What Charlie Parker wants YOU to Practice | Practical Advice from Bird himself!
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- čas přidán 6. 07. 2024
- Do you want to know how and what Charlie Parker practiced? You'll never get as close as this! There is some rare audio of Parker showing a couple of things he practiced to an unknown guy in a bootleg recording of him in a hotelroom. And there is this beautiful interview done by another sax hero, Paul Desmond, where he explains more about what he practiced and what he values most!
0:00 Intro
1:18 Part I: Noodling Like a GOAT
2:56 Part II: Classical Saxophone Etudes
5:28 Part III: Sheets Of Sound
6:27 Part IV: Play Your Major Scales Through ALL Keys
8:07 Technique & Vision
9:39 Outro
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I'd never heard Charles Parker speak. His voice is soft and beautiful. He spoke as I've only heard very literate and advanced human beings speak. Richly complex. Human. He seemed to share his dearly-bought understanding of music generously.
He was a genius, taken from us far too soon. But he did the work too! Inspiring!
If he was as "clean" about his health as he was about technique like he said to Desmond, he would have lived maybe until this very day :)
@@SharpElevenMusic Addiction took its toll, sadly … 😢
willing to do the work...
"he was a genius took too soon from us"
@@SharpElevenMusicyou dont like the praise black people get. You try to hide it by paying homage disingenuously
Very inspiring to hear that the great Charlie Parker used to play scales in his dayly warm ups.
daily.
no, he practised daily for about 3-4 years, 11-15 hours/day, from about ages 14-17, then joined bands and went on the road...reports are that he rarely practised from no later than the early 1940s...he died at 35...remember that he was a junkie, a big part of his day was finding & using heroin, if you know anything about that life, it's not conducive to stable practice...also he was playing most nights, so he really didn't need to practice. The take way is that if you put in those 10,000 hours at an early age, you pass all these technical barriers to the point where you don't have to worry about it anymore...Art Tatum is an even more amazing example.
I think the classical violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter said something similar about her technique I.e she got her chops before she was 11 or 12 by concentrating on that kind of practice. I might have mis-remembered but I’m sure I read it somewhere. I’m not saying she stopped practicing then, like Bird, just that she had a lot of stuff down by then.
There is nothing else you can do! The scales are the raw material of parts!
I'll tell you what I noticed - something that people rarely mention about Bird - possibly because it is somehow overshadowed by his incredible technique - and that is his tone quality. Listen to how he often attacks a note and immediately imbues it, charges it with an intense sense of emotion, using mostly intonation, dynamics and a certain vibrato.
This is what makes Bird a real story-teller - and much more than just a technical showcase.
He does it several times in these clips.
Absolutely Viggo, great observation! His sound is immense and beautiful, and this even consiseribg it has been recorded on a 50s remote recording device... imagine that sound tecorded with the latest recording techniques would have been even more all encompassingly recorded
I think his gorgeous sound is very well captured though on the Bird with stribgs recordings. Like on "April in Paris" and "Just Friends"
Thanks for your input!
Man... Bird was Just Absolutely Facemelting.. By Far One of My Most Favorite Musicians in The Musical History of Mankind.. Rest In Power Yardbird 💖💖
The Klosé book is great. And #23 is definitely one of the more interesting. I think Bird practiced it in all keys. It is a great way to become fluent in the tonic of each key - and even some basic harmonic progression used in this etude.
Practicing the major scale in this way is brilliant, I'm doing it now on the guitar. And you're right, it does challenge you to understand how well you really know it
I love how this reveals that much of Charlie Parker's genius was based on a foundation of life-long training grounded in classic technical studies and 11-15 hours per day practicing as a youth. People marvel at genius without pondering the actual life-time of work and dedication it takes to achieve. Scales, modes, etudes. The basics of musicianship.
Years ago Myself and my colleague Norman Saks went to Dick Meldonian's pad for our research for our Charlie Parker Discography -Meldonian gave us the tape of which you hear above.. We eventually put this clip out on the Philology Label. W. 846.2 Volume 16. Important
find in Parker Oeuvres. Bird Lives!
Thank You for this. I have literally all of Yard's Recordings EXCEPT this one which I have been searching for for years.
Yard saved my life and I modeled my whole life after him... Well almost his whole life then added multiple cars in to form my own style. So this recording means a lot to me. Thank You so much for this blessing. You made my year. Bird lives
Excellent video. A genius is someone who can play scales and make them sound utterly unique.
This video was AWESOME!! Don't let the naysayers discourage you. I always love to hear your analyses and commentaries (even the goofy stuff!). As a holder of a Ph.D. in music theory, I am very impressed by your ability to simply explain in theoretical terms and I have always found that your transcripts are right on! I'm a huge fan of your videos! Bravissimo!
Oh thanks Luanne for the kind words, that brought a smile to my face! :)
Back in 1984, I bought an LP (you can look them up in museums, LOL!) and it had a sleeve that had a series of quotes on it. There was one that went, "I learned Cherokee, I Got Rhythm, and the blues in all 12 keys, and then I knew I was ready." The author of the quote was Charlie Parker...
Thank you!
@@jesseimpersonal You're welcome!
Man, that's one heavy load you just put on us!
@@MrTrackman100 Well...don't think of it as an immediate task--it's more of a journey. Take one tune at a time, and one key at a time, say, just working on I Got Rhythm in Bb. Learn the melody in its original form, then the chords, and then work on ideas on that tune in that key. The reason for those tunes is that they contain most of the common progressions that you find in jazz from the 1920s to the late 1950s, including major and minor II-V7-I's. After a while, you'll start to connect all the dots, but just take it slowly at first and you'll be fine.
@@peterharrison5833 Thanks. I'll take your advice and slowly give it a try. I'm a novice.
It's really freaky how he's neither humble nor too proud. He knows precisely how important he really is - mad self awareness.
I'm always looking for ways to refine and maximize my time for practice. Thanks for this helpful and educational tip from the master himself.
Everyone glossing over Bird telling us how many hours he actually practiced and studied when he was coming up, and instead drooling about his genius and natural talent.
M'kay.
Interesting that all the "gifted" artists have a gift for doing an enormous amount of hard work.
To that, my guess is that he knows all the Klose exercises, in all keys, with all possible alternate stressed notes (as mentioned, an eighth note ahead in this instance) all by muscle memory. And I suppose that's a big basis for his technique.
Bird definitely knew the way to Carnegie Hall - he made it 13 times!
@@d.l.loonabide9981 well said!
@@d.l.loonabide9981 10% inspiration-----90% you know what!
Awesome idea for a video! Thank you for transcribing it, this is a huge lesson! I love Bird, love his lines and love the fact he was born in the same day as myself! Sadly, our similarities end right there!
Charlie Parker the 🐐, I’ll die on this hill. Great video! Fascinating listen!
Again a great video Jorre!! Thank you
You think you’ve heard and seen all of the odd ball stuff, then you show up with this. Really fantastic. I recently heard Coltrane ,playing Cherokee. On alto. How cool .. thanks for this.
Thanks for your wise analysis of this incredibly valuable practice recording. Yes, lessons for life.
I love how you explain Bird’s practice method. Thanks.
Thank you for this valuable post. Hopefully these factors will be preserved for a long time.
I play the guitar and got so much from this. Thank you
Excellent, THANKS! The best bird study resource I know of is Thomas Owen’s dissertation. His analysis is incredible, and has unlocked the world of Bird for me to enjoy and study.
Captivating and so interesting to watch. Thank you Jorre for all the effort and expertise in putting this together, much appreciated!
Nice to hear Tony, thanks! 😁
Everyone took from Parker even the Rock guitar players...One the GREATEST EVER TO PLAY ANYTHING ..PERIOD
Thanks!!! This is very good and useful information. As many hours as I've heard Bird and tried to play his stuff on guitar, I never heard his voice before! 😁
Your analysis is very amusing , accurate , personal and interesting!
Thanks, nice to hear!
Fantastic analysis, thank you. Most interesting bit for me was seeing him run the lick that is also in the recorded solo. It shows that bird really did have to think about how to construct his amazing lines, it was just all in the moment, there was a lot of compositional technique behind his improv
Concur with his technical clarity. I plan on incorporating the major scales into my practice; have always thought that was the case.
It is obvious that this new audio document is a very good event in the life of every jazz Charlie Parker lovers. But , when you know that guy after having picked up douzen solos from him, it is more a pleasure than a discovery..a new facet of his immense talent
Thank you for sharing this education with your explanation. This explanation is helpful for my learning and understanding.
Thank you for your teaching and understanding of our needs.
Great video Sharp!
Fantastic video, thanks very much.
A gem!
i took lessons with Don Haas, who gots calls to sub for Clare Fischer on occasion. (That alone qualifies him) I wanted to jump straight ahead to "playing jazz". He recommended I play Bach/Hannon exercises/ said when I could play all the major scales up and down,CLEAN, two octaves, both hands at some tempo, I can't remember, 200 maybe, that then "you will have chops". I said, incredulous, "major scales, really?".
Hope this was helpful, at least my two cents on this unique little bootleg recording. He is not really practicing, but he is definitely explaining to somebody else what he has practised, so that may be even more cool! :D It's as close as getting a lesson from Bird himself you'll ever get! And if you haven't, check out that complete interview done by Paul Desmond, it's beautiful to hear those two of my all time heroes have that conversation... Uploaded by another sax hero, Bob Reynolds! Thanks so much to Bob for this!
Let me know what you think!
NEW! We have new products in store which are build to strengthen your improvisation qualities (including tons of transcriptions you cans access like the Charlie Parker one in this video), check it out here: www.sharpelevenmusic.com/store
/Jorre
You're talking to much! Let his playing speak for itself! I know you mean well, but everyone knows this shit, or at least should.
It is more cool for that reason.
I was so pleased reading what Sharp Eleven Music wrote, until Jon posted. Why was that necessary? Thank you for posting this. If a person reads about what Bird did and then writes about it, this is not bad. Some people find it interesting. Yes, the Desmond info is new to me. I will check it out. Thanks again.
The speaker was insufferable. Why not let us hear the ENTIRETY of Bird's practice sessions and the entirety of what be had to say? Instead of constantly and repetitiously pointing out what is fairly obvious? I am hoping for another installment with much more Bird, whose practice routines must be as valuable to us as the Beethoven sketch books, and way less explication.
MrKlemps, this was the entire practice session, only divided In 4 parts and commented on. The original audio is fairly short (you can find it here on CZcams searching for "Charlie Parker rare"). Some things are obvious, yes, but still worth contemplating. Other places, like hearing him play the classical etude or the Aminmaj7 ascending Amaj7#11 descending was not that common to hear Bird perform.
I'm sorry that it bored you, but not everybody here can automatically analyse the lines and make sense of it.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Edit: oh yes, and the combination with the Desmond/Parker interview was really interesting to me. But maybe not for you, which is all ok. Just sharing what I find interesting on my channel 🙂
amazing video, thankyou
Nice sermon at the end! (Vision and technique)
thanks for the knowledge
Excellent analysis! I’ve been thinking about where to focus more of my technique practice lately, and then I found this video. I’m a huge Bird fan too, so this was great. Thank you! 🎷
Thanks Brock! It did exactly the same for me, it really narrowed down the practicing focus for me as well 😁
@@SharpElevenMusicnotable b48😅😢🎉😅fio
Brilliant! Muchas gracias chicos!
Great video, thanks!
This was a great video! Amazing work and great information about the klose book. I’ve subscribed.
Thanks Andres! Appreciated 🙌
Holy smokes, my biggest surprise here was that Bird sounded this good and "sharp" this late in his life. From what I have read, his life was always messy, but it went into a very self-destructive (literally suicidal) downwards spiral after his daughter died. I guess he always took his music very seriously, and it may have been a way to try to get past his depression.
That football metaphor was just perfect. I use A LOT of comparation between football and jazz music praticing. Those burning jams and a team playing like that 2002 Brasilian team, for example, it's quite the same way of thinking solutions nobody ever thought, still, you have to have an accurate techniques to execute it properly and doesn't ruin the whole game/concert. And if you're Limited, there's still a lot you can do and still make THE difference, by respecting your limitations and optimize what you can do better, playing slowly, football or an instrument, for example, but practice harmonies (that's, actually how the 1st defensive midfielder was invented hahahaha). You're a bit confusing with harmonies, try to approach your instrument focusing on the rhythm or ina percusive way (like the genius Jorge Ben Jor, that would be considered a bad music of weren't for his right mystical hand that (re)-created a whole style.).
Such a great topic!
I used to have a CD years ago with a similarly gnarly what I believed to be hotel recording of dizzie and bird going nuts in a hotel room doing mad solos. I found your video while trying to find it lol .
Top draw video, thank you.
this is crazy good!
Great stuff again man!
Thanks 😁!
Great video
As a city fan I approve of this analysis of Bird; subscribed...
Great sharing your enthusiasm for music and the Greats - now a new subscriber...
wow man thanks for sharing this....
Dear, SHARP ELEVEN MUSIC! You have did a great and wonderfull, but also tiny in details and time consuming work. Every second it shows how much You love music, how deeply You understand/studied it. Then You have this quality of a great person- the need to sheare with others your knowledge. This video shoud become compulsary in every music school. Really!! Youngsters shoud see how the geat masters practice simple scales, how beautiful they play simple scales, etc. etc. Thank You very much!!! You are great!!!
Thank you for those kind words, appreciated 🙏. And we'll keep going in providing this kind of content
Thank you for this
This video about what Bird used to practice is so interesting!
You analysed bis practice session so well! I enjoyed this video so much!
New subscriber here!👍👍👍🎼🎶
Glad you dig it Jonas! 😁 Thanks for subscribing!
This is VERY cool!
Inspiring .. all good ..!!
Ive found a Great Channel Thank You:)
Thanks, bro!
Glad you dig it man! 🙌
This is fascinating stuff...liked and subscribed
Hey Andy, so nice to see you here! I've been listening to quite some of your excellent videos on jazz history/philosophy, it's great! You were spot on with your analysis on the problem of jazz.
Hope you keep those going, it's thought provoking for sure (in a good way)
Loved this video and your analysis as well as the parallelism with football
Thanks Jedma!
beautiful thank you
great content, brother
Thanks Asa!
subscribed twice, because of the KDB reference 👍
😂👍🔥
I like the plywood box room, bro! :)
You really make incredibly great points. I thought i knew how to play and i didn’t have a handle on my major scales. My tone was really horrible. I am much better now and i think i still suck 😂. I subscribed. Good stuff
What a cool video. Thank you.
Thanks, glad you dig it
Very interesting 👍
#X1, you are as great an analyst as you are an excellent public servant. You have once again humanized Charlie Parker, letting us know that eminence and virtuosity come with understanding (of intended task), dedication, commitment, discipline, application, and hard work, as exemplified by Charlie Parker to whom practicing scales was also very important.
Thanks, #X1
I used to play with Dick Meldonian in the mid 90s, great alto player in NYC.
Nice video!
There is an interesting quote in the Barney Wilen documentary: "You listen to Cole Porter and George Gershwin, after your Scales you play them (Gershwin & Porter I'm assuming) from Memory".
Thank you, for your fine presentation. It reminds me of something a writing teacher said, before I switched over to music. Art can not be taught; technique MUST be.
That's a good quote! 👌
I have just printed that quote in big letters and posted it on my practice mirror....more Major scales with precision, feel and sound !!!!
I avoid analysis videos most of the time. Not because the thoughts of the poster are invalid but they are mostly either not organised or aren't presented succinctly. Yours was fantastic. I had not heard this clip but I loved how you broke it down. I have a background in classical saxophone from ages ago and I've basically shunned it entirely. This makes me think that maybe pulling the Klose book out wouldn't be a bad idea.
That's lovely to hear! I think those Klose excersises, or any of the classical etudes, are a major + to any player. Classical, pop, jazz, funk... The way for example Marx Russo can play those dazzling altissimo lines in pop/funk settings dit all come with practicing classical etudes he told in an interview. Which I completely understand: the agility and speed of tongueing can be trained best with those type of etudes imo
Now I don’t feel funny practicing my Hanon exercises. Lol 🎹thanks much! Nice view of Parker’s practice ethic! 11 to 15 hrs! Wow!
Gracias
Bird was great, I have an alto sax, don’t know a thing about reading music, I play by ear, I am a beginner on the alto sax, I love jazz, trying to blow like bird, much practice is needed.
It’s humbling to hear bird practice scales like the rest of us!
oh, nice very rare info. now time to find home rehearsal records of Miles D.
7:20 "wait i hear some preaching coming" LoL! Preach it brother! Preach it!
Got no new information from this but have a like for making a precise distinction between football and handspheroid
U're obviously a fine player urself. Amazingly, even after all that practice, he still got a cymbal thrown at him by Jo Jones. So he practiced some more. Yeah, a bootleg tape of Parker practicing. What a thing to have. Every time I hear him speak, I'm convinced of his great depth. He's so articulate. And basically self-taught but for his high school music program, which was really the only foundation for all jazz musicians back then. To become the greatest ever & self-taught is reflective of his genius, cut short & therefore depriving us all.
Jo said he never threw a cymbal. Or know of any player then who would take their valuable cymbals and throw them. It seems to be allegorical. And the story was it was BEFORE all the practice.
Pops was pretty much self-taught too and cast an infinite net. "Without him there wouldn't be son of us."
-------John Birks Gillespie
The practice sessions and rehearsals of the great jazz musicians--no need to name them--are as valuable to us as the Beethoven sketch books. Record producers who consistently disposed of rehearsal tapes of the giants belong in Dante's Inferno.
"... I've consulted a guitarist, a drummer, a phycologist...."
- Lol, this reminds me of class with David Baker, haha.....
"When you get to that level, you're just about ready to go to Bellevue (hospital in NYC)."
This was brilliant, thank you! I'm a guitarist but I've got most of my inspiration from horn players like Bird. So I really love and appreciate insights like this. Also, I have to say, choosing Kevin De Bruyne as an example of Vision is most brilliant, and something I often do myself. Great stuff, cheers!
Thanks! Choosing De Bruyne fora comparison is obviously my national bias as a Belgian, but great to hear you're doing the same thing. Plenty of players with agility and technique (talking both music and football), but the ones to couple it with vision make all the difference imho
Crossing my fingers for the Euros
Cheers!
/Jorre
@@SharpElevenMusic Yes, for me also, KDB is the best of the best. And yes, I do think Belgium have a good chance of doing well in Group E. I'll certainly be watching, cheers!
@@thormusique Thanks!
I stop practicing after an hour or so because 'my mouth starts getting tired.' Anecdotally, Bird practiced in excess of 12 hours a day.
Thanks for the transcripts and commentary. This is so much cooler than playing through Real Books when I was in school.
Thanks William! Glad it was of a help 🙂
it does not mean he practice the sax, he must have learn harmony, or just do any study, playing 15 hours a day is impossible…..you take breaks, you do other things….like learning solos from records, things in that nature
That Klosé line sounds like it could have inspired the first phrase of "Relaxin´ at the Camarillo"
“I feel some preaching...” take your time brother ....😂🙏🏾
Can we get a link to the original material?
Do you have a copy of the transcription I can download?
I agree completely
the best free jazz players
knew their major scales
and their blues scales
Anyone else surprised by his voice?
Bop...I am your father.....
Sounds like Cannonball...
Birds TONE WAS THE BEST TO THIS DAY
I just realized I never heard bird's voice before
What is the outro song?