8/1-8/13: 49
I had planned to update my practice diary once a month, but since I have made many discoveries since the beginning of August, I will write this to clear my mind before I forget.
I’ve decided to divide my practice into three broad categories.
- Warm-up
The main focus is on mechanical movements. Scales, triads, arpeggios, etc. Licks that are difficult from a technical point of view are practiced here first, before being put into the concept. 2.
- Understanding the concept
This is the practice of new rhythms, harmonies, and licks in 12 keys.
(I often try out new licks by setting a jazz standard as the weekly/monthly assignment in this category.
- Transcription
This is a project that takes several months and involves copying all of the solos of the legends. Small licks that I want to get from the full transcription are moved to 2. Concept or 3. Warm Up.
In the first season, in 1. Warm Up, I practiced the three-finger exercise, being aware of the left-right coordination so that the fingers of the right hand would not be out of order when moving the strings. I also practiced my own Etude in Diminish Scale and Michael Brecker’s Lick. Brecker’s Lick can be handled on the electric bass, but on the double bass, it takes time for it to sink in. The left-hand shifting is difficult, especially when it is a more open lick rather than a lick where the notes are closely connected. It is difficult to come out of the fretboard, however, that is why Brecker’s sound is unique.
- In the concept, I practiced Coltrane’s standard: Moment’s Notice. I am testing it on this song because a large amount of Lick was not fully digested when I transcribed Coltrane’s solo on this tune in March of this year. I also created a manual for learning standards.
The manual consists of two main parts.
IN INSIDE:
Licks starting from the 3rd, 5th, 6th (Relative Minor), 7th, and 9th degrees of the chord tones are listed, and each lick is played for approximately 3-5 minutes. Other licks in the pentatonic scale are also included here.
Out Outside:
List Licks starting from the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th degrees of melodic minor, and play about 3-5 minutes for each Lick as in the In section. Other Licks like Augmented and Diminish also go here.
The beauty of the manual is that you can deepen your understanding of the chord progression without having to use your head, and I found it more useful than playing like some random arpeggio that starts from the 5th. I realized that it is better to understand the degree of each chord in conjunction with the Lick.
- I worked on Brecker’s Giant Steps as a solo copy but realized that if I played at speeds faster than x0.85, I could not play clean and could never reach x1.0. I started copying it at the end of April this year while fundamentally reviewing the right and left hands but decided to discontinue this project here because I figured that if I was going to spend any more time to reach x1.0, I might as well copy new solos and expand my vocabulary.
However, I think it was worth the effort, as there were many uses of the right and left hands that I was able to discover in my pursuit of speed.
I transcribed Brecker’s solo. It was my first time transcribing a solo on a sheet of paper, but it was worth it. I understood more by doing it than not doing it. There were many things I could not have discovered without doing it.
In terms of cleanliness, I discovered something new about my right hand. I noticed that when I recorded my playing and listened back to it, it inevitably sounded choked. I realized that this was because I was playing with only my fingertips and plucking the strings as hard as I could, like on an electric bass. After much trial and error, I found that when playing three-finger with arm weight, it sounded cleaner when I played with my fingers as close to the bridge as possible on the fretboard in a relaxed manner. Until now, I had been playing the double bass strings with the electric bass technique because it was easy. And I was putting a lot of unnecessary effort into plucking strings. I realized that from now on, except for fast phrases, I should play the right hand the same way I play walking bass.
I also noticed many new things about how to take solos. The phrases that I played on the electric bass with my hand habits were bad when I played them on the double bass as they were. The sound was not good. This may be a problem for bass players. It is a phenomenon that a piano or saxophone has a good sound to certain licks, but when I play it on the bass, it does not come out sounding nice. It is important to forget bad phrases, so from now on I want to be aware of the importance of choosing the right phrases. I also learned the importance of starting the phrase from low notes when playing the double bass in the thumb position to increase my vocabulary.
Finally, about the new assignment. I have decided to study Nothing Personal Live by Michael Brecker for the next few months. The reason I chose this was to absorb Brecker’s fast licks and various rhythms. I think Brecker is good at puzzles, and you can hear many of his classic phrases in Nothing Personal Live. But when he does use a phrase, it always fits the context perfectly.