Two Weeks In

Two weeks ago I started a thing called the “Jazz Gym”

I honestly can already tell a difference! Being forced to work my way through new music everyday for an hour, learn a new lick and practice the dexterity is insanely helpful.

Sometimes I wish they would just publish a workout for me to do in my own time rather than having to schedule a time… but then I think, would I really, really spend an hour doing this? The social pressure of being on camera while you practice actually makes a huge difference.

Today’s practice we did some improv exercises where we did enclosures around the 1st, 3rd or 5th of the chord over the jazz blues changes. We could opt to fill in the space with additional improv, if we chose. I tried terribly, it did not work. So instead I worked towards trying to memorize the sound of the 3rd in my ear so I could sing it over each chord.

This hurdle feels so large, but I’m sure with a few more weeks I’ll be closer to getting over it. We’ll see!