[Dixielandjazz] Playing without practicing

Fri Jul 13 11:26:00 PDT 2007

Bob: No one is going to convince me that someone can pick up an instrument 
cold,
without practicing and play with a pro band.
_________________________________________

I don't think I said that  - the guy on sax sounded really good but I doubt 
if he had over ten minutes of endurance.  That can only come with more or 
less steady playing.

I don't practice per se but I do play often.  I did a 6 hour gig a few weeks 
ago on Soprano and you just don't do that without some chops.   I might add 
that it was 90 degrees too.   A person might sound good but hanging in there 
for the long haul is another matter.

There are probably thousands of guys out there who don't sit down with the 
Arban or some other book and "practice" but keep their chops up to a 
reasonable level with a once a week gig.

I majored on Oboe in college and developed very strong embouchure muscles. 
Once you develop those muscles it doesn't take as much to keep them toned as 
to build them in the first place.  Some people just put on muscle mass 
easier than others.  My trumpet playing friend is at 70 still a very fit 
man.  His dad was a pro boxer as well as a musician.  They just had muscles 
and were big men.  I'm not an anatomist or biologist or whoever studies such 
things but if you have the body type that supports a large muscle structure 
there is no reason to believe that it wouldn't carry over into the small 
muscles of the mouth.  My friend is a high note guy too and not just a 
weekend one octave player.  What's pretty obvious to me is that he built up 
chops when he was young and has kept them toned without a lot of regular 
practice.

I would think that it would be almost impossible for someone 70 to start on 
the trumpet and with any amount of practice build up high note chops with a 
lot of endurance in their lifetime.

I find what drops off faster than anything is my reading.  I have to keep at 
that all the time and it's tough for me to keep in shape there.

Before I stopped playing clarinet I practiced three or four days a week just 
doing cross fingerings and scales that required them because they always 
gave me trouble.

The guy I play with all the time does regularly practice some each day and 
plays as often as possible.  He does gigs with me and two rehearsals a week 
along with gigs of his own and gigs with several big bands and he's 77.  If 
you want to hear what he sounds like I have some sound clips on my web site. 
www.thelarryshow.com

Practice benefits anyone and I wish I did it more often but allocating the 
time is another matter.  I do practice when gigs fall off to keep the chops 
up.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert S. Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 5:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Playing without practicing

> But, they did practice in the beginning.
>
> I can play piano after laying off for a long time.  But, I used to 
> practice.
>
> No one is going to convince me that someone can pick up an instrument 
> cold,
> without practicing and play with a pro band.
>
> --Bob Ringwald
>
>
>
>
> ------- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
> To: "Bob Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com>
> Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 11:06 AM
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Playing without practicing
>
>
>>I was in a repair shop one day and a guy brought in an alto sax that had
>>obviously been in the basement for years.  He said he hadn't played since
>>college and had played a bit professionally but hadn't played for 30 
>>years.
>>He wanted to give it a try but wanted his horn looked at.  He got out the
>>horn and proceeded to produce a sound most sax players would kill for.
>>
>> It can happen.  I know a trumpet player who sounds great and has good
>> range and never plays except on gigs which are only occasional.  I 
>> haven't
>> a clue as to how he does it.  I have known him for years and he doesn't
>> practice but rarely.
>>
>> Unfortunately most of us don't fall into that category.
>> Larry
>> St. Louis
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Kent Murdick" <kmurdick at jaguar1.usouthal.edu>
>> To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
>> Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 9:10 AM
>> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Playing without practicing
>>
>>
>>> I've known people who almost get away with this (note the word almost).
>>> The sax player with the New Orleans Jazz Vipers bought a sax about 20
>>> years and wandered into the streets and started playing with people -
>>> badly at first and then better and better.  But I'm sure that he worked 
>>> a
>>> little bit at home and probably does a lot of prepartation now days.
>>>
>>> If you have perfect pitch or very good relative pitch and a lot of
>>> talent, I don't see why you couldn't play reasonably well almost
>>> immediately without much practice on, say, an alto sax .  That octave 
>>> and
>>> half  on the alto (d' to a'') is pretty easy to get.. I was playing "Fly
>>> Me To the Moon" on the second day  I picked up a sax.
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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