tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32587403.post9173273964889511677..comments2020-01-14T10:19:57.190+00:00Comments on force of circumstance: PracticingDominic Lashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440210711928586923noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32587403.post-72126712386635672922007-05-09T10:06:00.000+01:002007-05-09T10:06:00.000+01:00I'm an obsessive practicer at home, but I don't th...<I>I'm an obsessive practicer at home, but I don't think anything happens for me as regards development or picking up new habits or whatever you want to call it, except in the playing situation.</I><BR/><BR/>He nailed it!bechhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12125608651206419905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32587403.post-47482855419421452162007-05-08T23:11:00.000+01:002007-05-08T23:11:00.000+01:00The following comment from Alexander Hawkins (who ...The following comment from <A HREF="http://www.alexanderhawkins.com" REL="nofollow">Alexander Hawkins</A> (who seems to have trouble with blogger!).<BR/><BR/>Dom - I'm feeling inferior...I used to do all major and minors, until...well, I stopped. I'd like to think it was to do with not practising familiar shapes; that'd be a lie however...<BR/>On a more serious note, it's interesting that you go for the majors/minors route, whereas at the moment, I'm fairly obsessive about not playing familiar patterns. Yusef Lateef's book is great for this. I know we've talked about this, but for any other readers, in the recent past I've been inspired by Pat Thomas' comments in response to a question about practising in a recent symposium published at the 'Point of Departure' website.<BR/>That said, I also agree with what's implied by what you say, about practice regimes being fluid. I have recently been through phases of practising very familiar patterns: Hanon, which most pianists know well, and the more useful (in my humble opinion) Dohnyani exercises, which I find are also more entertaining than Hanon.<BR/>I'm also steadily rehearsing a stock list of Cecil Taylor phrases, to keep a hold on the kinds of technique which classical treatises simply don't address (fast, even runs of planned clusters, in this case). Of course, the trick then is to avoid employing them verbatim, but...;)Dominic Lashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07440210711928586923noreply@blogger.com