Poseur to Composer

Pre-Practice Routine

Posted by Jason Comely on July 14th, 2019

Pre-Practice RoutineWhen I get home from work I feed my cats and turn on the kettle. I have a pre-practice routine going: I sip a cup of Bengal Spice herbal tea and eat some dark chocolate (90% cocoa). It tastes awful, but the theobromine (a natural compound with a similar effect to caffeine) in the chocolate puts me in a relaxed, aware state of mind.

Then I strap on my arm braces and practice for 30-45 minutes. Today I imagined there was a piano teacher beside me, whispering instructions in my ear (not as creepy as it sounds). It seemed to work. I caught some bad habits and made corrections.

Tonight I also downloaded the sheet music for September by David Sylvian. It's a short, wistful, hauntingly beautiful song I'd love to be able to play someday. September is, in my opinion, an example of a third stream song (a genre of music I discovered only two days ago). Third Stream, Wikipedia tells us, is a synthesis of jazz and classical music.

Another excellent example of third stream music (that's agreeable to my ears, from what I've heard so far) is the album Arbour Zena by pianist-extraordinaire Keith Jarrett. I look forward to kicking back and checking out the full album after church tomorrow.

As for the "math jazz rock" thread found yesterday, I made a quick playlist this morning before work. You can check it out on Spotify. Two bands not mentioned in the thread that belong are Troyka (I added tracks Dropsy and Rarebit to the playlist) and Vixu. The latter is experimental rap-jazz (no rock) but with very interesting time signatures.

Thanks for spending this time with me. Talk to you on Monday.

Tricky Parts

Posted by Jason Comely on July 13th, 2019

Tricky PartsOnly got a bit of keyboard practice in today. A few minutes in the morning and squeezed a few minutes into my crowded evening. With my tendinitis-riddled arms the way they are, it's for the best anyway. I need to be deliberate with my practice, to think about what I'm trying to accomplish before laying fingers on the keys.

Especially important is to anticipate any tricky parts ahead of time (a protip I gleaned from How to Play the Piano).

Speaking of tricky parts, at work I was chatting with a customer about math rock and how the genre is known for its interesting time signatures (he's a fan of The John Denver Experience). Later I did a search for "jazz math rock" and found this reddit thread. No time to listen to any of the recommendations tonight, but hopefully tomorrow.

One more thing: the Avant-garde Classical playlist on YouTube Music is pretty tricky. Worth checking out.

Update: It's not The John Denver Experience but The Dillinger Escape Plan and not math rock but mathcore. My mistake.

A Key to Learning

Posted by Jason Comely on July 12th, 2019

A Key to LearningOf the three songs I've practiced, So What by Miles Davis is most intuitive to my fingers. And it makes sense. I've heard the song a thousand times and know it intimately. It feels second nature to me.
When I practice the classical pieces, it's like I'm handling fine china. This tentative feeling I get is thwarting my progress.
So, this seems to be key to learning, or at least to the way I learn: practice music you know and love. I don't know classical music, and admitted so in an earlier post. I appreciate it's uplifting, heavenward qualities though, and who doesn't want to play piano like Chopin?
Jazz is more in tune to my sensibilities. I should stick with it.