Back in July our Michael Feinberg published an article titled 5 Things I Wish I Was Told in Music School. That turned out to be – by far – the most viewed post of our blog, which made us realized that musicians out there are particularly interested in learning from others’ experiences. Coming from that perspective we decided to make a […]
Applications of Long and Short Strokes with Jazz Brushes In the first installment of this two-part post on jazz brushes I explained how to produce long and short strokes with lateral motions, and I promised that today I would introduce ways to use this technique musically and creatively. Here I am to keep my word and share with […]
A More Modern Approach to Comping Hi there, this is a simple but super effective way of organizing voicings to get access to quick, solid voice-leading and to achieve a more modern approach to comping. This ‘sound’ has been popularized by Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea, among many others, and has […]
As a developing musician, improving your time and rhythm is one of the most important technical aspects to prioritize, regardless of what instrument you play. After all, it is thanks to time that we can make sense of music, and if we didn’t organize it in some fashion (rhythm), all we would hear would be […]
Lessons Learned Playing Bass On Tour in Japan Growing up in Jersey (cue the Sopranos theme) and living in NYC, I’ve had my fair share of great pasta cooked by Italians. You could imagine how surprised I was, when the best cooked pasta dish I had ever eaten, was prepared by a Japanese chef in Chōshi, […]
There are so many obstacles we confront as students of music. In jazz it’s expected to have a deep understanding of harmony, be able to play all tempos, be fluent in various styles, have a large repertoire, etc. With so much to learn, practice, and incorporate into our playing it’s typical for students to feel […]
Working in a competitive field like music presents many challenges, especially in a place like New York City where there are so many musicians already. In my experience, I found that one’s musical skills are not the only deciding factors in this competition; music is a social business, and one’s professional attitude and behavior can […]
Moving to New York to become a professional musician was always a dream for me as a kid. I did everything I could to soak up the knowledge that I thought I needed if I was ever going to “make it” which included studying at the Berklee College of Music, The University of Miami, and […]