I loved this episode-I’ve thought on and off about sending a similar speakpipe (but decided my questions were not specific enough to music & too individual) because I’m a beginner pianist with ADHD, autism, and (the biggest problem) chronic illness. When you’re always sick, exhausted, unfocused, and overstimulated, obviously it really affects your quality and frequency of practice. Most days my concerns are more about actually getting to the piano at all. I have a tiny amount of energy to devote to practice, and oftentimes I have to spend more energy engineering my life to make it as easy as possible to get up and do it. And when I do start practicing there’s a good chance I’ll get distracted, start noodling, or have to lie down in ten minutes. Not every day is like this, but lots of them are. My first impulse is always to shame myself into what I think I “should” be doing, which never works. If anyone in remotely similar circumstances happens to see this: it’s probably not you. We’re not thriving and we need to take an honest, non-judgmental look at the bigger picture to diagnose why things aren’t working. I can be thrown off the horse for days by something as small as clutter around my instrument. Sometimes I just need a priority list on the wall by my piano. I need to work much harder than other people to achieve similar things, but that work can reveal a lot about musicianship, which I am grateful for. Like Peter and Adam mentioned about how checking in with your mental circumstances is necessary for everybody, non-disabled musicians can definitely also benefit from reevaluating the little things. “Just do it” works for a lot of people-what about when it doesn’t, you know? Maybe time to take a step back & be compassionate to yourself.
I'm subscribing openstudio for the 4th year now and those guys still keep suprising me with depth and wisdom pretty much every time. What the heck... Great another video!
Love you guys. There’s nothing more true than the fact that the somewhat self critical performers’ internal state after performing never matches the audience experience. And feedback is so fundamentally difficult to give and receive beyond cheers or those subtle sounds of satisfaction. Something I found really humanizing was watching Sting be interviewed by Beato and seeing him squirm while Beato praised a “weird” song and chord choices. It was pretty clear that even a great performer like Sting was still feeling vulnerable while someone else spoke about something he created forty years ago. It helped me understand that it is nearly universal to have a weird complex about your own work, perhaps especially for people who are excellent.
Great episode! You guys jamming is always brilliant to see and I appreciate any mistakes made but when one spends most of ones time watching clips or performances online they're only the godly ones but sometimes (rarely) you'll find one where herbie wasn't quit on or AS on as others. it's nice to know that one isnt alone in struggles both mental and physical . Like when Scofield was on beato the first 10 seconds of him playing gtr was crap cuz he wasn't really in the head space then he got it together. Jazz pros (such as you guys and herbie etc) aren't super human but they do try really really hard, thus making everything they do on stage seem magical.
Great episode. I relate to this speakpipe question and the usage of "should." My own response to this is that judgment should (there I go) come into play before your practice: "What should I focus on and for how long?" and then during the practice at intervals so that you can adjust based on how well the practice plan is working, but not during the execution during either the practice or performance, or improvisation. The right brain/creative mind should be in the drivers seat during improvisation, with the left brain/logical being tapped for those things that are "ready to go" - the goto techniques, phrases, etc. that you build up from practice and experience, that you can pull out of your hat. There will be some judgment in play, of course, but ideally it will be based on an instinct or a feeling of what is right vs. a "should" like "should I do a tritone sub here?" although if you have not internalized the process, you may have to think it through, but that would be best done in practice. That type of judgment can be dealt with, however if you find yourself thinking "should I do x, y or z" during improvisation and feeling the hammer of judgment hanging over your head, then that's likely to kill the creative flow and tie up your brain because you have disconnected from the moment and are now in your head. It's important to keep one foot on the flow pedal at all times. If you find yourself disconnecting, then that's a signal that your brain is being overtaxed by something, be it too much technical challenge, some sort of emotional energy that is not a contributor to the performance, possibly habit due to not being used to "being in the moment" for extended periods of time, or a myriad of other things. It can be helpful to identify what those things are in your practice so that you can recognize when they happen. A "should" with judgment attached is a prime example of one of those events.
Great question, but one that wasn't really answered. The request was for help to be 'in' the form and stay on track.... I have the same tenancies as the asker.... Help us easily-distracted types to integrate our imaginative ideas with the song itinerary which is so easily dropped....
Can I still play jazz if I hate the diminished and whole tone scales, extra ii-V's everywhere? Also, only Bach can write 300 pages of sixteenth notes and sound amazing. Constant bop lines of eighth notes with little motivic work, (except for Rollins, Metheny, Jarret) doesn't sound melodic, it's all passage work. Finally Great American songbook is sooo corny! Help!
I loved this episode-I’ve thought on and off about sending a similar speakpipe (but decided my questions were not specific enough to music & too individual) because I’m a beginner pianist with ADHD, autism, and (the biggest problem) chronic illness. When you’re always sick, exhausted, unfocused, and overstimulated, obviously it really affects your quality and frequency of practice. Most days my concerns are more about actually getting to the piano at all. I have a tiny amount of energy to devote to practice, and oftentimes I have to spend more energy engineering my life to make it as easy as possible to get up and do it. And when I do start practicing there’s a good chance I’ll get distracted, start noodling, or have to lie down in ten minutes. Not every day is like this, but lots of them are.
My first impulse is always to shame myself into what I think I “should” be doing, which never works. If anyone in remotely similar circumstances happens to see this: it’s probably not you. We’re not thriving and we need to take an honest, non-judgmental look at the bigger picture to diagnose why things aren’t working. I can be thrown off the horse for days by something as small as clutter around my instrument. Sometimes I just need a priority list on the wall by my piano.
I need to work much harder than other people to achieve similar things, but that work can reveal a lot about musicianship, which I am grateful for. Like Peter and Adam mentioned about how checking in with your mental circumstances is necessary for everybody, non-disabled musicians can definitely also benefit from reevaluating the little things. “Just do it” works for a lot of people-what about when it doesn’t, you know? Maybe time to take a step back & be compassionate to yourself.
i love the piano duo. i'd love to see that more often in the podcast, honestly. a lil taste.
Guys, thank you for being so transparent sharing your inner challenges - great session!
I'm subscribing openstudio for the 4th year now and those guys still keep suprising me with depth and wisdom pretty much every time. What the heck... Great another video!
Love you guys. There’s nothing more true than the fact that the somewhat self critical performers’ internal state after performing never matches the audience experience. And feedback is so fundamentally difficult to give and receive beyond cheers or those subtle sounds of satisfaction.
Something I found really humanizing was watching Sting be interviewed by Beato and seeing him squirm while Beato praised a “weird” song and chord choices. It was pretty clear that even a great performer like Sting was still feeling vulnerable while someone else spoke about something he created forty years ago. It helped me understand that it is nearly universal to have a weird complex about your own work, perhaps especially for people who are excellent.
Great episode! You guys jamming is always brilliant to see and I appreciate any mistakes made but when one spends most of ones time watching clips or performances online they're only the godly ones but sometimes (rarely) you'll find one where herbie wasn't quit on or AS on as others. it's nice to know that one isnt alone in struggles both mental and physical . Like when Scofield was on beato the first 10 seconds of him playing gtr was crap cuz he wasn't really in the head space then he got it together. Jazz pros (such as you guys and herbie etc) aren't super human but they do try really really hard, thus making everything they do on stage seem magical.
i always look forward to the pod. thanks a lot you two. you're great
Great episode. Agreement adhered to.
Great advice! You guys have set me up to what I want to be as a musician
Great session
Communicates....
Great episode. I relate to this speakpipe question and the usage of "should." My own response to this is that judgment should (there I go) come into play before your practice: "What should I focus on and for how long?" and then during the practice at intervals so that you can adjust based on how well the practice plan is working, but not during the execution during either the practice or performance, or improvisation. The right brain/creative mind should be in the drivers seat during improvisation, with the left brain/logical being tapped for those things that are "ready to go" - the goto techniques, phrases, etc. that you build up from practice and experience, that you can pull out of your hat. There will be some judgment in play, of course, but ideally it will be based on an instinct or a feeling of what is right vs. a "should" like "should I do a tritone sub here?" although if you have not internalized the process, you may have to think it through, but that would be best done in practice. That type of judgment can be dealt with, however if you find yourself thinking "should I do x, y or z" during improvisation and feeling the hammer of judgment hanging over your head, then that's likely to kill the creative flow and tie up your brain because you have disconnected from the moment and are now in your head. It's important to keep one foot on the flow pedal at all times. If you find yourself disconnecting, then that's a signal that your brain is being overtaxed by something, be it too much technical challenge, some sort of emotional energy that is not a contributor to the performance, possibly habit due to not being used to "being in the moment" for extended periods of time, or a myriad of other things. It can be helpful to identify what those things are in your practice so that you can recognize when they happen. A "should" with judgment attached is a prime example of one of those events.
Loved the jam!!
Great question, but one that wasn't really answered. The request was for help to be 'in' the form and stay on track.... I have the same tenancies as the asker.... Help us easily-distracted types to integrate our imaginative ideas with the song itinerary which is so easily dropped....
I was just fixing some system bugs today, so i totally got that part ! Lol
Excellent episode.
This one came at the perfect time for me ❤
That intro duet was hot 👌 stay tired Adam!
Agreement fulfillled
Should have added Miles and Wayne re motivic soloing ...
What is the name of the tune they opened with?
Softly as the morning sunrise
@@joebrojazz omg thank you!
❤❤❤❤great i
Gala
The Brain is 2% of body weight & uses 20% of your energy
Can I still play jazz if I hate the diminished and whole tone scales, extra ii-V's everywhere? Also, only Bach can write 300 pages of sixteenth notes and sound amazing. Constant bop lines of eighth notes with little motivic work, (except for Rollins, Metheny, Jarret) doesn't sound melodic, it's all passage work. Finally Great American songbook is sooo corny! Help!