[Dixielandjazz] Beginner sit-ins

[Russ Guarino]

My 2 cents worth....

With regard to the advise to practice one's horn as well as sitting in, I am judged by peers to be a pretty good clarinet player, yet
I continue to practice on my own.  This, along with my own band, which rehearses weekly at a local restaurant and does several gigs a
month. So, I get in both types of practice every week.

While I may be pretty good, I am not where I would like to be and I cannot yet do what L. Armstrong said was necessary.... to be able
to play any lick that I can hear in my head.  So, I practice.

The key to the practice, in my view, is to play along with CDs that you like.  I do this in parking lots while my wife shops, sitting
on the tale gate of my PT Cruiser with my "boom box" playing the CD, or at the college during semester breaks out in an open hall in a
quiet area of the campus.  In both cases, people who walk by  give me "thumbs up" which doesn't hurt the ego.  And I can tell the
improvement over time.

With regard to keys, I would suggest the player get comfortable with three sharps and three flat keys.  Most pro players are not fools
and do not put out music in awkward keys.  Benny Goodman's "Air Mail Express", for example, is in the key of  Bb  putting him in the
key of "C".  Indeed, he was no fool.  Sure, learn all the keys, but emphasize the 3/3s first.

Russ Guarino

James O'Briant wrote:

> Larry Walton wrote:
>
> > I would agree with the Practice x3 and does give you the
> > basic skills you need but sitting in a practice room will
> > never teach you how to play off of another person or to pick
> > up ideas as they flow during a tune. ...
>
> > ... jazz camps would be much more valuable to the
> > beginner where the person would get a chance to play in a
> > group with constructive instruction.
>
> My opinion is that both are needed -- the chance to play in group situations
> in front of others, and enough practice time to master one's instrument.
>
> I've observed the players at three adult trad jazz camps in the past couple
> of years -- and yes, I'm speaking of players from college age through senior
> citizens, not junior high or high school players here -- and my observation
> was that many adults who want to play jazz simply don't play their
> instruments well enough to play what they want to play.  The ideas are
> there, but the fingers and chops just aren't able to translate those ideas
> into music.
>
> I think -- and again, this is just my own opinion -- that aspiring jazz
> players need to spend the time to learn all of their scales, learn arpeggios
> in all keys (or at least the commonly encountered keys), and learn and
> understand chord structure.  Yes, there are some players who can play
> intuitively enough that they don't need this background, but certainly not
> all.
>
> And aspiring jazz players need to develop enough technique on their
> instruments so that they can play what they hear in their heads. That's the
> practice, practice, practice part.
>
> I don't mean to short-change the importance of getting to play jazz in front
> of others, whether by attending jazz camps, or sitting in with bands, or
> playing in the jam sets at jazz society meetings, or forming a band of one's
> own.  I just want to be sure that we don't shortchange the importance of
> being able to play one's instrument well enough to play the jazz one wants
> to play.
>
> Jim O'Briant
> Tuba
> Gilroy, CA
>
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