I'm sitting here practicing all these Parker tunes for an upcoming gig. I have dived back deep into Charlie Parker for the last month. It's amazing and practicing is so much fun.
I'm thinking about aim a lot. I'm trying to feel my arms and not only hear the hard passages but also feel where my arms are. Try playing Shaw 'Nuff on the vibes. This is very difficult. As difficult as playing Bach or some 20th century music. I really feel like Charlie Parker is the guy for all us vibe players to study on the vibes. Even if it's just for aim and phrasing.
One month of Parker and my hands feel so good, I'm zeroing in on phrasing and finding all these things in my playing to practice.
So my Parker Challenge to you is study play Moose the Mooche or Shaw 'Nuff and get it down and see if you can really nail it and play it well. If you can then I'm telling you IMHO every is in check. Your aim is on, your phrasing is on and your rhythm is on.
Comments
are you working out Parker's
Drew Johnson Thu, 06/06/2013 - 12:23
are you working out Parker's improv's or are you just referring to the heads??
I love this challenge. I have
behng Thu, 06/06/2013 - 13:55
I love this challenge. I have a list of these bop tunes that I go through pretty regularly, usually pick 3 to 5 heads a day as a warm up. It's funny, but I like to think of Parker heads the way classical musicians play through orchestral excerpts.
I'll have to relearn Shaw'nuff, but here's Moose the Mooche.
maybe we have to do something
tonymiceli Fri, 06/07/2013 - 11:18
In reply to I love this challenge. I have by behng
maybe we have to do something with this.
like pick a bebop head and everyone works on it for 2 weeks and then posts there version. simply just the head and then has to talk about it.
woudn't that be great.
how about moose the mooche first?
That's a good idea.
behng Fri, 06/07/2013 - 16:48
In reply to maybe we have to do something by tonymiceli
That's a good idea.
What sort of metronome do you
DrBobM55 Fri, 06/07/2013 - 19:41
In reply to I love this challenge. I have by behng
What sort of metronome do you use?
here's a conversation I'm
tonymiceli Fri, 06/07/2013 - 11:17
here's a conversation I'm having with nico farr about all this on FB
Dimitris Angelakis, Nicolas Farrugia and Gabriel 'Slam' Nobles like this.
Nicolas Farrugia very interesting thought. I ve been thinking about it these days and was thinking that maybe just practicing bebop heads could make me progress on lots of aspects on the vibes..
22 hours ago · Like
Nicolas Farrugia I'm finding out all this stuff about my hands. my right hand has turned slightly. my aim was a little off. I'm zereoing in on my phrasing. it's amazing and so exciting for me. you know all about the brain right? so i wonder what you think about all this. parker is like bach. classical guys practice bach. i bet for all the same reasons even if they don't know it. it's so pure and so perfect that it requires the most fine tuned technique. i think parker is the same. it takes such precision to play shaw 'nuff on the vibes that it gives you an opportunity to zero in on your chops. you agree?