May 25th- June 8th

I havnt blogged over the last 2weeks but I have practiced. I practiced 4-5times I cant remember which. When I practiced during these times it was around 25mins. I started off always by practicing my chromatic scales for 10mins. These went pretty well but started off a little rough but by the end I was almost 100% fluent with them. These scales also helped me with my scale study's because they helped me broaden my note range and fluency.They especially helped me read my flat notes as that is a weakness I have. I chose and practiced the E Minor concert scale. I practiced this for around 8mins each time. At first I was o.k. at this scale but by the end I mastered majority of this scale. This scale also helped me increase my accidental, note fluency and my lower register as that is one of my major weaknesses. I then practiced my scale study from the red book for the remaining time. This study did not really teach me new notes and was relatively easy for me but it really helped me with my ties and my rythms. This scale really helped me with my overall playing ability. That was what I practiced for the last 2 weeks.

May 24

Today I practiced for 25mins. I started off with the chromatic scales # 3 and #4 because I have not practiced them in a while. They went pretty well and I should become familiar with them again after a couple more practices. I practiced this for 5mins. I then practiced the Bb minor scale. This went o.k. but I need to keep practicing even though I am very familiar with these flats because they are played in a bit a different sequence which was a little challenging for me. I then practiced my ISP songs for 15mins. They went o.k but I need to keep practicing them to become 100% fluent with them. This should happen after 3 or 4 more practiced by myself and 5 more practices with my quartet.

Cannonball Adderly

I have chosen Cannonball Adderly, a famous jazz alto saxophonist. Adderly has past away and was 46 years old living from 1928-1975. He started playing since he was a child as his family was into music and later attended The University of Tallahasse and studied music there. He then became a high school music teacher in Florida. He later moved to New York and thats when his career began, and it was by chance. He brought his sax to a cafe because he was afraid that it would get stolen and then they asked him to play and he became an instant star. He was noticed by Miles Davis and he joined his sextet. He was then signed by Savoy Jazz and started recording and playing with the group, and made some classics like "Know What I Mean" and "Kind of Blue". After that he made his own jazz group called the Cannonball Adderly Quintet, featuring his brother on Cornet. This band was way more successful and was enjoyed more by the public for it's crossover into pop music. Adderly's music then started to influence the electris-jazz scene and he then began doubling on the soprano sax in shows. Later that year his quintet was stared in the psychological thriller "Play Misty for Me" with Clint Eastwood and he also became an actor in the show "Kung Fu". After he stopped making music many songs and music types were influended and even named after his band or songs. Adderly, a few years later died form a stroke and was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame. The song I chose was The Jive Samba. In this song I like the jazz solo licks that he preforms. In this song he plays notes from all the register but I really like the mellow, dark tone from his lower register and I also like his energetic, brilliant upper register. I like his technique, how he improvs and just go's with the flow in all of his solo's, and how in his music he includes all aspects of jazz,
(mellow, energetic, bluesy etc.) I especially love his trill near the end of his preformance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHFn0vHF6-c

May 7th

I practiced for 30mins today. I played the Db concert scale for 10mins today. This scale went well, but for the first couple minutes I need to go over the fingerings to become familiar with them again. I playedthis scale 85% fluent because I have not practiced it in a while. I need to keep working on the Scale Study though so I can master, but I have it 80% fluent right now. I then practiced Study no.9 in the red book. This went well as we have recently played it in class. It is fairly easy for me but I am slowing it down in the sections that change notes quickly. With a few more practices it should perfect for me. I then played Chillers and Thrillers for 10mins. This went well, but I still need 4 or 5 more practices to master the entire thing. I especially practiced section 143 in "Escape from the City". This went ok but I need to keep practicing it to master it.

April 26th

I practiced for 20mins today. I started off by practicing the Db Concert scale again.This time the scale went better. The scale is 90% fluent for me and the flats are coming along very well. With another practice, I should master these notes. I then practiced the Study No.5 from the red book again. This study went way better than last time I played 90% of this study without mistakes. With another couple practiced this scale should be 100%, and then I will move to help increase my rythm patters.I then practiced chromtic scales no.2 & 3, for 5 mins as I have not played these scales in a while. They went well, but I need to constantly play them to keep my note fluency up. I practiced Pirates for 5 mins and still focused on bars 96-108, and the notes are almost all fluent for me, and once they are I will start to increase the tempo as I am going very slow right now.

April 23rd

I practiced for 25mins today. I chose a new study today, the Db concert scale. I chose this scale because I have trouble reading flats because I am frequently only play sharps. This scale went well for me becasue the falts are relatively easy and not that hard to hit. I am 70% fluent with this scale.With a few 3 or 4 more practices these notes should become 100% for me. I also started a new study from the red book today, study No.5. This was a semi-challenging study to start off to play because I have not heard it before and I am not very good at playing eigth notes after dotted quarters. With 4 more practices I should be able to master this because the study is very repetitive. This will help improve my rythm patterns. I the practiced pirates a bit for fun since we have finished all of our band music. I especially practiced bars 96-108 as those are the hardest bars for alto's in the piece.

April 21st

I practiced for 30mins today. I started off by playing C Concert scale for 5mins. This scale is almost 100% for me, and with one more week of practice I should have mastered it. These sharps are all very familiar for me but playing them all together, at a fast tempo can be very hard so I am really working on the scale in thirds and picking up the tempo every time I play it. The scale went well. I then played study no.4 again like last week. I still have not mastered this sutdy, but I think with 1 or 2 more practices it should be GOLDEN for me. I practiced this for 15mins. This study is challenging for me because it uses a lot of rythm patterns I am not used to , but if I keep playing this study they will become second nature for me. This study is going preety good for me. I then played Rumble on the High Plains for 10mins. I quickly ran through the important parts in the piece as I have not played it in a while. I especially practiced bars 51 to 62 to make sure I can still play all the right notes. I then practiced bars 175 to 194, and this went well. I played these sections because they are the hardest in the piece and if we play it in kiwanis. I need to be 150% fluent with them.

April 14

I only practiced for 20mins today. I practiced the C Concert Major Scale for 5mins. I played the scale in half notes, eighth notes and in thirds. I played the scale well as the sharps in it are very familiar with me as they are in a lot of the music I play. I still need to work on the notes though especially when Im playing the thirds.This will help increase my note fluency, and my ability to play different notes together. By next week the scale should be 100% for me. I then practiced study no.4 in the red book, for 5mins. We played this recently in class, and it is 85% for me right now. I am going to keep practicing it for the rest of the semester because it really works on different ryhthm patterns, which is one of my biggest weaknesses. I then practiced the Holst piece for 10 mins. I ran through parts E to G in the 4th movement quickly, and I then I practiced the sections I am going to be playing for the test.

April 9th

I practiced for 40 mins today. I started off by practicing the 1st, 2nd and 3rd chromatic scales for 5mins because i have not playing them for a while. They are 100% fluent for me, but I go over them to keep that fluency up to date. I then practiced the F concert scale for 10 mins. I started of with the scale which I am 95% fluent with. With one more practice it will become natural. I the moved on to the scale in thirds and that went ok, and i should keep practicing that so I will be able to play this scales notes better. I then played the chorale by Bach and that was fairly easy, I need to work on the breathing marks though. I then practiced Study No.3 in the red book for 5 mins. I am preety good at this study considering I have played it last year and a couple times this year. I know all the notes because they are all naturals for me. I practiced this a couplee times through to really work on my staccato notes. I then ran through all the Holst movements that we are playing and they are all going well, but I still need to practice them regularaly to make sure I get down all the rythems and notes right but it is going very!!! well.

April 5th

I practiced for 30mins today. I started off practicing the F concert for 10mins. I can play majority of the notes all ready because I have played the notes numerous times with the bad pieces. With a few more practices those notes should become 100% fluent for me! I then practiced the 4th and 5th chromatic scales to further increase my fluency with notes. I have majority of the notes down but will continue to practice the scales until the are second nature for me. I then practiced Holst for 15mins. First I practiced H to the end in the First movement. I slowed down the tempo for 5mins, really working on my noted and slurs, then I played it up to speed for 5mins to help me master the section. I then went over part E to G in the 4th movement. I really slowed down the tempo and worked on the notes and rythmes to master this very difficult section. With a few more practices at home and at school I will have mastered this section.

April 5th

April 2nd

I practiced for 25mins today. I practiced the chromatic scales for 5mins. I have mastered all the notes and slurs but am still practicing the scales to keep improving my note fluency. I am going to start to try to play #5 and 6 of the chromatic scales next time I practice. I practiced the ebconcert scale for 5 mins and have mastered all the notes. I then practiced the chorale for 5mins and have mastered all the notes and breathing marks. Next I practiced the 4th movement of Holst for the last 10mins, and especially worked on section D to the end. It is going well but I need to focus on the clarity of my notes still so next time I practice I will be slowing down the tempo again and trying to run the whole movement. The other things I am practicing in the Holst movement is the lower register and the doublets but will also be focusing more on them next time I practice as I mainly focused on notes this time.

April 1

I practiced for 20 mins today. I practiced the eb concert scale for 5 mins today. I have perfected all the notes and have mastered the scale. I then practiced the chorale on page 17, for 10mins, which is due friday. I mastered all of the notes and am working on my pauses and breathing in the piece. With one more practice I shoud be able to master the entire chorale. For the last 10 mins, I practiced mainly Holst, working on movement two as that is the movement I have played the least. I am playing it well but need to slow down my tempo becaause I am still going a little to fast. Once I play it with the band I should master the tempo. The other piece I worked on was Rumble and I just went over a couple of notes that Ive had trouble with to master them, especially the notes in the lower register.

March 29

I practiced for 35mins today. I practiced the 3rd and 4th chromatic scales. I practiced this for 10mins. I have mastered the notes and am going to be working on the sluring next time I practice. I should have it mastered next time I practice. I then praticed the D concert scale. I know all of the notes, and im working on becoming as fluent witht his scale as I am with a G concert scale. I practiced the arpegio, scale study and chorale for 15mins. I then practiced the third movement of the Holst piece. I have almost all of the notes down, but am still playing it a bit under tempo so I can work on the notes with the rythms. I should master this section in 1-2weeks.

March 24

I practiced for 30mins today. I spent 10 mins working on the chromatic scales to help improve my note fluency. I can play 85% of numbers 3 and 4 but am having still haviong trouble with a couple with a few notes in the key signature. I wrote the note names in the book but will erase them sometime next week.I the worked on the gb scale and worked on the case study and mastered all the slurs, notes and accents and will be moving on to the next case study next time I practice. I practiced Second Suite and worked on my notes, especially my lower register in movement 4. With a couple more practices the lower register should become fluent for me and I should be able to play 90% of movement 4.

March 3rd

I practiced for 40mins today. I spent 20mins working on the chromatic scales and the gb concert minor scale. I have almost mastered the four chromatic scales, I only need to work on a couple of more sharps to become fluent with them. I am having a bit of trouble with the Scale Study in the gb minor scale but I have been slowing down the tempo to work on the slurs and proper rythmes. The band piece I worked on was Second Suite, and I tried playing the 1st movement today. I especially focused on Part C. and slowed down the tempo to get all the notes.By next week I should have mastered the right notes in the 1st movement.

March 2nd

I practiced for 30mins today. I spent 15 mins owrking on the different scales. I especially worked on # 3 and 4 of the chromatic scales as I have not mastered them, like the first two chromatic scales. When doing this I also reviewed a couple of my sharp fingerings. The chromatic scales are going well, I need a little more practice to be fluent with them. I worked on the 4th movement of Holst. Im slowing down my tempo to work on the notes but will bring it up with more pratice over the next couple weeks. I also practiced Pirates of the Carribean for fun!