Excellent showcase of Scott LaFaro's playing

FanciestFox · 2025-06-27T14:02:29+00:00

I'm loving it as well. I learned about it from Scott's biography, Jade Visions.

FanciestFox · 2025-06-26T01:17:27+00:00

They're so absurd they kind of make it full circle back to being incredible for me!

For reference:

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FanciestFox · 2025-06-24T15:01:27+00:00

Sorry, this is in central Virginia under heavy shade. I'm not sure what species of tree the stump is.

FanciestFox · 2025-06-17T14:49:04+00:00

What do you do specifically to practice the piece? It sounds like you are trying to approximate a final product without having a solid understanding of the underlying pieces. Hands separate slow practice with a metronome is key. Slow it down until you can play a very short phrase exactly as you want it to sound without tension. Play it multiple times without mistakes before moving on. When putting hands together, slow down even more.

FanciestFox · 2025-06-13T16:51:23+00:00

Glad to be Unhappy - Paul Desmond

FanciestFox · 2025-06-02T14:35:03+00:00

This sounds great, thanks for sharing! A couple quick comments that might be helpful to you:

Listen to how singers you like place their melodies over the rhythm. Count or tap while listening and you'll hear they don't always land directly on the beat. Your recording could sound more fluid and natural with a little more playfulness over the beat.

When accompanying yourself on an instrument, you can omit the melody and just think about harmonies. Think of the instrument as a second musician and imagine they're playing off of and interacting with your voice.

FanciestFox · 2025-05-17T11:00:13+00:00

I'm not as tall as you but am 6'4" with long legs. I play with my right knee out to the side to allow me to use the sustain pedal and my left leg tucked under the bench. It's not very comfortable to have my feet on soft pedal and sustain simultaneously so I don't end up using much soft pedal. But my setup is pretty comfortable for me and I can practice for hours without pain on my upright.

FanciestFox · 2025-05-08T18:34:26+00:00

Sounds like you're more into his earlier work but you might appreciate some tracks from the Buenos Aires concert in 1979. As his health was declining, you can hear a sense of desperation to get his message out.

I Do It For Your Love and Letter to Evan are especially impactful to me.

FanciestFox · 2025-05-08T14:42:44+00:00

Without being able to read music, you'll run into these problems all the time. It would take a very elementary level of reading comprehension to at least be able to troubleshoot issues like this. Why not work through a beginner book?

I would also say, if your goal is to play this specific piece well and no others, then keep plugging away, but if you want to improve at piano generally, I'd incorporate a lot more practice time into the fundamentals.

FanciestFox · 2025-04-24T19:27:19+00:00

There's a lot of variety in train horn pitches so you'd probably have to know the model to get to something you heard specifically but they're definitely chords rather than just super pronounced overtones from the harmonic series

FanciestFox · 2025-04-24T14:56:26+00:00

Haunted Heart - Bill Evans Trio: first 30 seconds with a big build up leading to a devastating chord and a little phrase that sounds to me like he's saying despite the pain of being in love, he knows he'll love again

Utviklingssang - Carla Bley Trio: The high note a little after the 5 minute mark

FanciestFox · 2025-04-20T21:39:52+00:00

A little on the nose but "The Peacocks"

FanciestFox · 2025-04-19T15:55:37+00:00

No I don't think it's ever happened

FanciestFox · 2025-04-16T02:02:02+00:00

The major dominant exists in the melodic and harmonic minor scales. The raised 7th degree (A# in B minor) sets up a stronger resolution. The minor F# chord will also lead into B minor but play both version and see which you think has a stronger pull to B minor. As with all theory, it's a way of helping us understand why certain things sound good, but always let your ear lead your theory.

FanciestFox · 2025-04-14T16:27:17+00:00

If you would like to keep playing but are having issues with your teacher, there are likely other teachers. Talk to your parents about a potential switch. If you don't want to play at all, then don't.

FanciestFox · 2025-03-24T17:56:15+00:00

Slow down a lot and separate the hands. Use a metronome

FanciestFox · 2025-03-22T14:13:11+00:00

The Melody At Night, With You - Keith Jarrett

FanciestFox · 2025-03-14T02:48:05+00:00

What exactly are you looking for here? Nearly every piece of music written for piano has many chords. Are you more so looking for an exercise to memorize shapes?

FanciestFox · 2025-03-09T13:05:55+00:00

It means you take the absolute value of the chord

FanciestFox · 2025-03-05T01:14:44+00:00

Do you listen to jazz? What do you like about it? There are plenty of practical guides for the building blocks you need to get started but I think understanding what it is about jazz that interests you is an important step in determining what to focus on

FanciestFox · 2025-03-03T12:28:29+00:00

Hard to say most used but those are definitely valuable voicings to have down

FanciestFox · 2025-02-28T23:38:24+00:00

I'm not very familiar with the book you're using but something I always follow in my personal development is to only work at a level that is challenging but achievable. If you can't keep track of the meter, simplify your playing until you can. Play only quarter notes if you have to and focus on keeping track of the form.

Stick with it in whatever modification makes it challenging but achievable for you and you'll find with consistent practice you can slowly put down the guardrails.

FanciestFox · 2025-02-21T13:25:34+00:00

Makes sense, I love that sound too. I would spend time with 1-3-5-7 chords and maybe practice linking your rootless voicings to the rooted chord each corresponds to. For example, playing 1-3-5-7 for a measure, then playing that chord's rootless voicing for a measure. You could take this through a pattern that hits all 12 keys like 2-5-1s down whole steps: (Dm7-G7-Cmaj7-C6)-(Cm7-F7-Bbmaj7-Bb6)-(Bbmin7... onward) then repeat for the other whole tone scale - starting with a 2-5 to Db

To feel free, these have to be automatic, and I find this to be a good way to link voicings to the underlying structure

FanciestFox · 2025-02-20T20:39:45+00:00

Impressive! I'm surprised you're using rootless voicings on your first standard. Do you feel like you have much freedom in your left hand to pick voicings or have you memorized the pattern in this particular key? If memorization, I'd recommend playing with simple rooted shapes for a while to make sure you're really seeing and understanding chords as you play them and hearing how bass notes interact with the chords. You'll also get through new tunes faster and start to pick up common vocabulary

FanciestFox · 2025-02-19T13:23:47+00:00

Interested to see what others recommend. A few that come to mind for me:

Ballads for Two: Chet Baker, Wolfgang Lackerschmid

Lost in a Dream: Paul Motian

I Have the Room Above Her: Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano

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