Review of John Armstrong's Visit

Hey there,


Sorry I didn't get this up earlier, but now is better than never. Firstly, John said that what we're doing is the right thing. I take that more as a testament to your progress and work ethic than anything else. If we don't take the concepts and ideas home and try to improve them in our own personal playing, then there will be no progress. With this group, though, that is not the case. Both John and I are very impressed with your musical display. I'm very proud of the progress and John was pleased with your creativity.


That being said, there were a few things that John suggested that I think are good for everyone (myself especially) to keep in mind:

1. experiment in practice, so your experiments become conservative during performance


2. if you find yourself playing the same thing 3 times, stop immediately


3. good style goes a long way


4. improvise from ear sometimes and not always sight

That last item about playing from ear is something I plan to take to heart in our improv classes. So be prepared to enagage in more playing exercises where you won't know what the changes are. We will still do some exercises where we study and analyze chords and changes. Like John said, having theory knowledge is never a bad thing, but now we must temper that with stretching our ears. I take that as my own personal charge. Practicing at home by playing with recordings will help you during the rest of the week.


One thing that John mentioned to me after you had left was the importance of listening to quality recording. previously, I posted a list of suggested listening by instrument, but I might start to make "listening" assignments from time to time.


If you run into John, please thank him for coming and sharing his insight. He got up early in the morning when he didn't have to just to help us out. Please let him know how much you appreciate his efforts. And know that I appreciate your effort and work to make this successful.