an exercise that will do wonders for your playing…and it’s nowhere near as annoying as doing squats in the gym.
It’s called chord-tone soloing, which means improvising over chord changes with only chord tones (root, third, fifth, and seventh).
But be warned, a limited note selection is not an excuse for a crappy solo. So, be creative and come up with interesting rhythms and compelling melodies.
I’ll show you how it’s done in my latest etude book, Chord Tone Magic, which includes 12 chord-tone solos on popular chord progressions, including:
Fly Me to the Moon
Spain
Sunny Side of the Street
And many more
BONUS ALERT: I’m including a free, 27-minute etude analysis of my solo on “Fly Me to the Moon” when you purchase your copy of Chord Tone Magic by Friday, December 11.
You can get it all at the linkety link down under:
https://go.jeffschneidermusic.com/chord-tone-magic
Happy Shedding!
- Jeff