I always think about this quote from famous concert pianist, Rubinstein. “Never practice more than three or four hours a day. No one can concentrate longer than that, and you must spend the rest of your time learning about life and love and art and all the other wonderful things in the world. If a young person sits in the practice room all day, what can he possibly have to express in his music?” 4 hours is easily the limit for me. That’s when my brain shuts off. Why practice anymore than that?
I allways practice like half hour or sometimes a full one, all I have to know is that I'm practicing just to play shit I like and not concert level of pieces :P
In think that it's likely, that when he was a child, he practiced more than 4 hours a day and that he also was a prodigy. Therefore when he was getting older he was so proficient at the piano, that he could practice so efficiently that he "only" needed 4 hours to still be a world class pianist. For us other mortals I think the most important practice schedule has to be consistent (everyday), since it's better for our memory (spaced repetition) and also easier to push through, when it's a habit. So I wouldn't disagree with Rubinstein, but rather take his advice with a (small) grain of salt.
@@Ryuuuuuk Yeah, I definitely agree with you here. However, I think in my personal experience and talking to my friends, there's a mental hard cap on which we can really progress and learn, which is what this quote gets at. And if you weren't lucky enough as a child to be practicing 4 hours a day, then it's really hard to overcome that deficit when you're older, too. Because once your brain has absorbed all the information it realistically can for a time, you lose almost everything you work on afterwards. So then, you might as well only practice 4 hours and live your life. I think the more important thing is to make use of those 4 hours as effectively as possible, with a schedule and spaced repetition as you've mentioned :P
Practicing for 12 hours a day consistently for years or even months seems impossible if for all that time you are only practicing alone in the practice room. However it seems a little more doable if you are playing with others and going to jam sessions and playing gigs which you also count as part of your practice time. That way you will also get some social interaction as well and wont go insane from being stuck in a room all day.
I was waiting for this video for so long. I fully agree with your conclusion. You don‘t practice 12 hour to have practiced 12 hours, you practice 12 hours because it happend. I think what makes this challenge hard is the fact that you *have* to practice that long. It’s like school, you constantly look at the clock and calculate how much time is left. Thank you for this amazing video!
I find that if you just sit with your horn all day, and take all the necessary meal breaks and bathroom breaks and small rest breaks, it comes out to just about 12 hours without timing it. I think that’s where the number came from- just about the amount of time spent sitting with your horn all day.
Me as a trumpet player could never do this. My lips would be completely dead, busted, and bleeding by hour 4 or 5 if I was playing my best the entire time.
@@adrienne9962 I play flute and piccolo, if you're playing notes which require a very tight embachure (like high notes on the piccolo) your cheeks and lips will get extremely sore and fatigued after a few hours. Although I don't think I'd start bleeding, and I think 6 or 7 hours would definitely be doable if you stayed on the flute and didn't play anything too physically stressful. I can't speak to any other woodwinds though.
@@ethansmith876 thank you, i don’t really know how woodwinds work that much and a couple days ago, my flute friends tried to teach me to play flute, and lemme tell you i kinda died. i mean it takes more air for me to play tuba, baritone, euphonium, and trombone, but i did not expect something like the flute to kill me. that tiny instrument has no right to require so much air lmao major props to you, especially for the piccolo part, i cannot be within 5 feet of those things without dying cuz of their insane shrieking high notes, especially as a preferably low brass player.
@@adrienne9962 we can’t bust our reed but our thumb and index will be super sore and our mouth will start to not be able to close around our opening and do weird things idk how to explain
@@zoenicole826 it's a play on the fact that he's a wind instrumentalist. Because lung lung is Ling ling but for wind instruments because you know "Lung"
In college some friends and did a 24hour session after finding a study where a lot of musicians experienced a break through at hour 16 doing the same. You’d think we’d stop at 16 after the breakthrough but being able to do something you couldnt before is really exciting and you just kinda finish out the 24hrs.
@@nicholasburch2122 like in their music, they eventually become better or really get engaged at the 16 hr mark and after that it doesn’t become a task to finish out the 24 hours you just do it cause you want to
The thumbnail kind of reminds me of the kinds of videos where the title is: PLAYING THE SAXOPHONE AT 3AM ( SCARY ) ( GONE SAXUAL ) ( DO NOT TRY AT HOME )
That last part of the video where Nathan said he felt closer to the saxophone and feels like it's a part of him after a rest from 12 hour practice, makes you think maybe that's what makes charlie parker..Charlie Parker u know, an extension of him, damn 12 hours??? Sheeeshh
I'm sure of it...Charlie Parker had to play all night long in cabaret and nude dancers places to make a living. These guys had to play and play again. If you compare musicians to normal workers, a normal day of work is 8hours why can't we do the same when we are paid for it. Also there's a difference between conscious practice and getting into a trance, in music this trance state of mind is very important to feel at least once i think
I’ve often felt the same thing about guys like Jimi Hendrix and Jaco Pastorius. They would say the same sort of stuff about how they practiced constantly and the instrument was basically an extension of themselves.
@@essouna damn, I completely forgot about the conscious and unconscious thing, maybe that's what happen to nathan, and yes the trance, you just went automatic haha probably that's the outcome of practice for hours and hours for years
Really neat idea. Have to admit, I've never practiced more than about 4 hours in a day (back when I was in school). Though I've known a few people to consistently practice 8 hours a day. For me, I've long been focused not on what I learn in one day, but what I internalize over a period of time (typically a week or so). That, for me, requires I give myself time to "forget" what I practiced, and see how much I remember the next day, or the next week. I've also found that I can only really focus on practicing for about 3-4 hours in a day, any more and I start getting distracted and unfocused. I learned early in music school that if I was only going to practice around 3 hours a day (and split the time between jazz and classical), I really had to learn how to practice efficiently.
In my experience if one wants to use the time to work on a particular project, The 12 hour practice session is justified. In my case a recording for ECM, music composed by Michael Mantler , an 8 minute tenor sax concerto with the Berlin Modern Chamber Orchestra with a live performance the evening before the recording date. Extremely difficult music for me. But i had the material 6 weeks before the date So i did 12 hours a day but used 16 hours a day to actually be on the horn 12 hours. That means I took 4 hours to do other things. the last 2 weeks i did not need more than 2-3 hours and that was just small stuff. Before I went to Berlin I went over to some musician friends and performed it with the discs Michael had given me to practice with. A dress rehearsal. This is something that classical musicians do. I played it with no breakdowns and my friends gave me a couple of tips. I had 2 rehearsals in Berlin before the hit. My point is that there has to be a specific goal to use that much time on. But breaking it up in segments is really effective. Anyway for me. I have done this quite a few times. I am 75. Enjoy you Vlog very much!
A teacher told me that at every stage in your development you learn that you have been practicing the wrong things. If you practice phrasing, it can be at the expense of developing something else such as intonation, transcription or timing. For some, this can be because they are practicing the things they’ve become good at and are avoiding the things they’ve had trouble mastering. For most people, it is a failure to identify the areas they are weaker in, and focusing their practice time accordingly.
Mon frere, I do wish that I were you, musically; what an impossibility! (lgh) Your discipline, devotion and diligence are indeed winning ingredients to becoming the next Charlie Parker, Julian Cannonball Adderley, Jackie McClean, or any of the great altoists of Organic Real Jazz. Herein, your sound - merely your sound - is reminiscent of: Paul Desmond's Lee Konitz's Bud Shank's Art Pepper's Gary Foster's The virtuosic trumpeter Clifford Brown once said that he generally practiced each day for at least TWO HOURS - without fail. "The idea", he asserted, "IS to 'TOUCH' the horn every day (even) for TEN minutes, at least." What an inspiration to all musicians and would-be musicians you are, Nathan! Good luck, Champ. Lohvissimo!
Your confidence and sound certainly shine through after hour 11. I know if i do 5 hours a day for a week there is another magic that happens to your playing. Better sound, better ideas, better technique, so clean. Can only imagine 12 hours a day but there is a magic that happens to your playing for sure
I always love your videos, Saxologic - I've been a fan since the very start. Sometimes with your humour, it can difficult to remember that you truly a talented virtuoso at the saxophone. Keep up with the good work!
Multiple consecutive days is working for me lately but you’ve answered something I’ve also realised that a long shed session can make your connection with the horn “level up” overnight. Really appreciate how relatable this Vlog was✌️🎷🎶
The longest I’ve ever practiced was 5 hours and even with some breaks my chops were so tired. I’ll leave the 12 hour long practice sessions to the woodwind players lmao
I once practiced for 12 hours by mistake and I improved quite a bit, I generally practice a minimum of 3 every day recently, 12 hours isn't worth it, it hurt my fingers, but 3 is a good amount of time to practice frequently
At the beginning of COVID, I would practice for 9-12 hours a day with the longest day being 13.5 hours. Don’t recommend it because after 3 months straight of doing it, I got so burnt out that I didn’t play for a week and a half. But the progress I made during that time made me an infinitely better player. I now have impeccable intonation and learned pieces like Bozza Improvisation and Caprice (the caprice is REALLY fast now), Ibert Concertino da Camera, Maurice Tableaux de Provence, Bach Cello Suite No. 2, and Fantasia by Hietor Villa-Lobos. So it’s a risk reward kinda thing.
@@leobrahmachari6611. At what cost??? I still don’t have the same relationship that I did with my instrument. I don’t recommend as I know of people who did the same kind of regiment who continued (usually from parent forcing them) for a year and grew to despise their instrument and refuse to pick it up after they left the house. It’s the price. I was fortunate enough to stop before it got too bad. I’m glad I’m a better player now, but I definitely would recommend it. It’s the fast way through learning an instrument. I didn’t get to take the time to learn and appreciate the music I was learning and missed out on the most rewarding parts of playing an instrument.
You just can’t practice 12 hours for the sake of practicing 12 hours. On the occasions I’ve practiced 12 hours in a day it was simply because I wanted to play my horn all day and it added up to 12 hours. Thing is if you’re not enjoying yourself while practicing but you did it all day, you didn’t really practice even if you blew air through your horn and fingered some notes. Frustration hinders your absorption enormously, such that you would learn more doing it half as many hours but doing it joyously. Bad practice is a crime against yourself, I agree that is not recommended. But it is recommended to practice 12 hours in a day if you’re enjoying it! And transcription counts
1:52 : You told yourself the secret how Parker practiced 12 hours a day I strongly believe Parker didn't "practice 12 hours a day", but instead, "stopped after 12 hours", which makes a big difference : When you tell yourself "I'll practice 12 hours today", it also means "I HAVE to, and as I'm telling this to myself, it means I'm not used to do that". And during your practice, if you ever feel like you don't want to practice any more, well too bad, you gotta do it, and it scraps the whole process because you do something you don't want, which could maybe lead into a loss of interest for practice. And so I bet Parker was just practicing as much as he loved to, then when it thought it was time to stop, he just stopped, then looked at the clock and "uh, 12 hours..."
Tom Baker, ex-USA (now sadly deceased) in Sydney AU, was a brass player. For medical reasons, he borrowed an alto sax from pro Paul Furniss, and practised all day (except for rock fishing) every day. After 3 months he appeared back on the gig scene, playing like a seasoned pro, was picked up by big bands, and later went on world tours, jazz festivals etc.
My take on practicing, as a lifelong music educator. I am in heavy practice mode now, btw. Work in 20 minute segments, take a break, repeat twice. Continue without causing yourself stress or pain. Don't waste time playing stuff you already have down Practice until you can't get it wrong Break down the assignment into smaller pieces. Work on the most difficult first. Start at moderate tempo and go 10 bpm beyond the desired tempo.
The brain learns the best the first 4 minutes of working. After 7 minutes it needs a break to process. 20 seconds. After 20 minutes (3 of those chunks) the brain needs at least 5 minutes of rest to be able to keep learning the most efficient. Then we can keep it up for another 20 minutes in the same manner. So after 45-50 minutes the brain stops process data we input in the best way it can. We learn slower. So it is better to take a real break. And a break means engaging in something completely different. Cooking, walking, talking, physical stuff. Then we can repeat this process about 4-5 times in a day before the brain stops learning for real. This takes 8-10 hours with good breaks. On top of this it needs to rest and process for a longer period of time some times. So working hard 2 days, resting for 1 and then practice less for 1 seems like a good cycle to me. This is what i have found talking to people studying this stuff, and reading lots of papers on similar subjects. Dont know if its ever been proper research on the subject for musicians, but this works for me and that is proof enough for me right now. I started researching this for myself when becoming a father and working as a pro at the same time. Less time to practice and still lots of music to learn. I started learning faster and could manage to learn more in less time than before. More music in 2 hours than i did in 5 hours prior to this. :) just posting hoping someone will have the same use for it as i did. :)
As a guitarist, the majority of my practice time is spent analyzing and troubleshooting arpeggio shapes. On the guitar, there are multiple spots to play each note which makes for a lot of variations on arpeggios. People might think the guitar has been solved already but it's actually quite the opposite. I havent seen 1 person in my 16 years of playing explain an optimal system for arpeggios that encompasses inversions, triads, 7th, extensions, and different note groupings such as 3's or 4's.
I know your comment is 7 months old but anyway... I can totally relate and honestly it kind of makes me despise the guitar even though it's my main instrument. I feel I can never achieve the same effortless mind-hand connection that horn players or pianists can have. I also kind of stopped listening to a lot of guitar players because even for the greats I feel you always hear a little bit of the music coming from muscle memory rather than from the heart/ears, you know...
I usually practice all Danm day long, mostly because I find it really fun, but I have this weird mentality that I can learn everything in a day. So I usually spend my day learning some song, and I end up being sick of it 😅
People that practice 8 to 10 hours a day are the kind of people that start practicing and are so into it, they don't even realize that 8 hours has gone by! Practice for as long as you can, but when it becomes a real chore then back off for a while, don't get burned out.
Honestly I think you’re right. Those long practice sessions kinda just happen when the music takes over. I remember when I practiced 8 hours in one day for the first time. It was wild because I just lost track of time.
Hey dude, that AudioStretch app you used/recommend on a transcription video (sorry I didn’t look hard to find it cause Im working on a transcription for a final rn) SAVED ME. Genuinely it is such a big help to have control over the speed of the audio and not rely on TH-cams huge slow down settings. Ik its not your app (I think... if it is Im a dumb ass) but I watched that video when I started and it helped a ton. So thank you so much.
This was a ridiculously good video for many reasons! Showing off different practice examples of course up front was amazing. Talking through it as you go is very important and we could also sort of see in real time when fatigue sets in. Realistically, food, sleep, and breaks are paramount to having a successful practice session! Your brain and body need fuel to work, and if that is 2 am McDonald’s that works great! When thinking about our heroes practicing for 8-13 hours per day we have to keep in mind most who did that didn’t have a day job or were college students. This 12 hour practice would have likely been SOOO much easier if you didn’t have to do anything else that day and could start at 9 am after a full breakfast! So while there may be some truth to the superheroes doing it, it is not like most people’s situations now! As to the diminishing returns, most players definitely won’t have their best practice anything after 6 hours. So at that point it is clearly a bad use of time. That is unless you are on a big project and lose track of time due to being in the zone! Once in my undergrad I started a Coltrane solo and didn’t stop until I finished. It wasn’t because I had a goal or wanted a super hip VLOG, I loved the solo so much I just couldn’t stop. When I finished I went outside and was shocked to realize it was night time and nine hours had passed! Yes, those things happen when you are in the zone, but I really don’t think that is a real thing for most people all the time. Anyway, fantastic video once again! These are so good for students considering music studies because you show what it is likely very clearly! Good luck on continued success and growing subs!
Aw man! What a great comment. You are a kind sir! I am glad you noticed all the little details. Feedback like this is why I keep going! Good luck to you as well!
I think that original 12 hours was likely mostly repertoire with maybe some drilling and technique. Then again some people treat picking up the instrument and noodling as "practice". Having said that, people like Mike Oldfield hid from the world and worked at their instrument all day for years so maybe there is something to it.
not gonna lie that clip of caprice has to be one of my favorite sounding ones in that particular area because so many people kind of staccato those notes instead of having them be full like my belly after i eat taco bell and regret it an hour later
Well, well, well. Where do I even start.... So many good nuggets. Thanks for sharing the equipment, was curious. I learned that breaks matter and I agree on the 4 hr max, although when practicing percussion I can do that any day. My max on sax these days is 2-3 hrs, but then again I do 2 hrs daily. My wife says "you have video blogging skills and should continue to do them". I have to agree. And lastly, that Charlie Parker painting..... you're a good man.
Thank you man! You should totally vlog your progress! Maybe like a “1 year progress” video! Or monthly progress, etc. 2 hours is a very healthy time, especially since you’re doing it everyday! The everyday part is the hardest part
@@Saxologic Abie was talking about you, she was just listening to your video without seen it and enjoyed it. She says “he’s got a gift for video blogging...” and I agree
I don't necessarily recommend 12 hours but practice till you feel you're done, take a short break and put in another practice session after the break. If you do something to the point of (near) exhaustion, take it easy for a bit and then do some more somehow gives you that experience of quickly growing closer or more familiar with whatever you are doing, kinda like your subconscious resistance slowly washing away, a form of do-it-yourself brainwashing. :-)
practicing (for me) can vary. My music program isn't the best, and we were never really pushed to practice much. I don't really want to pursue music as a career, but I do very much love it. There are times where I just CANT practice... and times where I close my eyes, play, and wake up from my trance 4-5 hours later feeling like a whole new musician. Honestly playing 12 hours seems like it would be mad boring, but idk, maybe if i snort coke and feel like playing my clarinet and sax I might do a 12 hour practice session lol
This is why sometimes i forgot to stop practice on saxopohone . In my case i have a big repertorie classic music , jazz music , traditional music from my coutries . I need 6-7 per day😂 so , practice it is the key of the succes !
I have never practiced more than 5 or 6 hours a day, but I remember that feeling with the horn, like it was a third arm, after studying 4-6 hours for like 4 or 5 days in a row...I always want to go back to that feeling haha.
I’m gonna need the unedited footage so I can use all of the free time I have to use masters-degree level calculus to invalidate everything you did in this video. I’ll be waiting.
I'm a singer-songwriter. I mainly play guitar and sing, but I've also played bass and trumpet, and I know enough drums to fake my way through a jam session. I could probably do this on guitar and electric bass (but not upright), but no way in hill myself or 99.9999999% of other players could do this on trumpet (chops would be destroyed), singing (you'd demolish your throat), or drums (I feel like this is more possible than trumpet or singing but you'd have to be in like ultra marathon shape). I know he takes breaks in this video, but I can safely say I've never practiced singing for more than two consecutive hours. I feel like any longer than that and the quality of my voice starts to diminish. I've sang on 4-5 hour gigs, but that was in a wedding band with another singer to split half the songs with, and with a lot of places in the set where I'm just not singing.
When I got the time I wanna try this as well!! This was immensely inspiring btw cause for me it’s been like almost 2 years since I started working and left the life of playing practicing and performing music on a daily basis 😂 you get caught up in life, your life sort of just stopped revolving around music at one point and before you know it your skills are slowly deteriorating. It feels bad and sux a$$
Well it's was Kansas so it was something like that, no distractions, very low money to survive, a lot of motivation, a true love for the instrument, the correct way to work on material not to get bored, a lot of discipline.
According to his peers, Monk would practice one tune for an entire day. When Bird did 12 hours a day he was probably sitting down with a record player, a Basie 78 and learning the sh!t out of a Lester Young solo.
The most I did in a day was 5 hours, and did it 3 days in a row, but couldn't continue, also because I was coming from a week pause from the instrument, which really didn't help. Probably without a week pause I could di this, but I honestly think that also only 2 probably 3 hours a day of good work is a good amount of daily practice. Personally I'm stuck with 4 and I can see improvement so I'm perfectly fine with it. But as long as one plays seriously at least one hour, every day, then in my opinion this is the most important thing.
Damn! Lots of great work done! Makes me want to rework my practice routine. I always feel that I never do enough when practicing. Also you had me laughing with the redbull “delicious” 😂 great stuff man!
Long time no see/hear I love your analysis of lines/language etc. You once mentioned in a licks video after analysing a phrase that that's not what you'd be thinking if you were to transpose the phrase to all 12 Keys. You said that you'd do a tutorial on how you'd go about doing that. Did you ever do that tutorial? You showed your thinking (colour coded) on a sheet in "Learning a lick in 12 keys #1 - 1:20" One other thing - I don't know why but for some reason I get more out of watching an accomplished player play an exercise (opposed to just hearing them). Do you have any advise/theory on how or when to use the Bb bis key?
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
I always think about this quote from famous concert pianist, Rubinstein.
“Never practice more than three or four hours a day. No one can concentrate longer than that, and you must spend the rest of your time learning about life and love and art and all the other wonderful things in the world. If a young person sits in the practice room all day, what can he possibly have to express in his music?”
4 hours is easily the limit for me. That’s when my brain shuts off. Why practice anymore than that?
I allways practice like half hour or sometimes a full one, all I have to know is that I'm practicing just to play shit I like and not concert level of pieces :P
3 to 4 hours is also the limit for me, and while practicing 12 hours a day, wouldnt know how to fill it up with deliberate practice material
In think that it's likely, that when he was a child, he practiced more than 4 hours a day and that he also was a prodigy. Therefore when he was getting older he was so proficient at the piano, that he could practice so efficiently that he "only" needed 4 hours to still be a world class pianist. For us other mortals I think the most important practice schedule has to be consistent (everyday), since it's better for our memory (spaced repetition) and also easier to push through, when it's a habit. So I wouldn't disagree with Rubinstein, but rather take his advice with a (small) grain of salt.
@@Ryuuuuuk Yeah, I definitely agree with you here. However, I think in my personal experience and talking to my friends, there's a mental hard cap on which we can really progress and learn, which is what this quote gets at. And if you weren't lucky enough as a child to be practicing 4 hours a day, then it's really hard to overcome that deficit when you're older, too. Because once your brain has absorbed all the information it realistically can for a time, you lose almost everything you work on afterwards. So then, you might as well only practice 4 hours and live your life.
I think the more important thing is to make use of those 4 hours as effectively as possible, with a schedule and spaced repetition as you've mentioned :P
@@cx777o I am the same and 12 hours across 3 days is infinitely better than 12 hours in one day.
Look at saxologic man, so inspirational.
Fax man
What it do sax crew, STC, SAX TEAM STAND UP!!!!
Models after curry man
@@josephleiataua298 using fax and logic
I’m honestly just surprised you found enough things to work on for 12 hours
I forget what I wanted to practice before I start to practice
Honestly I'm surprised he even found one thing to practice on, he's so good already!
You allways have things to work...
This video gave me a lot of good ideas for things to practice
U can pick three things and work on them for 12 hours
Practicing for 12 hours a day consistently for years or even months seems impossible if for all that time you are only practicing alone in the practice room. However it seems a little more doable if you are playing with others and going to jam sessions and playing gigs which you also count as part of your practice time. That way you will also get some social interaction as well and wont go insane from being stuck in a room all day.
Very very true!!
this right here
I was waiting for this video for so long.
I fully agree with your conclusion. You don‘t practice 12 hour to have practiced 12 hours, you practice 12 hours because it happend.
I think what makes this challenge hard is the fact that you *have* to practice that long. It’s like school, you constantly look at the clock and calculate how much time is left.
Thank you for this amazing video!
Very true! Thank you for watching it all!
I find that if you just sit with your horn all day, and take all the necessary meal breaks and bathroom breaks and small rest breaks, it comes out to just about 12 hours without timing it. I think that’s where the number came from- just about the amount of time spent sitting with your horn all day.
Me as a trumpet player could never do this. My lips would be completely dead, busted, and bleeding by hour 4 or 5 if I was playing my best the entire time.
ditto as a fellow brass player. i wonder if woodwinds can even bust their chops at all lmao
@@adrienne9962 I play flute and piccolo, if you're playing notes which require a very tight embachure (like high notes on the piccolo) your cheeks and lips will get extremely sore and fatigued after a few hours. Although I don't think I'd start bleeding, and I think 6 or 7 hours would definitely be doable if you stayed on the flute and didn't play anything too physically stressful. I can't speak to any other woodwinds though.
@@ethansmith876 thank you, i don’t really know how woodwinds work that much and a couple days ago, my flute friends tried to teach me to play flute, and lemme tell you i kinda died. i mean it takes more air for me to play tuba, baritone, euphonium, and trombone, but i did not expect something like the flute to kill me. that tiny instrument has no right to require so much air lmao
major props to you, especially for the piccolo part, i cannot be within 5 feet of those things without dying cuz of their insane shrieking high notes, especially as a preferably low brass player.
FR since for trumpet ur embachure needs to be TIGHT!
@@adrienne9962 we can’t bust our reed but our thumb and index will be super sore and our mouth will start to not be able to close around our opening and do weird things idk how to explain
Lung Lung is proud!
Now double it! :-p
Lung?😂😂 twoset is very disappointed.
@@zoenicole826 it's a play on the fact that he's a wind instrumentalist. Because lung lung is Ling ling but for wind instruments because you know "Lung"
@@zoenicole826 r/wooooshhh
2sit phans everywhere
In college some friends and did a 24hour session after finding a study where a lot of musicians experienced a break through at hour 16 doing the same. You’d think we’d stop at 16 after the breakthrough but being able to do something you couldnt before is really exciting and you just kinda finish out the 24hrs.
wdym breakthrough?
@@nicholasburch2122 like in their music, they eventually become better or really get engaged at the 16 hr mark
and after that
it doesn’t become a task to finish out the 24 hours
you just do it cause you want to
@@bellaj6497 interesting.
The thumbnail kind of reminds me of the kinds of videos where the title is: PLAYING THE SAXOPHONE AT 3AM ( SCARY ) ( GONE SAXUAL ) ( DO NOT TRY AT HOME )
Gone saxual 😂
Ok but we need a day in a life cause that intro was actually entertaining
Lol!! Glad you liked it
BRO this might kill me but I might have to at least try 😂😂
A dedicated content creator right there
You got it! ( ͡o ͜ʖ ͡o)
Hell yeah DO IT!!!! And I'll watch!
That last part of the video where Nathan said he felt closer to the saxophone and feels like it's a part of him after a rest from 12 hour practice, makes you think maybe that's what makes charlie parker..Charlie Parker u know, an extension of him, damn 12 hours??? Sheeeshh
That's exactly what I was thinking 👍🏾👍🏾
I'm sure of it...Charlie Parker had to play all night long in cabaret and nude dancers places to make a living. These guys had to play and play again. If you compare musicians to normal workers, a normal day of work is 8hours why can't we do the same when we are paid for it. Also there's a difference between conscious practice and getting into a trance, in music this trance state of mind is very important to feel at least once i think
I’ve often felt the same thing about guys like Jimi Hendrix and Jaco Pastorius. They would say the same sort of stuff about how they practiced constantly and the instrument was basically an extension of themselves.
@@EricLeCrennSanchez yes 👍👍 feels like you don't need to think, you just play, after hours of playing the same instrument
@@essouna damn, I completely forgot about the conscious and unconscious thing, maybe that's what happen to nathan, and yes the trance, you just went automatic haha probably that's the outcome of practice for hours and hours for years
Really neat idea. Have to admit, I've never practiced more than about 4 hours in a day (back when I was in school). Though I've known a few people to consistently practice 8 hours a day. For me, I've long been focused not on what I learn in one day, but what I internalize over a period of time (typically a week or so). That, for me, requires I give myself time to "forget" what I practiced, and see how much I remember the next day, or the next week. I've also found that I can only really focus on practicing for about 3-4 hours in a day, any more and I start getting distracted and unfocused. I learned early in music school that if I was only going to practice around 3 hours a day (and split the time between jazz and classical), I really had to learn how to practice efficiently.
Very interesting! I came to a very similar conclusion in the end of this video. You are the man!
In my experience if one wants to use the time to work on a particular project, The 12 hour practice session is justified. In my case a recording for ECM, music composed by Michael Mantler , an 8 minute tenor sax concerto with the Berlin Modern Chamber
Orchestra with a live performance the evening before the recording date. Extremely difficult music for me.
But i had the material 6 weeks before the date So i did 12 hours a day but used 16 hours a day to actually
be on the horn 12 hours. That means I took 4 hours to do other things. the last 2 weeks i did not need more than 2-3 hours and that was just small stuff. Before I went to Berlin I went over to some musician friends and performed it with the discs Michael had given me to practice with. A dress rehearsal. This is something that classical musicians do. I played it with no breakdowns and my friends gave me a couple of tips. I had 2 rehearsals in Berlin before the hit. My point is that there has to be a specific goal to use that much time on. But breaking it up in segments is really effective. Anyway for me. I have done this quite a few times. I am 75.
Enjoy you Vlog very much!
This is very fascinating! Thank you for the comment!
A teacher told me that at every stage in your development you learn that you have been practicing the wrong things. If you practice phrasing, it can be at the expense of developing something else such as intonation, transcription or timing. For some, this can be because they are practicing the things they’ve become good at and are avoiding the things they’ve had trouble mastering. For most people, it is a failure to identify the areas they are weaker in, and focusing their practice time accordingly.
Thank you
Yea true I’m avoiding eighth rests lol
Totally missed that shoutout...thanks man!! 😂
He hit us with that 2010 transition at 10:38
Mon frere, I do wish that I were you, musically; what an impossibility! (lgh)
Your discipline, devotion and diligence are indeed winning ingredients to becoming the next Charlie Parker, Julian Cannonball Adderley, Jackie McClean, or any of the great altoists of Organic Real Jazz.
Herein, your sound - merely your sound - is reminiscent of:
Paul Desmond's
Lee Konitz's
Bud Shank's
Art Pepper's
Gary Foster's
The virtuosic trumpeter Clifford Brown once said that he generally practiced each day for at least TWO HOURS - without fail.
"The idea", he asserted, "IS to 'TOUCH' the horn every day (even) for TEN minutes, at least."
What an inspiration to all musicians and would-be musicians you are, Nathan!
Good luck, Champ.
Lohvissimo!
you should make a twitch, i would totally watch this for 12 hours straight LMAO
Over the summer I am doing one for Smash!
@@Saxologic whoa you play smash who do you main
I have a channel called Smashologic lol
@@Saxologic ohh I’m looking that up
Best way to injure yourself : practice 12 hours per day ! Do not try this at home.
Maybe that was what killed Charlie
@@LuisFlores-xr5bu lol, of course, lol.
Your confidence and sound certainly shine through after hour 11. I know if i do 5 hours a day for a week there is another magic that happens to your playing. Better sound, better ideas, better technique, so clean. Can only imagine 12 hours a day but there is a magic that happens to your playing for sure
I always love your videos, Saxologic - I've been a fan since the very start. Sometimes with your humour, it can difficult to remember that you truly a talented virtuoso at the saxophone. Keep up with the good work!
Also, love the new intro!
Thanks man! I’m definitely not a virtuoso or anywhere close to it, but I’d like to be one day!
@@Saxologic That's exacty what a virtuoso would answer LOL Accept it... It's a fact!
You greased that sax mad hard my dude, shit was beefin to the max. Mad chops
Multiple consecutive days is working for me lately but you’ve answered something I’ve also realised that a long shed session can make your connection with the horn “level up” overnight. Really appreciate how relatable this Vlog was✌️🎷🎶
The longest I’ve ever practiced was 5 hours and even with some breaks my chops were so tired. I’ll leave the 12 hour long practice sessions to the woodwind players lmao
Haha I’ll leave it to them as well 😆
@@Saxologic bro aren't you a woodwind player?🤣🧐
@Keanan yet
It’s the sax version of Ling Ling!
Love your vids btw Nathan! ❤️👏🎷
This makes me want to practice more than I currently am
I once practiced for 12 hours by mistake and I improved quite a bit, I generally practice a minimum of 3 every day recently, 12 hours isn't worth it, it hurt my fingers, but 3 is a good amount of time to practice frequently
This was just fantastic! Your talent and humility just amaze me, Nathan.
At the beginning of COVID, I would practice for 9-12 hours a day with the longest day being 13.5 hours. Don’t recommend it because after 3 months straight of doing it, I got so burnt out that I didn’t play for a week and a half. But the progress I made during that time made me an infinitely better player. I now have impeccable intonation and learned pieces like Bozza Improvisation and Caprice (the caprice is REALLY fast now), Ibert Concertino da Camera, Maurice Tableaux de Provence, Bach Cello Suite No. 2, and Fantasia by Hietor Villa-Lobos. So it’s a risk reward kinda thing.
So what you’re saying is you do recommend it
@@leobrahmachari6611. No. It made me hate saxophone for over a month.
So you regret becoming an infinitely better player. I see
@@leobrahmachari6611. At what cost??? I still don’t have the same relationship that I did with my instrument. I don’t recommend as I know of people who did the same kind of regiment who continued (usually from parent forcing them) for a year and grew to despise their instrument and refuse to pick it up after they left the house. It’s the price. I was fortunate enough to stop before it got too bad. I’m glad I’m a better player now, but I definitely would recommend it. It’s the fast way through learning an instrument. I didn’t get to take the time to learn and appreciate the music I was learning and missed out on the most rewarding parts of playing an instrument.
You just can’t practice 12 hours for the sake of practicing 12 hours. On the occasions I’ve practiced 12 hours in a day it was simply because I wanted to play my horn all day and it added up to 12 hours.
Thing is if you’re not enjoying yourself while practicing but you did it all day, you didn’t really practice even if you blew air through your horn and fingered some notes. Frustration hinders your absorption enormously, such that you would learn more doing it half as many hours but doing it joyously. Bad practice is a crime against yourself, I agree that is not recommended.
But it is recommended to practice 12 hours in a day if you’re enjoying it!
And transcription counts
1:52 : You told yourself the secret how Parker practiced 12 hours a day
I strongly believe Parker didn't "practice 12 hours a day", but instead, "stopped after 12 hours", which makes a big difference : When you tell yourself "I'll practice 12 hours today", it also means "I HAVE to, and as I'm telling this to myself, it means I'm not used to do that".
And during your practice, if you ever feel like you don't want to practice any more, well too bad, you gotta do it, and it scraps the whole process because you do something you don't want, which could maybe lead into a loss of interest for practice.
And so I bet Parker was just practicing as much as he loved to, then when it thought it was time to stop, he just stopped, then looked at the clock and "uh, 12 hours..."
Charlie parker doing 11-15 hours a day. I could never think of 12 great job man
At least not started recording at 1am lol
For once
Surprisingly!
So glad you decided to keep a longer format!! I love it!
Thank you!
I love your sound. Thank you so much for the conclusion
I shedded the entire Berklee chord book the summer between frosh-soph…bro…I was bulletproof
Damn, really admire the mindset you bring to your practice, so inspirational!
Tom Baker, ex-USA (now sadly deceased) in Sydney AU, was a brass player. For medical reasons, he borrowed an alto sax from pro Paul Furniss, and practised all day (except for rock fishing) every day. After 3 months he appeared back on the gig scene, playing like a seasoned pro, was picked up by big bands, and later went on world tours, jazz festivals etc.
Love that lick you did after the first hour
You're a big inspiration
💙💙💙 your work
My take on practicing, as a lifelong music educator. I am in heavy practice mode now, btw.
Work in 20 minute segments, take a break, repeat twice. Continue without causing yourself stress or pain.
Don't waste time playing stuff you already have down
Practice until you can't get it wrong
Break down the assignment into smaller pieces. Work on the most difficult first.
Start at moderate tempo and go 10 bpm beyond the desired tempo.
This is what I needed. It inspires me to just get an hour in, but still, better than nothing!
An hour is great!
Alright, your usual fantastic content aside, the tip for audio stretch is awesome.
The brain learns the best the first 4 minutes of working. After 7 minutes it needs a break to process. 20 seconds. After 20 minutes (3 of those chunks) the brain needs at least 5 minutes of rest to be able to keep learning the most efficient. Then we can keep it up for another 20 minutes in the same manner. So after 45-50 minutes the brain stops process data we input in the best way it can. We learn slower. So it is better to take a real break. And a break means engaging in something completely different. Cooking, walking, talking, physical stuff. Then we can repeat this process about 4-5 times in a day before the brain stops learning for real. This takes 8-10 hours with good breaks. On top of this it needs to rest and process for a longer period of time some times. So working hard 2 days, resting for 1 and then practice less for 1 seems like a good cycle to me. This is what i have found talking to people studying this stuff, and reading lots of papers on similar subjects. Dont know if its ever been proper research on the subject for musicians, but this works for me and that is proof enough for me right now. I started researching this for myself when becoming a father and working as a pro at the same time. Less time to practice and still lots of music to learn. I started learning faster and could manage to learn more in less time than before. More music in 2 hours than i did in 5 hours prior to this. :) just posting hoping someone will have the same use for it as i did. :)
Bro after a 2 hour session I feel like my lip is falling off but twelve hours I wouldn’t have a lip anymore
As a guitarist, the majority of my practice time is spent analyzing and troubleshooting arpeggio shapes. On the guitar, there are multiple spots to play each note which makes for a lot of variations on arpeggios. People might think the guitar has been solved already but it's actually quite the opposite. I havent seen 1 person in my 16 years of playing explain an optimal system for arpeggios that encompasses inversions, triads, 7th, extensions, and different note groupings such as 3's or 4's.
I know your comment is 7 months old but anyway... I can totally relate and honestly it kind of makes me despise the guitar even though it's my main instrument. I feel I can never achieve the same effortless mind-hand connection that horn players or pianists can have. I also kind of stopped listening to a lot of guitar players because even for the greats I feel you always hear a little bit of the music coming from muscle memory rather than from the heart/ears, you know...
Saxlogic, such a shredder! I used to stay up and practice all night like you but then I took an oboe to the knee.
Try the vandoren clear mouthpiece pads. Those last years and you can get a pack of 6 for like 12 bucks on amazon. Highly recommend
Oooh ima have to cop those. Thanks man
thanks so much for introducing me to this app. i've just been putting clips into audacity and looping them up until now
I usually practice all Danm day long, mostly because I find it really fun, but I have this weird mentality that I can learn everything in a day. So I usually spend my day learning some song, and I end up being sick of it 😅
People that practice 8 to 10 hours a day are the kind of people that start practicing and are so into it, they don't even realize that 8 hours has gone by! Practice for as long as you can, but when it becomes a real chore then back off for a while, don't get burned out.
Honestly I think you’re right. Those long practice sessions kinda just happen when the music takes over. I remember when I practiced 8 hours in one day for the first time. It was wild because I just lost track of time.
👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿 Nice work. Perhaps in my younger days , I would have done this as a challenge. Much respect and I“m definitely motivated.
Hey dude, that AudioStretch app you used/recommend on a transcription video (sorry I didn’t look hard to find it cause Im working on a transcription for a final rn) SAVED ME. Genuinely it is such a big help to have control over the speed of the audio and not rely on TH-cams huge slow down settings. Ik its not your app (I think... if it is Im a dumb ass) but I watched that video when I started and it helped a ton. So thank you so much.
Man this video was great! It reminded me of when I used to play/practice drums for a few hours after school let out on half days
This was a ridiculously good video for many reasons! Showing off different practice examples of course up front was amazing. Talking through it as you go is very important and we could also sort of see in real time when fatigue sets in. Realistically, food, sleep, and breaks are paramount to having a successful practice session! Your brain and body need fuel to work, and if that is 2 am McDonald’s that works great!
When thinking about our heroes practicing for 8-13 hours per day we have to keep in mind most who did that didn’t have a day job or were college students. This 12 hour practice would have likely been SOOO much easier if you didn’t have to do anything else that day and could start at 9 am after a full breakfast! So while there may be some truth to the superheroes doing it, it is not like most people’s situations now!
As to the diminishing returns, most players definitely won’t have their best practice anything after 6 hours. So at that point it is clearly a bad use of time. That is unless you are on a big project and lose track of time due to being in the zone! Once in my undergrad I started a Coltrane solo and didn’t stop until I finished. It wasn’t because I had a goal or wanted a super hip VLOG, I loved the solo so much I just couldn’t stop. When I finished I went outside and was shocked to realize it was night time and nine hours had passed! Yes, those things happen when you are in the zone, but I really don’t think that is a real thing for most people all the time.
Anyway, fantastic video once again! These are so good for students considering music studies because you show what it is likely very clearly! Good luck on continued success and growing subs!
Aw man! What a great comment. You are a kind sir! I am glad you noticed all the little details. Feedback like this is why I keep going! Good luck to you as well!
I love the comment of the brain asking" why is there still a saxophone in my mouth, get it out" that cracked me right up
Bro, you sound beautiful on the mouthpiece. Such a joy to hear you on it. 12 hours of practicing in one day???? Oh my!!!
Thank you man! It is an incredible mouthpiece!!
Been going ham on your scales for technical agility and reading book. I've already noticed progress, especially with the palm notes. Thanks
Awesome to hear!!
I think that original 12 hours was likely mostly repertoire with maybe some drilling and technique. Then again some people treat picking up the instrument and noodling as "practice". Having said that, people like Mike Oldfield hid from the world and worked at their instrument all day for years so maybe there is something to it.
not gonna lie that clip of caprice has to be one of my favorite sounding ones in that particular area because so many people kind of staccato those notes instead of having them be full like my belly after i eat taco bell and regret it an hour later
I don’t even play sax and I love this channel lol😂🤣🤣
I love you, non-sax man!
Loved the intro! It slaps 🤧
Okay, just finished practicing but now I'm picking up the saxophone again XD
Well, well, well. Where do I even start.... So many good nuggets. Thanks for sharing the equipment, was curious. I learned that breaks matter and I agree on the 4 hr max, although when practicing percussion I can do that any day. My max on sax these days is 2-3 hrs, but then again I do 2 hrs daily. My wife says "you have video blogging skills and should continue to do them". I have to agree. And lastly, that Charlie Parker painting..... you're a good man.
Thank you man! You should totally vlog your progress! Maybe like a “1 year progress” video! Or monthly progress, etc. 2 hours is a very healthy time, especially since you’re doing it everyday! The everyday part is the hardest part
@@Saxologic Abie was talking about you, she was just listening to your video without seen it and enjoyed it. She says “he’s got a gift for video blogging...” and I agree
Looking clean my boy!!
Yeah dude! Top Tones for Saxophone is awesome! A serious workout!
You’re awesome
This video was really cool! I hope that you got a good nights rest after though!
I can't imagine practicing for 12 hours!
I don't necessarily recommend 12 hours but practice till you feel you're done, take a short break and put in another practice session after the break. If you do something to the point of (near) exhaustion, take it easy for a bit and then do some more somehow gives you that experience of quickly growing closer or more familiar with whatever you are doing, kinda like your subconscious resistance slowly washing away, a form of do-it-yourself brainwashing. :-)
practicing (for me) can vary. My music program isn't the best, and we were never really pushed to practice much. I don't really want to pursue music as a career, but I do very much love it. There are times where I just CANT practice... and times where I close my eyes, play, and wake up from my trance 4-5 hours later feeling like a whole new musician. Honestly playing 12 hours seems like it would be mad boring, but idk, maybe if i snort coke and feel like playing my clarinet and sax I might do a 12 hour practice session lol
This is why sometimes i forgot to stop practice on saxopohone . In my case i have a big repertorie classic music , jazz music , traditional music from my coutries . I need 6-7 per day😂 so , practice it is the key of the succes !
Did anyone remember when saxologic uploaded smash bros content on his smash bros channel
i cant even practice for more than an hour without getting bored
Question for Guru Saxologic: did you use the same reed for the whole time? If you changed reeds, how often?
great question
The only man with a bullet proof ligature. Gotta protect that reed 👌
I have never practiced more than 5 or 6 hours a day, but I remember that feeling with the horn, like it was a third arm, after studying 4-6 hours for like 4 or 5 days in a row...I always want to go back to that feeling haha.
Great video made me think of ALLLLLL the things I must pay more attention to when practicing 😀 💯👍🏾👌🏾
Try the Eric Dolphy practice challenge, he would play just one note for weeks at a time lol
I’m gonna need the unedited footage so I can use all of the free time I have to use masters-degree level calculus to invalidate everything you did in this video. I’ll be waiting.
damn, you really did it nathan you crazy saxophonist
I'm a singer-songwriter. I mainly play guitar and sing, but I've also played bass and trumpet, and I know enough drums to fake my way through a jam session. I could probably do this on guitar and electric bass (but not upright), but no way in hill myself or 99.9999999% of other players could do this on trumpet (chops would be destroyed), singing (you'd demolish your throat), or drums (I feel like this is more possible than trumpet or singing but you'd have to be in like ultra marathon shape).
I know he takes breaks in this video, but I can safely say I've never practiced singing for more than two consecutive hours. I feel like any longer than that and the quality of my voice starts to diminish. I've sang on 4-5 hour gigs, but that was in a wedding band with another singer to split half the songs with, and with a lot of places in the set where I'm just not singing.
You’re insane man. And you sound incredible.
When I got the time I wanna try this as well!! This was immensely inspiring btw cause for me it’s been like almost 2 years since I started working and left the life of playing practicing and performing music on a daily basis 😂 you get caught up in life, your life sort of just stopped revolving around music at one point and before you know it your skills are slowly deteriorating. It feels bad and sux a$$
Aww but that’s surely partly because of COVID. I am sure you’ll get back in the swing of things!
@@Saxologic oh yeah that too 100% 😅 Thankies
Same here dude, I have no clue how Charlie Parker was able to practice 11 to 15 hours every day. I guess he was living in the country
Well it's was Kansas so it was something like that, no distractions, very low money to survive, a lot of motivation, a true love for the instrument, the correct way to work on material not to get bored, a lot of discipline.
So you’re pretty much saying he didn’t have a cell phone 🤣😁
I think you are SO funny! I really enjoy all of your little asides.
According to his peers, Monk would practice one tune for an entire day. When Bird did 12 hours a day he was probably sitting down with a record player, a Basie 78 and learning the sh!t out of a Lester Young solo.
I always learn the most while I'm having the most fun.
Damn son...16:33. The force is strong with this one.
The most I did in a day was 5 hours, and did it 3 days in a row, but couldn't continue, also because I was coming from a week pause from the instrument, which really didn't help. Probably without a week pause I could di this, but I honestly think that also only 2 probably 3 hours a day of good work is a good amount of daily practice. Personally I'm stuck with 4 and I can see improvement so I'm perfectly fine with it. But as long as one plays seriously at least one hour, every day, then in my opinion this is the most important thing.
Damn! Lots of great work done! Makes me want to rework my practice routine. I always feel that I never do enough when practicing. Also you had me laughing with the redbull “delicious” 😂 great stuff man!
Thank you man! Hope you are well!! God of New York
@@Saxologic Hahaha thanks man! Saxologic for days! And in this case 12 hour sheds 😂
Long time no see/hear
I love your analysis of lines/language etc.
You once mentioned in a licks video after analysing a phrase that that's not what you'd be thinking if you were to transpose the phrase to all 12 Keys. You said that you'd do a tutorial on how you'd go about doing that. Did you ever do that tutorial?
You showed your thinking (colour coded) on a sheet in "Learning a lick in 12 keys #1 - 1:20"
One other thing - I don't know why but for some reason I get more out of watching an accomplished player play an exercise (opposed to just hearing them). Do you have any advise/theory on how or when to use the Bb bis key?
9:55
What is that outlet to his right 😂
I could never play this long without my parents or neighbors dogs yelling and barking at me lol.
3:03 not running those ducks over got to you
It's funny you've uploaded this today, when I'm at a 12 hour all state virtual honor band lmfao
Watching TH-cam during zoom meets I see lol
Also 12 hours?!
@@DylanJGehl yeah, it's the last day. We had the past two days and now today. We have breaks and stuff but it's v v fun
Absolute chad
You did not just say you accidentally played sax for 8 hours........ dedication
4 hours is my limit. Props to you for surviving 12
2 and a half is mine, I'm gonna push it to the limit >:)
While this video is entertaining, it’s actually quite enlightening to see what sort of things you do in your practice sessions! Thanks!
Great video!♥️ I see you have some sort of practice log. How effective would you say it is to have one of those and why?
Best music youtuber hands down!
That was great video!