Low Eh!

I believe that it’s important to get away from the page – being able to connect with your instrument strictly on a sound level is extremely important.

I have started assigning exercises from Patterns For Jazz, by Jerry Coker. I have lots of students who are interested in jazz, whether they are in jazz band, or small combos, but I have many students who are coming from a concert band background, and these students are the ones who can get stuck on the page.

The concept of the book is as follows – the reader is presented an idea in a couple of keys, and after a few transpositions, the reader is left to fill in the blanks.

Here’s the first example.

I have found that getting a student to connect to their instrument based on sound provides a different connection between the player and what’s coming out of their instrument.

It’s interesting to watch musicians who haven’t approached music this way. Often times, they have the technical skill, but connecting the brain and fingers is the challenge. After they get the first one under their fingers, and in their ears, the next ones become easier, because the process becomes familiar.

Even though this book is called Patterns For Jazz, it’s so useful for all musicians to make one of the most important connections that they need to develop into stronger players.