community

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Jazz Trio Workshop Spotlight: David Robinson

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Here at the studio we strive to prepare our members to perform at a high level. Earlier this month, I brought in two professionals: Jeff Knoettner (Piano) and Rob Swanson (Bass) to perform with some of the studio's members. Total immersion in playing at a professional level - there is no way to simulate it - so we learn by DOING. Education by action.

Here, David Robinson performs the standard "Autumn Leaves", playing some tasteful brush work on the front of the piece.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos from our other members coming soon…

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Experimentation & Repetition

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One of the things that rarely gets adequately discussed in music lessons is the amount of repetition necessary to develop new improvisational ideas. While some musical ideas do happen spontaneously in the moment during a performance, those ideas are the exception rather than the rule.

One valuable use of your time then is to think about the kind of idea you are trying to develop, and then go sit down behind the drum set and work that idea out. Over and over and over again. The larger the sample size of experiments, the more you will discover about your own playing.

Here is an example: I was thinking about developing some licks that incorporated a nine stroke roll into a linear pattern. The video below shows only a handful of reps of that idea which were done during a one hour session on the idea. In a one hour block, you can play a variation on that lick probably 200 or 300 times. That is how you develop soling ideas. It takes work.

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TMF Organ Trio now available!

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You can now stream the entire new album by Tuk Mattock Fredericks on Bandcamp.com. There are also hi-resolution versions available for sale which you can download to your device. We had a blast making this record, and it features some terrific playing. You can stream it below: