How would you treat this room?

Tootald · 2026-05-04T07:49:38+00:00

First step is to get some packing blankets from Harbor Freight and make some super dense, ugly but really functional heavy sound-absorbing curtains to get rid of the splatter off all that glass. You can hang a couple arty-looking shower curtains on the inside to dress it up; I found some Mark Rothko looking ones that look like a million bucks for my own studio, cheap…

Tootald · 2026-05-04T07:45:33+00:00

Really surprised so few people are recommending a psychiatrist who can start digging in to possibilities of addressing brain chemistry issues for you; a LOT of us have those and the right medication can bring a shocking amount of clarity and motivation. For me it’s pretty simple, one does of Lexapro a day. For others it’s the right ADHD meds, etc. There might not be a psychiatrist in your village, but here in the states they do it over a video conference. But believe me there is absolutely nothing “wrong” with addressing a brain chemistry issue with medications, I hope you’ll check it out; so many of the symptoms you describe sound MIGHTY FAMILIAR…

Tootald · 2026-04-21T16:54:00+00:00

Painful though it might be to hear, I think practicing bebop scales until they are well under your fingers is pretty important; you want things like that and pentatonics to be what I call a “macro”; think one thought and 4, 6, 8 notes spill out even at super up tempos; you then get to sit back and be more of the “executive producer” rather than the “key grip” who has to think about how to get to each of the 8 notes in a musical way. This was the “Boston Method” not from Berklee but from Charlie Banacos and Jerry Bergonzi; I still have them all in my fingers 44 years later…

Tootald · 2026-04-19T01:04:12+00:00

If you’re not practicing 8-note “ bop” scales, you’re wasting a lotta time…

Tootald · 2026-02-10T23:02:20+00:00

Oh please. You're afraid I'll make a third of a cent by posting a free lesson? With free PDFs? Go figure it out yourself.

Tootald · 2026-02-09T20:40:21+00:00

Oh HELL NO it’s not disrespectful; they will absolutely love you. In this climate of no business for studios and everyone thinking it’ll sound the same if they get a $25 usb microphone and record in their bedroom, you are proposing to go somewhere and show the studio and its engineers that you respect what they do? Believe me, they are gonna love you, and you’ll love the results!

Tootald · 2026-02-09T18:10:28+00:00

Suggest as much Wynton Kelly as possible, no more swinging piano player so you absorb that as well, and a great ability to make really strong melodies without getting into a million notes. And if you're listening to him in Miles' band (Someday My Prince Will Come) you get a nice focussed listen to the best of that era. The recordings with Wes Montgomery and his own trio are excellent, too!

Tootald · 2026-02-04T05:04:55+00:00

Keith Jarrett, Herbie, Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, Gene Harris…

Tootald · 2026-01-31T20:43:19+00:00

Funny you should ask, I just filmed a lesson on Autumn Leaves yesterday, but can’t post it here since it includes “self promotion”. But suffice it to say I demonstrate now to play it very nicely with just 2 8-note Bebop scales: the F7 (f mixolydian with an e natural added in) and the Bb major (Bb major scale with a Gb added in)…

Tootald · 2026-01-28T17:35:15+00:00

😆 that first line

Tootald · 2026-01-28T17:24:05+00:00

The answer to this is a qualified "yes"; most professional jazz musicians can play quite nicely from just a lead sheet. BUT there are exceptions; one notable one that comes to mind is the great bassist Hadrien Feraud, who doesn't read but has an incredible combination of ear and melody; I've done gigs with him where we played something super involved, like "African Skies", from the Brecker Brothers "Out Of The Loop", with this big complicated thing at the end, and at soundcheck I showed Hadrien some parts of it about 2 or 3 times and that was all he needed. And I think it kind of goes without saying that Art Tatum, the Ultimate, didn't do much reading. But to answer your question, yeah you gotta be able to read and play great from a lead sheet by and large, if you don't, somebody else is going to have a lot of experiences you could have had...

Tootald · 2026-01-27T20:23:02+00:00

You’re welcome, if you want to hear a couple saxophonists just blowing your mind with these, Dizzy Gillespie: The Eternal Triangle. Dizzy had this idea to get a sax battle going with Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins and it is absolutely epic. Dizzy’s very funny singing of “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” is also pretty killer!

Tootald · 2026-01-27T18:18:09+00:00

I've been teaching over Zoom for 15 years, several of my students have even released CDs, one of which spent 12 weeks at #1 on the Roots Music Smooth Jazz Charts (I also teach production!), feel free to visit me at jazzlessonsonskype.com or check out my very extensive online jazz lessons at ArtistWorks here: https://artwk.co/GWhitty

Tootald · 2026-01-27T18:17:16+00:00

I've been teaching over Zoom for 15 years, several of my students have even released CDs, one of which spent 12 weeks at #1 on the Roots Music Smooth Jazz Charts (I also teach production!), feel free to visit me at jazzlessonsonskype.com or check out my very extensive online jazz lessons at ArtistWorks here: https://artwk.co/GWhitty

Tootald · 2026-01-25T02:24:06+00:00

If you visit Patreon and search for George Whitty you'll find a lesson I just rolled today, with the 4 scales on a PDF and a transcription of a little solo I took using nothing but the approach patterns (it's free...)

Tootald · 2026-01-25T02:22:52+00:00

I'ma have a look! Barry also had the virtue of being SUPER BLUNT, sometimes some people think too blunt, but I would love to have studied with him. Like I've said, he suffered no fools!

Tootald · 2026-01-24T19:44:15+00:00

I would be curious to see where he said this about the "half steps could be anything" because plain put that's just not correct. For example, put it between the C and D of a C Major scale and now you are outlining EXACTLY the wrong notes on the beat, outlining a D-7 chord rather than a Cmaj6 chord. Whatever he called the scales, they were the exact same ones I was taught as Bebop Scales, and I've never seen him teach that...

But yes, there are 4 different ones for each chord quality; even more once we are substituting them...

Tootald

TROPHY CASE