Sing and Play - Lee Konitz exercise.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ย. 2024
- This is a great simple exercise Lee Konitz used to do with me in lessons.
I've gotten so many positive benefits from implementing it whenever I'm at a loss as to what to practice on any given day.
Sing a simple melody and
play it back.
1. Start with 3 notes.
2. Find those 3 notes on your
instrument and play them.
3. Continue alternating between singing
and playing.
Things to remember:
Sing what you hear in your mind, not what
you “think” i.e. Don't let your fingers or
thoughts dictate the idea, do the opposite;
just sing freely and figure those melodies
out on your instrument. Sometimes, as you
sing, you will know the fingerings, that is ok,
just don't allow your fingers to guide your ear
or inner voice (audiation). You’ll eventually
know if you’re “hearing” in the moment or not.
Thank you Matt.This is gold.
Happy to see you've recovered from that pesky Carpal Syndrome and back to playing well.
That's a fantastic exercise. Thanks!
Thanks John!
Great excersise thanx for sharing it...
I had a friend in college who also studied with Lee Konitz. He told me that Konitz had him sing a bunch of Lester Young and Charlie Christian solos by heart before writing anything down. I've also been taught a Ray Brown (?) exercise where you would do the following to learn a tune:
1. Sing the root movement of the entire harmonic progression.
2. Sing the root movement while playing the 3rds of the harmonic progression (on piano, vibraphone, instrument of your choice).
3. Sing the 3rds while playing the root movement on an instrument of your choice.
4. Sing the guide tone movement while playing the root movement on an instrument of your choice.
5. Sing the root movement while playing the melody.
6. Sing the melody with playing the root movement.
I might have the order of those steps wrong. Have you heard of this method of internalizing tunes?
Pickinstone - thanks for the insightful comment - Yes indeed, I've have done those exact exercises! As far as Lee goes, singing solos without writing them down was common - Lester, Roy Eldridge, and Bird where some of his favorites - probably Charlie Christian too, as you said, but he did not mention him in specifically in our lessons, maybe because I play sax. I also use Ray's method for root "melodies" which I learned from Ray while in NYC. You're the first person I've heard talk about that approach so it's refreshing to hear that it's gained wider popularity. I teach this method to all my students as it was a true game changer when I learned it (singing the bass melody/root motion). I think it may be the best way to internalize a tune. Thanks for outlining the method... that's what I remember as well.
@@MattOttoJazz I've been looking for Ray Brown's method all over the internet so I can share it with some sort of citation--yet no luck. I got the exercise from a guitar teacher years ago. It'd be cool to find the source. My friend who studied with Konitz actually played chromatic harmonica--he's quite the musician himself!
Thanks Matt, this is a tonic.
Thank you. Really useful.
Gonna add this to my routine, thanks
Thank Matt Yours is the best and most helpful exposition of the 'sing and play approach I've ever seen.
Thank you Alexander! :)
Over the last year I've really went through a massive internal struggle with noticing that I typically am in one of two states when improvising. I'm either looking away from the instrument and totally absorbed with audiating or I'm intensely looking at the instrument and neurotically trying to manage the visual information I know about the geometric configurations of theory on the fingerboard (I'm a bass guitarist). I'd estimate that roughly 95% of the way improvising is taught now is all about theory/visualization and it seems to me like the entire process of teaching improvisation would ideally just be about developing audiation to the point where you can play anything you hear immediately on your instrument of choice. I understand that theory is very useful for getting novel/unfamiliar sounds into your ears/hands but it seems like being super aware of theory while improvising would promote a kind of playing that's rooted more in visualization and abstract thought rather than just playing whatever your intuition tells you play. I personally notice that I only really feel a sense of flow and self expression when I'm in the audiating state. When I'm trying to think about theory when I play it's very exhuasting and it feels like I'm holding on for dear life. If I can remain relaxed when thinking about theory I can do it fairly successfully but when I tense up while thinking about theory that's when my absolute worst playing happens and I often leave gigs where this happens feeling totally defeated and hopeless. How do people like you or Lee find a balance between these two states?
Aaron, this is such a well articulated question. I feel you've made a very important point/observation. I try to use the theory to train the ear (as you have said) and I try to play what I hear (mainly) when I improvise. I can add a little intellectual interest to the line I hear - maybe I'll think of a substitution, triad or chromatic embellishment but the more I "think" and the less I "audiate" the worse the results - that is, things become less musical very quickly. Walking the line between both is a challenge and I think the closer one is to playing exactly what one hears in the moment (assuming one is able to hear over the given progression) the more honest and musical the line will be. Another method I think is very helpful in this regard is slow motion improving. Warne Marsh spoke about this; just playing very slow solos at around 8th note = 40 bpm as a maximum... this gives you time to audiate very clearly through a progression and also gives you time to possibly introduce some other more intellectual material. It will also help clarify when you switch from one state to the other. Thanks for your comment.
Thank you Matt.This is gold.
Happy to see you've recovered from that pesky Carpal Syndrome and back to playing well.
Thank you Matt.This is gold.
Happy to see you've recovered from that pesky Carpal Syndrome and back to playing well.
Thank you! Still dealing with it but it is improving! :)