Hi
I agree with what Jeff has written in his last two posts. It is very hard to
know just how relaxed a player is. Very subjective!
Any way the point about breathing is not breathing like a horn but just being
relaxed within yourself. If your not relaxed you may lose the groove.
Yogic breathing methods may be fine I don't really know anything about them.
Relaxing mentally without hearing some inner criticism of your own solo that
causes you to sabotage yourself is much more important I believe.
The key to that is knowing the material! Werner's book quoted Bill Evan's who
when asked how much he practiced said he practiced the minimum. Meaning the
minimum amt. Of material in any one session. It is so easy to become
overwhelmed by the tunes that are out there that you do not commit many to memory for
years.
As far as exercises to assist in one being relaxed I believe Joe Diorio was
on to something when he suggested just free playing in a session with your Eyes
closed.
That is playing on the right side of the brain playing from your intuition.
Additionally not being too self critical allow yourself to make mistakes just
don''t worry about it let it happen then it's history. Most likely you won't
but your creativity will emerge.
Now for a pet peeve of mine?
Can we really phrase like a horn? We can play the same line but we cant play
long tones so how does one breathe like a horn?
We don't really! So what to do? Play Guitaristic solo's meaning play more
than one note at a time. Double stops! Practice well known solo's by adding notes
of any interval that catches your ear. This well make for an interesting
solo's rather than sounding fiddly. The solo tends to breathe better. As Wes did
for octaves it is a similar dramatic effect. Your listeners ears will pick up!
Just my suggestion!
Ciao brother and sisters,
Tony Hughes SEPA
