Speaker A
[Music] Uh, but really, I'm here for you, you're musicians, I guess. So if you can think about questions about subjects you want to speak about, I can take it from there. I can play a little bit. Uh, you can
Shai Maestro shares essential ear training techniques and practical advice for musicians to improve listening skills and musical interaction.
Key Takeaways
- Daily ear training is essential and should be treated like exercising a muscle.
- Transcribing and analyzing recordings improves musical understanding and interaction.
- Attention to detail in music leads to deeper appreciation and better performance.
- Patience and persistence are necessary for long-term musical development.
- Technology like ear training apps can effectively complement traditional practice.
Summary
- Ear training is crucial in music education and should be practiced daily like a muscle.
- Musicians should focus on recognizing different instruments and their roles within a band.
- Transcribing parts from recordings, such as bass lines or guitar chords, helps deepen understanding.
- Paying attention to details and nuances in music enhances overall musicality and interaction.
- Isolating short segments of music to analyze chords, notes, and rhythms improves ear accuracy.
- Practicing singing notes before playing them aids in internalizing pitch and harmony.
- Differentiating between practice (laboratory) and live performance is important for growth.
- Patience and consistent daily practice are key to becoming a great musician.
- Using ear training apps like Harmonics can support interval and chord recognition skills.
- The ultimate goal is to understand and react musically in real-time with other musicians.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
play a little bit. Can you show us some exercises to, um, ear, ear training? Great question. Um, so first I'll say that, um, yeah, ear training is one of the most important things in, uh, in music education.
Speaker A
Training, I think about it like a language, and, uh, if you know, if you don't, if someone speaks to you and you don't understand the language, um, your way of interacting and, you know, reacting is
Speaker A
very limited. Yeah, so the idea is to be able to recognize the words, the words, and, uh, and then do something with it. Um, I try to really keep a routine of practicing ear training every day. Um, it's, it's like a
Speaker A
muscle. Yeah, you need, if you don't train it for, for, for a minute, then it gets lost. So there are many, many different aspects for, for ear training. Um, you can divide it for the different instruments. So for example, if you play
Speaker A
with, with a band with a saxophone player, um, and saxophone play with a saxophone player and, uh, and with a bass player and guitar player, then it's three, three different instruments that, that, um, get inside your system in a different way.
Speaker A
So, um, so I make, I make a point to, to work on like your training for bass, for [Music] example. Yeah, so let's say I listen to a Miles Davis recording, MAV, and you know Tony Williams is by and everyone, but I, I would listen
Speaker A
to Ron Carter, you know, on and try to try to make like a transcription almost of the walking bass, walk Walking Bass, walking bass behind the solo of Miles Davis and, uh, write it down and sometimes I will write it
Speaker A
down and sometimes I would just, you know, be conscious of, of what he's playing and, uh, and if for example, yeah, and if for there's many times where you hear, you know, like the traditional way of going like between G
Speaker A
minor to C to to F and it's like so I can, I can hear it and I can interact, but then Ron would go up in the bass and it will do some stuff that I don't know what it is, it just
Speaker A
sounds different. So yeah, exactly. So I would make a point to stop the recording there. Yeah, and and rewind and and figure out what he's doing, what he's doing, and it's like a special year for a bass, for
Speaker A
example. Yeah, and then the same for, for guitar players, you listen to guitar player then I would try to listen to every note of the chord that the guitar player, so you know it's, it's simple to not simple but it's, um, intuitive to hear
Speaker A
like the top note of the chord of the guitar player. Yeah, the guitar player play. So I will hear this, you know, but I will make a point to hear [Music] all this between things that get lost,
Speaker A
gets lost a lot of times. Yeah, and and for me the diff the the what I admire about mus about the musicians that I admire is that they, they really pay attention to details, pay pay attention to details. Yeah, to to to everything that's
Speaker A
going on on stage in in in the in the recording and once you get into it it's like your mind can explode. There's so much, so much information that we we're being selective, our ear is very selective. Yeah, so, um, I will take like a
Speaker A
short segment like five seconds and I would try to to hear everything that happened in those five seconds. What's the chord that Herbie played, what the bass note that Ron played, if if it's a F major chord and
Speaker A
Herbie played this, but but Ron at at the moment play play the D flat. So I would try to, you know, to pay attention and to understand that it's, yeah, sorry, try to pay attention and to to understand that
Speaker A
it sounds so good because of the combination, you know, there's many times where we transcribe that, we transcribe something and then it sounds great and and we we we, uh, we bring it into our concert into our gig and it doesn't sound that good
Speaker A
as great and you don't like I'm playing that chord, why does it sound good? Because Ron is not playing that D flat behind, sorry, um, you know, so it's really like open up to to to to everything. Um,
Speaker A
so yeah, so this is what this was my introduction and, uh, but, um, so I, I would work it on different ways like on a melodic, um melodic and then harmonic and then also rhythmic Theo. Yeah, and I and and I put
Speaker A
I isolate things, uh, very much so always recording. No, that's that's like this is one thing, listen to listening to recording, but I will also, yeah, but I also sit home and I will I think of think of a note and then I
Speaker A
try to really hear it [Music]. You know, I try to sing it before before I play it, you know, for example, that's that's like one thing and then for example I, I find a chord, I play this chord and then I would
Speaker A
try to really listen to all of the notes inside of this [Music] chord. So you know how many notes are in this chord? [Music] Four, four notes exactly. Can you sing [Music] the almost the top? This is the, this is the most exactly,
Speaker A
exactly. So you know, so you find you find a chord that you like and then and and work work on it like this, you know, for example and then if you take this chord for example and you start, um,
Speaker A
orchestrating in a different way Orr [Music]. So you know what I mean? Yeah, change the octave, change, change things and and it's really important to make a different differentiation between the work at home, the laboratory and on stage. Okay, 'cause when when you play with a
Speaker A
band and then the piano player is doing you can't just let each chord, you know, you can't do it, it's too fast, but but this work, um, trickles down, trickles down the work, the work gets into your, into your
Speaker A
system. Yeah, and, um, and it gets it some something gets with you on stage, you know, it's a long, long, long process. Um, and sometimes sometimes students will have what should I do to to be a great, you know, what a piano
Speaker A
player and and my answer usually is you know be patient, it's a it's a lifelong process and it's and, um, for me the the the idea is to be willing to go through that road every day, come back to it, you
Speaker A
know, fail, succeed and and then keep keep on doing it all the [Music] time. Yeah, and keep keep your ears and heart open and I found I recently found this application of ear, ear training, it's called Harmonics. It's it's
Speaker A
pretty great, Harmonics, Harmonics. So you know the the most simple is like, uh, interval, for example, so it will play like an interval and you need to it says major second, perfect four, like you have all the options and you need to choose. So this
Speaker A
is fifth, so you press fifth. M, how do you spell it? Harmon, like harmonic, Harmonics, but with cs at the end, CS, Cs, and it gets, it's a pretty great application. It's I'm doing a commercial here but it's
Speaker A
it's, it's so this is like the most basic stuff but it get it gets really gets really like it gets you know so you can you can decide of how many notes you want to hear [Music]. Uh, that's that's a lot, you know.
Speaker A
Hey, and then you said the major second, major fifth, major, you know, it gets to this and then then and then sometimes it will play like a chord, it will do [Music] like okay major fifth, you know, this this
Speaker A
is just like one two but but the the idea behind it is to just keep keep on doing it. I did many, many transcriptions like I took a Keith Jarrett solo, wrote it down, I took a yeah, so, uh, yeah, just, uh, just just do it.
Speaker A
And the idea actually is to is really to get to a place where the saxophone player is playing like and you know exactly what he did. So you know and if I wanted to I can repeat it right after the saxophone play, get you
Speaker A
to get to this level that you can just you can just say the words exactly after he played or she play and you don't always, you don't need to repeat it but you know what it is. So you know and I will answer with a
Speaker A
chord, you know, because with this with the last notes that he played I, yeah, it will be like my the top note of my, you know, the scale. I know exactly, I know exactly, I know I, yeah, so he'll play like
Speaker A
a and then I or you play now play you [Applause] [Music] know just answer in the same language that he's, she's I'll speak in a male but it's so I know I know that he played like a, um, a D.
Speaker A
choose diminished yeah and and then I can choose to answer what diminished or to say like okay I I get what you're saying and I'm still going to give [Music] you and and and that's that's where where your
Speaker A
personality comes in um so you you that's like when your choices um how can I explain the the philosophy that okay I'll tell you how something about the way I practice to to explain it um so at home when I practice I have a I have a
Speaker A
yeah I have a board that has all the exercises that I'm working on so like it says um it says that transcribe triplets 60 notes yeah um whatever drop two cords um and then it would s like names of
Speaker A
people that are inspirational for me and um one of the things that it says it says Chris butter you know Chris butter yeah Chris poter SL Superman that's that's what I wrote Chris Potter the name of guy SL
Speaker A
Superman ah Chris poter and Superman Superman and for me Chris Potter I do you know Chris Potter Chris Potter yeah he is Superman Superman yeah he can do he can play anything on anything on any Tempo on any scale you know
Speaker A
any what just say it and everything is there for him you know he kind of covered all the technical aspect of music all the and for me the philosophy is to be able to get to this point where you can
Speaker A
do everything again the play you hear everything you know it and then you choose and then you chose it yeah so when I practice it's really like try I'm trying to to grasp and Surround as many aspects of music as I
Speaker A
can and ear train yeah million subjects that we can talk about but yeah sure any any other question okay see you bye understand that yeah um I think it's it's a similar thing like as as ear training it's
Speaker A
very it's yeah it's incredibly wide and there's different aspects of of Rhythm that also come from different cultures uh I grew up in uh I grew up in Israel and in Israel our music is very very basic like if it's a four or
Speaker A
three but I have really huge huge love for music music from other cultures like I love yeah yeah I'm completely in love with Cuban music with flamco actually um was like I I play with you know AR honi you know this drummer to AR
Speaker A
honi har it's a drummer in New York that really took Rhythm to the next level like very cerebral and how to take you know five and put four on top of it and then put nine yeah and and each each culture has
Speaker A
a different way of approaching it uh so like one of my biggest schools of rhythm is I I um I have a friend um percussion player that we tooka from fromo yeah from from Tomo from Tomo Tom Tom K
Speaker A
Ketch and we we transcribed it together it took I was we we were like 21 it was like 10 years ago almost but he came to my apartment every day and we just said which we like it's um like a five six minute you know like
Speaker A
we transcribe like every single note that's played yes it's like the guitar and then there K and then there's the Udo I think also so like we both learned the parts of the both learned the part of the Udo
Speaker A
know a this one it's been 10 years I can't remember I think it's Ron or something like this it's called anyway I think um so that that learning this was a completely different world for me because you know the way that the
Speaker A
buia moves because it's a it's an it's in 12 right yeah but or six if you want don't and the way Jazz musicians treat six is completely different than so again like it comes to the world of transcribing uh in ear training but
Speaker A
on a on a rythmical yeah so um Cuban music for example I play I play conas yeah so like that's actually the thing I I practice the most when I'm home I I don't I sit I wake up in the
Speaker A
morning and I just I I have like a so um same with drums and um once you you play percussive instrument you have a whole different way of approaching uh the piano or or or any other instrument that
Speaker A
play so um um so the idea again is this the Superman concept is like you get to a level where you can really hear everything that the drummer is playing so the drummer like you know so he will do it and I
Speaker A
will hear it I and I can sing it or repeat it after him but I would choose to outline like in a in a in a painting you know in the drawing just put like like a little so you know what I mean and I don't need
Speaker A
to play I don't need but I hear it I know I know it and that's that's the language you know of jazz of you play like a drummer yeah so um good job by the way um so that's like one that's like
Speaker A
one one one aspect of it and then there's the aspect of you know like uh um I love I have um Bulgarian Roots my grand my grandmother lived in Bulgaria yeah so so the so all that like 118 78 13 all this
Speaker A
world it's like a completely different thing so again stay hungry yeah and just I get into periods where I just explore flamco for like a year and then I yeah and then the interesting thing is like you go on stage and and you play
Speaker A
you play a bad you know but all this education all this Ro is in it's inside your system [Music] so tripl right and I can one 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4
Speaker A
5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 I can I can you know go between stuff and I can yeah and um like in in in um in in flamco inia so they changed the
Speaker A
cord on like second of the compass right 12 1 right this is where to change your chord so you take this concept so instead of instead of [Music] doing you know what I mean you just you you change the harmony
Speaker A
later so it all becomes this mesla in inside you know it all becomes this yeah this this mix um that the idea is to not think about it when you go on stage I don't say like oh let's let's do
Speaker A
it like a Bia like I'm playing okay let's bring the this this like Cuban hit inside I I don't I don't think about it like this it just it just becomes a part of your nature yeah and um I have a lot of respect for foror
Speaker A
musicians yeah I'm not a flamco player I'm not a Cuban player I'm not even a jazz player I you know I play music and and I explore yeah I explore things and and um but the idea is not to be afraid to dive
Speaker A
into this into this this cultures um I was obsessed with understanding the concept of the compass of where you guys feel the the D beat OB Dum yeah because it's really confusing in flamco you there a different like you
Speaker A
know the B and like there's so so many different things so I just yesterday at dinner with Mark Dr he's trying to eat and I'm like yeah man but in how do you do that and it was driving in crazy you know asking
Speaker A
questions and questions and he's explaining the concept of where you change how how where you change how do you treat the two how do you treat the three how you know all and and that's that's the idea just
Speaker A
like keep keep keep added and um yeah we can do a master class only on Rhythm yeah Rhythm actually is my first my first attraction it's my main love I'm trying to stop actually into focus on Melody and
Speaker A
Harmony yeah but rhythm is my my thing I I love it so much um so that's like one aspect or a few aspects and another one is the odd meters OD meters like we have three three one two three one or like
Speaker A
malag okay so you know we play three playing four and then in the Jazz where people playing five seven yeah uneven yeah un and to learn how to to play over over this kind of stuff I played many I played many years with aish you
Speaker A
know and his and his music is really uh sh and like sh meters shifting meters yeah inside you know there'll be one bar of five and then one bar of seven and yeah yeah that we play in four and
Speaker A
then there's like one bar of five in the middle and then and so the idea for me with this kind of stuff was to again again Superman to isolate isolate yeah and and say Okay so this composition is like bar four bar four
Speaker A
bar four and bar five right yeah so four I'm okay four44 is fine but the bar five every time I get there my body is like you know yeah so what do we work on five so I took five as my project for a year
Speaker A
you know so people take five exactly which is okay but take 17 is a little bit different so people came to my house to play sessions in in New York and and and I am this annoying kid that's like oh you
Speaker A
want to play this in 17 you know Annoying yeah whatever yeah yeah so let say let's play all the things you are in 13 in 17 you know and and then and then all all of us don't know how to
Speaker A
do it but we try you know and then once you you try you see like ah wow okay so 13 is hard for us because it's kind of like you know four four so it's eight again five four four
Speaker A
five you know so you isolate this and you say so five is really my problem so you play five you play five everything in five know 2 2 3 you know what I mean um until you become super comfortable with with
Speaker A
five um and a lot of times when people ask me about the ways I work on OD meters old met how do you say old met no OD meters is OD meters odd meters yeah like five or seven or or nine um is
Speaker A
I try um to find something that is round like a circle something that is cyclical in this in this meters because usually what happens is that the it's uneven the meters are usually we'll do like 1 2 3 4 five 1
Speaker A
2 3 4 5 one you know it will be like every down bit that comes you're like okay that's the that's that's the one um that's a dum bit and I try to find something that will go you know
Speaker A
over the bar line and to find something that has a flow yeah so a very useful tool is um is a three yeah like a dotted sorry it's technical dotted uh quarter notes quar dotted with a do doted uh
Speaker A
yeah so for example if we're in four likeor come on man so like let's say when four one two three four so six not did 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 and
Speaker A
then I'll find um the doter quarter which is which is an accent on every three yeah so like uh one two so 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2
Speaker A
3 1 2 3 1 and these are the Beats one two 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2
Speaker A
3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 after three Cycles it it um zeros down to the same and this this feeling is a feeling of something like that that flows and doesn't stop every bar one two 3 4 1 2 4 1 2 1 one and then
Speaker A
one one 2 one one so basically the feeling that I have is like boom so instead of this it makes it this you understand morning um in five one two three four five one two three same same so the drummer
Speaker A
plays 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 You know what I mean so I would do it a lot with with drumming I sit I sit at home getting my kind of a isolated world you know it's
Speaker A
like 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 it's hard you know what I mean and uh and do this and then and say okay so we put accents every
Speaker A
three let's see what happens when we put every five yeah and every three and then I said what happens if I put it every five know so again we're in [Music] four so one two 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 right
Speaker A
then I put every five two three and four 1 2 3 4 it's a long one it takes five Cycles to complete you know and and you become comfortable with this and then my hungry student kid mind will
Speaker A
say say oh what happens if we put seven oh what happen if we put nine like 11 and 13 and then oh what happens if we do it on on triplets 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 you
Speaker A
know what happens if we change the subdivision What's happen if we put it this what happens and that's the difference for me like if you if you're hungry you would never stop you know what what happens if we do you
Speaker A
know and that that's that's the secret and and it gets to a point where you're so comfortable with this that you can you don't even need to beat anymore yeah you can you're just you're just comfortable with with this so with
Speaker A
this polym for example so 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 1 2 every three 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 right so I leave this it's like one two three
Speaker A
and you stay da da da da da I hear in my mind I hear that's a beat I hear this in my mind but right and then I'll go on stage and I'm like one I I don't count I just
Speaker A
start like and I [Music] here but you don't hear it I'm not giving you the so there's this mystery that you hear like yeah it's it's it's R magicians what that magicians you are that yeah it's like being a magician because you don't you
Speaker A
don't you don't show the secret but this whole this thing that goes behind so again so so [Music] and I'm giving you like three chords but just hold it you know what I mean so in Sol piano it's great cu no
Speaker A
one is defining it but with the band it's even better like you start a song no one knows where you are but everyone feels that there's there's something something behind and then you can you can if let's say in my mind I hear I hear
Speaker A
um I hear this and I have like this whole drum my I hear all this could you to me I I give you [Music] this like when I play with my T like my musicians they I give one chord
Speaker A
and I start like dancing and they don't you don't hear anything I'm just playing one chord but they like they're smiling they're like okay yeah I see I see what's coming you know and then like [Music] you know so you like you live in a
Speaker A
dimension between what what you're giving what you not giving it's really it's really endless it's really endless the the wonderful thing about playing with with Ari that he he is really like a kid you know so like we build the
Speaker A
tension like going somewhere like and everyone feels it's like going going to go into this downbeat like this huge explosion every everyone which but Ari will continue you know yeah and we take it for like four more choruses of this kind of stuff and and
Speaker A
that that for me is this is this the the signal of creativity you know real love for this the music I don't know for whatever it is and then you forget about everything that's that's like one of the
Speaker A
best advice I've ever gotten um my I I went to study with you know Sam you know him Sam is a teacher and he said when you when you practice you always balance between the parent and the child yeah the kid the yeah and so the
Speaker A
the the child wants to play and and the father's like no do your homework so the the Father the the parents is is the voice of discipline so it's he said it's very it's necessary that it will be this way
Speaker A
when you practice but when you go to the gig you leave the parents home you never take the parents to the gig you know what I mean so never on stage you're like oh it's five and I'm going to put like three here and I'm not
Speaker A
going to R what's in my like it's none of this it's it's all heart yeah it's a it's really and that's that's like the challenge it's not it's um it's like imagine that I would talk to you and I would think about
Speaker A
conjugations like oh I'm going to use the past tense now you don't do it you you learn how to speak you learn how to conjugate like a magician and go and create phrases and and then you forget and you speak
Speaker A
about love or sucer or what whatever you know and that's it's the same thing it's this is language these things are are nerdy like not Nery like a like a how do you say like you know like oh I can do this
Speaker A
which is fun but when you when you we go to St on stage you forget it it's all just you just play major cord and and and you listen and you let the spiritual part and the and the spirit you you know
Speaker A
everything come coming in and okay what is a major cour makes me feel yeah so I can just keep going but if if you have any I hope I hope answer the question any other question about the left hand understand so you're
Speaker A
saying usually when the left hand is being played it's there's no time to think and when when do you know time for for to think and to be conscious okay everyone understood the question heard the question it was in Spanish I
Speaker A
guess you did um you know Aaron Parks say Aaron Parkson par Aaron parks there an amazing piano player in New York one of my favor you know what um he gave me an amazing exercise it's so difficult he said play
Speaker A
solo play Sol with your right hand and accompaniment with the left [Music] hand but the Solo in the right hand is here on this here on the piano and the left hand is is on the keys so yeah and he says really hear what you
Speaker A
would play I I hear it in my mind but I play so but the left hand plays on the piano so see it's messing me up [Music] because I heard this but you know what I mean so wow it's it's so hard and what it
Speaker A
does what it does is that it um surfaces FL fls how say it brings us to the surface your left hand and you take off the The Fog fog of of the Sol on the right hand and you just hear
Speaker A
you know what I mean so you're basically making room to start listening to the left hand so that's that's an amazing thing that I recommend to all yeah all all humans in general should do it um so that's one and the second thing
Speaker A
the second exercise is that I from from Sam my teacher was and that but that one is also incredibly hard and frustrating you take a solo with the right hand you you a company with the left hand but you you sing the top
Speaker A
note of the left hand try create a Melody while I'm not going to be able to do it's so hard man it's so so so hard idea here is to just shift to shift your focus to the left hand and you're right
Speaker A
like it's a it's a it's a disease for piano players this this like it's like I might as well play it like this you know the right hand is doing stuff and the left hand is just like but
Speaker A
man yeah but but the the thing is really to also like like like we spoke about in in ear [Music] training you really hear every every note you know you can take it even further like so you play this cord and you try
Speaker A
[Music] to to um to bring up in this note more than the other one it's really hard that's like some classical music work like they do when you play when you play bring out voices so and try to play voicing that has that
Speaker A
have a melodic line with this finger you know with the middle voice here but you have below and above see I hear but I'm playing this court you know what I mean so right now I'm focusing more and
Speaker A
more on solo piano so so basically it's time for me to start admitting that I neglected my left hand throughout the years neglected I I didn't give enough f and and start start taking care of it start taking care of it and and it's
Speaker A
it's a it's was a very painful realization you know yeah ouch okay I have I have a lot of homework to do now so yeah in in general that's a good concept this um work on things that you
Speaker A
you're not good at yeah it's not so obvious like we used we we normally would we we look for a quick gratification and so we play the stuff that's that we know but you know it so don't do you
Speaker A
know work on what you don't know yeah so that's a that's a lifetime work right there for me too yeah any other questions um just make sure I got it right how do I arrange my time to yeah
Speaker A
how do you organize ARR my practice if you focusing an exper you just cover them all yeah okay so this is a great question because there's a trap here how do you say trap trap trap like like for a trap for a bear
Speaker A
like the tra tra okay Trump Donald Trump no no no don't don't what's that you an at the end word if you put an A truma truma okay I'll stay with trumpa no trumpa okay don't get me started on this man
Speaker A
uh there's yeah there's a trap there um uh we practice a lot of things and we a lot of times we feel like we don't make any progress right you know this feeling when you're like all all of us all of us know it
Speaker A
very well and there's a very basic thing that I understood again thanks to Sam this teacher that if we practice stuff that we don't want to practice we're not present so when you sit next to the piano next to your
Speaker A
instrument you don't just practice the material you you practice your connection to the instrument you practice your your presence next and the thing is really to look at this as a like a holy thing you know and never never touch it if you're
Speaker A
not here yeah which goes into all this whole all like other spiritual practice but specifically about music the thing is um if you if you play it happen a lot happens a lot to drummers you know they sit practice
Speaker A
rents and watch a film and yeah watch a movie you know like you do this and you like go on Facebook and you yeah and yeah your hand will move your muscles are being trained but you're not present and not only you're
Speaker A
practicing not only you um you're practicing when you're you're not present you're practicing on not being present you know what I mean you're practicing your lack of connection and it's an active practice of not being connected yeah and so you when you go on
Speaker A
stage you have to untangle it and find your connection because you practice all this hours while being on freaking Facebook yeah and then the drummer is doing like something and you're busy with creating the connection to to the
Speaker A
instrument so one of the things that's written on my board is is stop stop stop stop and for me that's that's uh the thing that is U making me question myself like are you connected or you're not connected and if you're not
Speaker A
connected go go eat something go play with whatever don't don't do this don't do this you're you're damaging yourself and um it's a disease for like modern Jazz we sound like educated musicians and quite honestly when I listen to Pac
Speaker A
DEA I don't hear his education I mean there but I hear a huge heart and like a true presence of a master you know what I mean everything everything is there all the it's crazy it's like amazing but
Speaker A
it's not what gets me what gets me is his his presence and I think that comes from the way he he just I I think when he practices prti I I imagine it was always I would pay a lot of money to listen
Speaker A
to okay so it's it's being connected so so when I have this board it's there because I take um I take a standard I choose like I know my food is this foolish things and I say okay this song does it
Speaker A
resonate with me now or it doesn't it does cool okay what key that resonates with me now CU different Keys resonate in different ways in different times in the day yeah what's key so [Music] here yeah what's what's real for me
Speaker A
today a flat feels right for me right now you know then you have to know in every key yeah so there you go so now now you have you have your practice for the next three hours or whatever to trans to transpose These
Speaker A
Foolish things to a flat and it's real and you're next to the piano and you're connected and it will get in CU if you practice if you practice and you're not present not only like we talked about like the
Speaker A
stage stuff but the material will not get in you know so this will get in now because this is the key for whatever 10:30 11:30 in the morning on I don't know what day we are but like this is
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what I feel right [Music] now so so I make sure that I'm here I make sure that I'm present and then I start looking at the board and say and and see what exercise resonates honestly with me right
Speaker A
now triplets no I don't really feel like it's I can do it but I'm I'm not here I'll be like it's not what I want to do now drop two like this you know drop two is like a chord
Speaker A
take count 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 you take number two and you drop it and then you get it's like a technical thing so do drop two resonate hell yes it's all drop to
Speaker A
so right now I practiced I I I took a cord and I moved it through a lot of keys I there was a lot of work that there was a lot of work that's been done right now but but for me I'm I'm in
Speaker A
you know like I I have the key so yes there's there's a huge mountain of material and things to do but you you can't do everything I can't maybe you can I I definitely can't so the idea is to to be okay with small
Speaker A
increments of improvement but make it real Improvement I spent when I left High School I I prac I remember I woke up at like at 6:30 in the morning had breakfast and from 7 until like 10: at night like 15 hour days 12
Speaker A
hour days I was I would practice and you know like I yeah you can say wow he's practicing a lot but I wasn't there I my your brain can't deal with 15 hours practice it just doesn't make sense you know if you have 1 hour if you
Speaker A
have 30 minutes of like real work beautiful so I I really I killed myself I killed my my hands I started having problems I would be frustrated of like I I want to be like good musician and and it didn't have you know so now
Speaker A
I'm I'm starting to be in peace with like small small small Improvement but but real Focus you know so now I I started learning this I started learning this atude by shopen it's like um I forget but something something like
Speaker A
um something you know and it's like it's like uh it goes to million places and like three pages of like crazy classical music but I decided to do it connected and without pain you know just like to so I I just really isolated I learned it
Speaker A
by her okay okay this feels good to me I'm here you know add the second chord okay whatever and I did two systems two lines and that's it I never I never followed up I I left on two or something
Speaker A
but but the work has been done you know and if I learn the entire piece and and and but I'm not there it would not come in too much yeah so that's just choose that's I I recommend the concept with the board
Speaker A
it's it's it's working for me yeah so let's write all the stuff and then like start scanning and see what inspires you yeah and if something inspires you do it and it's on the board it says in a few
Speaker A
different places stop stop and stop it's my question mark of like am I present or not and if you don't go yeah any other questions [Music] so drop two is is this thing with 1 2 3 four take the two drop it so
Speaker A
instead of okay and and uh he's asking about an inversion in the base yeah the fourth inversion that's that's an Inver inversion inversion doesn't always sound good right for me yeah so for this kind of stuff I would try
Speaker A
to be friends with it you know not yet play it more play it more you start you start to hear stop resisting cu cu what what what's what's disturbing about this uh inversion is [Music] this so isolate and see this is really
Speaker A
your problem with it and then okay so let's try to be friends with it's it's a it's um like there's an octav and this is um flat nine how you call it like a huh yeah so this is really your your problem
Speaker A
I think cuz it's my problem at least so okay so let's learn to be friends with this octave with this this interval so yeah so so take a Sol play music be present and say that actually really beautiful and and be able ear TR you ask
Speaker A
where's the guy who ask me over [Music] this it's hard really hear it cuz the piano will give you the answer if you play it all the all the flat n yeah just get get comfortable with this and you know first of
Speaker A
all see [Music] you know um and then you'll see that this doesn't sound see now now we're used to the sound it doesn't sound as bad too so so this no sorry you know me so this is for this kind of
Speaker A
the drop too but I want to just focus more on the philosophy behind it and the philosophy is that when you when you when you don't s when you fail when you don't succeed to do something a lot of times the reason you
Speaker A
don't succeed is this because there's one thing in it one really small thing like the there's like a like a I don't know like a like something right and then you you you can't play it and you keep messing up
Speaker A
usually or many times there'll just be like one thing here that's messing you up but what we'll do is we'll we'll we'll play this over and over again sorry I'm a bit lost right now but you carry on I'm trying to do a little
Speaker A
resuming okay so we have a lot of times we will have something that we work on that's really like but we will not succeed we will fail yeah but many times the reason we fail is not because this is too hard for
Speaker A
us no this is okay this this little piece here is too hard for us okay and and then once you solve this part will so that's the philosophy behind it and and here for me what why can't why don't I like this
Speaker A
because this little so let's work on this you learn to solve it the way I present it is like I'm you know I'm like with anger you know but [Music] in it's beautiful fine ways so this goes to the what I'm saying this philosophy
Speaker A
goes to this this court but but it it applies to everything yeah find find a little mean monsters yeah other questions how much time do we have yeah it's it's different every time some songs Just arrive and you say
Speaker A
thank you and some come from like a rhythmic idea come from an harmonic progression something yeah the only thing I cannot tell you how to do I cannot really speak about is composition because like inspiration like it's so
Speaker A
elusive with my hands like yeah you try to catch and you can't you know it's it's yeah it's just um the only thing I would say there's one one rule that I work with and it's um to um if I write
Speaker A
something and I sit with my friends at home or around the fire somewhere in nature with the guitar and I play my very limited guitar and I sing the Melody and I sing the melody it has to work it has to be good in this
Speaker A
constellation the song the DNA of the song has to work if I put it if I anywhere if I put it on a computer on a midi if I you know and once you have this DNA you can start putting things on top
Speaker A
like arrangements and rhythms and whatever you know but when you um I can show you uh okay so this is something that a friend of mine a drummer showed me yeah so he showed me a a concept my
Speaker A
phone um do do you know um cascara you know what it is Kar is in Cuban music you have like um yeah exactly it's pretty pretty impressive technique man so like one two three 4 One Two Three 4
Speaker A
okay that's a it's like a phrase that's what it is and he said he said um you play it and inside there are gaps gaps Med the empty spaces so he said you feel so you you feel the empty
Speaker A
spaces so okay so so basically you have all the eight notes everything is being played there no there's no empty spaces anymore okay and then it says you take these ones and instead of one you make him two so
Speaker A
[Music] so okay so every one became two and then it says you take every one here and instead of one you make it two you get see so space double [Music] Double D okay and then if you play it
Speaker A
quickly [Music] like where play you know you hear you hear this crazy thing and you and many times you hear drummers doing it like with double Bas drum or whatever like you know all this kind of stuff but the interesting thing is that
Speaker A
the idea is really simple the idea is and that's what you hear you hear but with around it my communication to you is really simple okay and then with all this extra stuff simple composition the song is really
Speaker A
simple that's what has been communicated to you the DNA of the song it's really simple it's understandable it's tangible with all this other stuff on top of it understand so I I wrote there's the part that I wrote in
Speaker A
my song that goes 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 s that iot that I wrote so you say like oh wow it's like like what is it but what I'm telling you is this that's that's the melody or even more
Speaker A
simple [Music] [Applause] but you know what I mean no this is g s is the same so that's that's the Only Rule I work with make sure that there's a song A Simple Song and from there on God is great
Speaker A
and help advice yeah what advice would you give to like some of young he's starting to like play music and what country would you consider be the best place for him to to start his career or car with this career okay
Speaker A
um you know my instinct is to say New York but I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't say it I wouldn't tell you this like with full confidence because New York is the right place for me and each person is a universe you
Speaker A
know and it would be irresponsible for me to tell to say something to say that there is one right answer of where you should go even for me New York is right for me now but in one one year maybe I'll be on
Speaker A
the beach here in I know you agree Frankie you know so um I'll start with this I'm just I'm being really really careful with answering this question an advice for Young musician first of all I I'll say stay in there you know keep keep at
Speaker A
it continue it's a it's for me it's not a hobby it's not like yeah it's um it's a way of life it's a it's a mirror it's a it's a love and it's a love hate relation you know and the the thing I tell I tell you
Speaker A
is is like take it seriously yeah and be ready for a long way ahead um as for the place to be New York is the mecca of everyone everyone is there everyone like it's so creative it's really um like a jazz festival every
Speaker A
day and for me in New York is really being around people who just constantly create con yeah I just I was I just got an email to join a composers group yeah and uh like the best musicians in
Speaker A
New York like there's like 16 guys that and you know I'm just really happy to get this email and and we basically and we we compose a song Every 15 days with some limitations some restrictions yeah we get an assignment
Speaker A
like assignment yeah and the first one was to write a song in that the melody is a dionic and only 32 bars and and then be as creative as you want with it but within this limitations and we put it on the internet we put it
Speaker A
on Dropbox on the folder drop and then we we listen to each other's compositions and we and man I I got it and I was like ah New York it's so much it's so great you know and like and the people on this group are
Speaker A
like really some of my favorite musicians and you get you get to put your effort together with their and to check out their compos you know and this environment is great for me and yeah but maybe not for other
Speaker A
people yeah so um I pretty much didn't answer your question but but yeah I I got to respect the fact that we're we're different people yeah but come to New York just see it it's it's yeah do you still collaborate with a or
Speaker A
do you think that you will do something again together or we didn't play for like six years and we spoke we spoke a little bit and I I didn't play with him for a long time but yeah in the future I mean I played a lot
Speaker A
with Mark Juliana Mark's see I'm I'm happy with whatever comes you I try to see everything as a as a beautiful thing that comes through I met your piano start me was amazing I mean just amazing than it's
Speaker A
a Frankie how much time do we have minutes more questions everyone yeah everyone heard the question yeah um so that that really connects to what I what I what I told him that we are all universes it sounds a little bit like
Speaker A
new age stuff but I I I mean it man um each one each one in the room here is like this unique being that would never existed and will never exist after you know you have you have a gift that John
Speaker A
C never had so that's like the Baseline realization that what you are is great and um the thing is really to see all the work as a language why why um why does this master class give you something that's personal
Speaker A
to me like why why you know why am I sitting here and I'm giving you something that's special to me that only I can give you when I'm using words that everyone else is using I didn't invent any words in this
Speaker A
master class you know and it's the combination of the words it's the choices that you make it's your relationship to it's your relationship to to silence it's your your your yeah your personality basically so the idea is to be as fluent
Speaker A
as you can with the language fluentu I know how hard is what you're doing man I know the the the idea is really to to be as fluent as you can with the language and and because the language that I'm
Speaker A
like a lot of jazz but like I told you Bulgarian music so yeah be be a fluent so so you can express what you have to say to the world and and really I would say just focus it's kind of a general advice but
Speaker A
focus on what makes you feel good because this will be reliable like this would be honest and I I would want to listen to it if you if you play some stuff of other people if you try to be someone
Speaker A
else if you try to be this like there are so many people in New York to try to sound like Mark Turner Turner Mark Turner is Su and I'm like guys Mark Turner exist in the world let him let him be Mark Turner you
Speaker A
know and it's cool to learn his vocabulary and I'm doing it all the time but a lot of people try to be other I had I had a very long bread M out period and but with everything like
Speaker A
sitting like this with the piano and like the elbow like like okay you know go on iTunes get a bread MAA album so it's okay I would I would tell I do tell people who studied bread music who
Speaker A
are super into it and it's like a it's like a tra right it's like a it's like a trap uh if you if you want to study bread mow do it but do it well bread is really easy to
Speaker A
mimic yeah he has like the thing he he would play like a like a run in the right hand like a and like a melody with like like a melody in the left hand this it comes from a real place but
Speaker A
this is easy like that's the gimmick part it's a gimmick uh that's like the like this this superficial level you want to study bread transcribe London Blues from from live to Vanguard transcribe his solo ver solo you know what I mean do it well and he's
Speaker A
a he's a genius you know and it's just it's just the waste not not just to take the The Superficial stuff and then and then let it go like don't go on stage and try to be a PR be
Speaker A
I know it's easy to say if I say the not but but uh it took it took me a long time to understand that it's okay to and that's something that that I know out of working also in like workshops of
Speaker A
like I do some breathing work breathing exercises with and in in a workshop with other people and in this Workshop I realized that almost no one can say and really mean like it's okay to be me it's a it's a we all have we all
Speaker A
insecure we all like dealing with our we all dealing with our demons all the time and it's it's a deep thing to say yeah I'm not even saying to say I'm great not even this but just it's okay
Speaker A
to be me yeah it's it's a hard work man I'm constantly with this work yeah I think we ran out of time right yeah so yeah just uh oh yeah sure okay thank you for listening and I hope I hope it helped
Speaker A
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Topics:ear trainingmusic educationShai Maestromusical transcriptionlistening skillsjazz pianomusic practicemusical interactioninterval recognitionmusic theory
