I was thinking about some things as I was practicing today. One was criticism, which is a difficult thing for all of us I would imagine.

As many of you know, we see the world through our eyes. I realize that but there's still a lot to learn and a lot to realize that we all have in us. I don't believe when a student says to me, that they are absolutely fine with criticism, that it doesn't bother them. I don't believe when someone tells me they are not competitive at all.

This a little excerpt of a concert i did some months ago in a very nice art-place in berlin.

The other musicians are:
Moritz Baumgaertner - drums
Antonio Borghini - bass
Tobias Delius - sax

Tell me if you want to hear/see some more. I'm very into 'free jazz' or 'free impsovised music' however you wanna call it...

I'm also working in a trio with a saxophonist who does graphical notations. I could upload a notiation with a recording :-) That would be interesting, and if anyone has questions about it let me know!

best regards,
Charly

Hey guys!

Here I play a transcription of a Milt Jackson Solo to All The Things You Are.
Recording is 'Mostly MJQ - Disc 1'

Normally I always play with the recording, but this time I wanted to try to play without recording and without metronome.
The goal was that you can snip your fingers on 2 and 4 through the whol solo :-)

The tempo is a bit slower than the original...

Tell me if it works for you!?

best, Charly

Ok, personally I like these sorts of lessons because I think it's a great way to learn. You guys probably already know this about me. I could write out something, but I'd rather you guys take the concept and run with it.

If you understand the concept and make it happen then you're writing your own etude and I really believe in that. Then when you incorporate that in with some written out etudes you're doing a lot of learning. So for my part I like these semi vague concepts and I like when you guys figure it out and do something with it. Make sense?

1. I am beyond practicing.
2. I play a regular gig at my empty venue.
3. Its easy to play anything I can play.

I hope this helps anyone who suffers from MWDP syndrome.
M - Masters
W - Who
D - Don't
P - Practice

Disclaimer:
As a charter member of IAC I need to point out this is done in humor and these affirmations are not intended for coaching purposes. It's just for a chuckle.

I came across this. Man Lalo, beside talent, has a great sense of humour... but that music is very serious! I had never tought about it before...

Enjoy!

- M

As promised... here is the second part of our little tour of crazy instruments.

So this time, Florian performing "Au Clair de la Lune", on what could be called a "Metalo-Elastic-Phone". Sorry that you will in fact hear more the children having fun around than the sound of the instrument! :o)

Enjoy,

- M

I spent the night practicing pedaling and thinking about my discussion with Nicofarr. So I summed it up here. Some babbling but I think you'll get the idea.

I saw a handbell player this weekend at a local art fest. I saw she had mallets and asked for a demo. I didn't know that handbells could be played with mallets.

The thing that interested me was that they can ring out when they are laying down on the table. She showed me that under the cloth was a thick foam cushion. This allowed some ringing, but with some dampening to shorten the ring duration.

Barry