WHAT SHOULD I BE WORKING ON

I'm often asked, "What should I be working on, what should I be practicing?"

Basically what any musician should be working on is  your ability to handle the kind of musical situations you will run into as a professional musician - before you run into them so that you are prepared:

1. Ability to read music and interpret the style of the music your are playing,
2. knowledge of various compositions (standards and Jazz Standards),
3. ability to improvise within the style of the piece,
4. ability to blend in a section,
5. develop your range on the instrument and range of expression, (be able to play fast, slow, loud, soft, sweetly or hot.)

You gotta listen to the lineage of your instrument - on trumpet it would be, but not limited to: Louis Armstrong, Jonah Jones, Roy Eldridge, Harry Edison, Buck Clayton, Hot Lips Page, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Miles Davis, Howard McGhee, Fats Navarro, Snooky Young, Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Clifford Brown, Kenny Dorham, Donald Byrd, Blue Mitchell, Nat Adderley, Booker Little, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, etc. What makes them sound alike/different, how do they phrase things alike/differently, etc.

Then you gotta listen to everyone on all the other instruments as well.   Saxophonists, pianists, trombonists, vocalists, drummers, vibraphonists, violinists and don't limit yourself to so called Jazz music, but listen to all music.

Because this music comes from the oral tradition, you gotta listen to everything to understand why it sounds like it does.

Learn tunes like All The Things You Are/Prince Albert, How High The Moon/Ornithology, Donna Lee, Confirmation, Joy Spring, So What, Au Privave, Oleo, Anthropology, In A Sentimental Mood, Sophisticated Lady, Body and Soul, the blues, etc. You may never play these tunes on a gig, but the dexterity that you will develop and the understanding of the phrasing will be invaluable!  When I say learn them, that's what I mean, be able to play them from memory not looking in the book at the melody and changes. Play them on the piano, because as a single note instrument no matter how fast you can play you are still only playing one note at a time, but on piano you have more possibilities of notes and sounds by combining them.  Understanding the keyboard will also assist you in composition and arranging.

Cecil
 

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