all-levels

Here is My first lesson on Just In Time.

I think I'll do a video and talk about the tune, but here is my 'Starter Pack'.

Print all this out. Write in the chords. It's so important you write them in as it should make you look at the lines and add upper partials, etc.

Of course you should have melody memorized and the chords memorized.

The solo should be played also without accompaniment. Listen to the song and the chords. Can you hear it in the line and in the solo? The first chorus is just quarter notes. The second is with 8ths and triplets.

I'm working very hard on this tune and thinking about it.

Here's a decent version. I work on trying to have good time and being articulate. I think for the most part I am. At the end of the tune on the tag I don't feel great about it, but I imagine if I didn't say anything nobody would notice. But I notice!

I try to play lines and focus on putting the harmony in the line and then not having to do so much with the accompaniment.

I say let's work on this tune. I'll get Behn and Oliver to post lessons on it also.

I have been playing the changes of Just In Time, lately.

And I always think in terms of solo playing and holding four mallets.

When you're playing lots of notes, you don't need chords. At this tempo, I'm mostly playing 8 notes in a bar. I need most of the time, 2 notes to spell the chord. Once I have cycled through the changes and played the head, the harmony is there. I don't need. In fact if I do a good job playing through the changes on the head, I can even make mistakes and get back into the changes and the listener should be fine. So I think!

I am working on a tune called "Valse Pour Valerie" by Pascal Berthe. My Dad (an accordion player) suggested we do it as a duet.
https://www.free-scores.com/download-sheet-music.php?pdf=45811

Here's a short clip of me performing the Pedaling Etude #21 from David Friedman's book, a bit under tempo.