As you go forward with soloing, switch your focus from technical to musical items. What I mean is, rather than say, “I used x scale and y arpeggio,” say “I used a 3-note idea from the melody and then developed it using rhythms, articulation, and dynamics.”
Scales and arpeggios are a means to an end, if you keep focussing on the means, you’ll always play in a technical way. If you focus on what those means can do for you, create musical ideas, then your focus is on the end result, making music.
Matt Warnock Feb 2023
Saw this on Matt’s ‘studio‘ website this morning. Thought is was worth sharing.
“Most of us know that this music is profound; even apocalyptic at times. However, it is so often approached on such a casual social and commercial level, we tend to ignore and overlook the stirrings within our souls and the voices of our ancestral ‘spirits’ that remind us of the fact, that there is a revelation of certain prophetic dimensions inherent in this music.”–Doug Carn
This is a songbook definition of classic. Uno: the whole album is great. Two: Doug Carn’s arrangement and the musicianship are first rate. Tatu: the lyrics are poetry. Yet, all of that great goodness is surpassed by the job that Jean Carn does as the featured vocalist.
In the Fifties, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Carmen McRae, Ella, and others following in their wake, mostly re-interpreted popular American songs: Tin Pan Alley, Broadway show tunes, and movie music. By the force of their creativity, they turned otherwise second-rate songs into standards. In fact, jazz musicians created the ‘standard.’
Then came the Sixties. A revolution. And of course the music was a hip reflector of the politics. Self determination. Jazz musicians wrote their own songs, not just new melodies fitted on top of pre-existing chord changes, as was the case with bebop and the morph from, for example, “Cherokee” to “Ko-Ko.” Under the influence of Trane, the object was not just to cover “My Favorite Things” but rather to express our own Love Supremes.
By the Seventies, we were bequeathed a body of original jazz music. Doug Carn’s genius was fitting lyrics to this new music. Additionally, this music was issued on the Black Jazz label, a self-determination effort of Black musicians to own and distribute their own music and not be dependent on the entertainment industry for production and distribution. The mid-Seventies were the high point of this social and musical movement. In the late Seventies and on into the early Eighties, Jean had a moderately successful career as a pop vocalist, but most of her subsequent recorded solo work is forgettable. And Doug never did come up with another vocalist to do what Jean does with his lyrics and arrangements. They needed each other to complete each other. Even though they both were talented, together they were exquisite. Elegant. But you know, disco wasn’t hearing none of that.
Anyway, it’s the combination of Doug’s lyrics and Jean’s vocals that makes this iconic early Seventies jazz record so moving.
On the title cut, Jean’s breath control and dynamic range are astounding. So rich, so supple, this is the art of the jazz ballad: from expertly hit high notes to a hushed closing that is so tenderly voiced it could well be the last words of a mother who has just put her child to sleep. “Infant Eyes,” now a staple jazz ballad, is a Wayne Shorter composition. There are hundreds of recorded versions of “Infant Eyes,” however Doug and Jean Carn outshine them all. Listen. Just listen. And if you can get to the album, listen to everything (especially Michael Carvin’s drumming and George Harper’s tenor and flute work).
While I had my arm in a cast I stopped shaving as it was too difficult. I’ve had the cast off a couple of weeks now….arm getting back to normal. Now, do I shave or not….until spring? Pendant que j’avais le bras dans le plâtre, j’ai arrêté de me raser car c’était trop difficile. Le plâtre a été retiré il y a quelques semaines maintenant… le bras revient à la normale. Maintenant, est-ce que je me rase ou pas… jusqu’au printemps ? #hannahats
Stoner Doom in fact. My latest musical effort. I know you wanna hear it. Cooked up on a Sunday afternoon…..Fender Stratocaster straight into a Focusrite Scarlett, and thereby into Ableton Live with a Neural DSP Archetype Cory Wong plugin. Enjoy!
Fell off my MTB, broke my right ulnar. Did it back at the start of October. Would have mentioned it sooner, but I couldn’t type! The metalwork on the X-ray is from when I broke it when I was 14. Look to the left of that and you’ll see the new break. I’ve had it in a cast for 7 weeks. Got the cast of now and trying to get back to normal. I’ve been told not to ride until mid December. But I can play my guitar! Got some work to do as it’s quite sore/stiff/weak.
I was riding down a trail that I’ve ridden hundreds of times en route to Cognac la Foret. It is quite tricky. It’s a rocky stream crossing. I usually make it OK. Not this time though. Front wheel dropped into a hole and I went straight over the bars, landed on my arm on the rocks. I didn’t know it was broken at first. I thought I would be OK. I was a bit shaken, and it took me a while to get up. My arm was hurting so I put it in the cold stream water while I gathered my senses and worked out what to do. I noticed I had cut my arm open. I took it out of the stream, gave it a rinse from my bike bottle and wrapped my buff around it.
The plan now was to abandon the ride and cycle home along the road. Just getting to the nearest road was tough. Just getting on my bike was tough. After a few kilometres I knew I was going to have to call Carla for help. Carla took one look at my arm and told me I would need to go to hospital. The hospital doctor took one look and sent me for X-ray. 5 hours later I’m stitched up with my arm in a cast.
If I should die, think only this of me; That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England’s breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. Rupert Brooke. 1887 – 1915
Here’s the video showing how beautiful this river is….
“Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix” est situé à 200m du bourg de St-Auvent, au point le plus pittoresque de la rivière (la Gorre), dont le lit est encombré de rochers qui entraînent la formation de nombreux rapides ainsi que de plusieurs îles boisées. Communément appelé “le petit Lourdes en Limousin”, ce vaste domaine se caractérise par les nombreuses découvertes culturelles et religieuses que l’on peut y faire : la Grotte, réplique de celle de Lourdes, l’Oratoire, situé sur la colline (Mont des Béatitudes), l’oratoire de Notre-Dame de Potmain, le chemin de crois, la chapelle Notre Dame de la Paix, l’abri des pèlerins, diverses statue de Sainte Bernadette, Notre Dame de Fatima…etc. Cet édifice religieux et site naturel est un havre de paix, propice au recueillement.
“Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix” is located 200m from the town of St-Auvent, at the most picturesque point of the river (the Gorre), whose bed is cluttered with rocks which lead to the formation of numerous rapids as well as than several wooded islands. Commonly called “little Lourdes in Limousin”, this vast area is characterized by the many cultural and religious discoveries that can be made there: the Grotto, a replica of that of Lourdes, the Oratory, located on the hill (Mont des Beatitudes), the oratory of Our Lady of Potmain, the Way of the Cross, the Chapel of Our Lady of Peace, the shelter for pilgrims, various statues of Saint Bernadette, Our Lady of Fatima…etc. This religious building and natural site is a haven of peace, conducive to contemplation and meditation.
For the past 4 years I have put out an album to document my musical adventures. Remembering to Forget is this years album. There’s a range of styles, however, all are heavily influenced by my study of jazz guitar with Matt Warnock. It’s his teachings, approach and creativity that I have put into practice here. I hope you like it.
Here’s some background for each track….. Time to Think… From an original idea by PatrickM. Because sometimes we need time to think, to reflect.
Argo Phosphine… From time to time I get an invite from a local record label to submit a track for a compilation album. The brief – Call for the « PHONOGRAPHIES » project
For the “Phonographies” project, each artist is invited to compose a sound or musical piece containing field recordings. The composition should contain recordings through samples or it may be a raw « one-shot » piece.
I insist on the fact that your composition must absolutely contain sounds recorded around you or in your sound banks: that is the point. This is what will make the link throughout the project.
There were storms at the time, and during the day there was acrid smoke from the forest fires 300kms away, and what seemed like the endless noise of jet engines. I wanted something relentless and disonant. I recorded the sound of the storms, also the sound of the frogs. I used pickscrapes for the sound of the jets. White noise from a flanger and various guitar sounds with the guitar is drenched in reverb and delay. Percussion from loops of unequal lengths and some ‘one shot’ sounds from an old recording. Argo Phosphine is an anagram of Phonographies.
Beseechingly Yours… My tip of the hat to one of my favourite guitar players Derwin “Big D” Perkins.
Pocket Queen… Taylor Gordon a.k.a Pocket Queen on Instagram. Every so often she posts a drum loop and invites musicians to do something with it. This is my attempt at one of those.
Infant Eyes – Wayne Shorter… A cover of Infant Eyes. This was my Jazz study group’s tune of the month for July (https://www.mwgcourses.com/).
Juillet… Simply a tribute to July making use of some tasty chord moves I’d learned in the jazz study group.
Remembering to Forget… The title track. It’s a thing to do at the end of a serious practice session on guitar. Just forget everything and play…..but you have to remember to do that.
Andalusian Cadence… Exactly that. Let the cadence do the work and play the least I can while making sure to hit the ‘meaningful’ notes.
La Belle Riviere Gorre… Another one for the local record label to submit a track for a compilation album. The brief – Call for “CARTES POSTALES” project
(Based on the idea of Argentinean artist Carlos Devizia) Each artist will have to choose one of the most beautiful natural places in the world for them. They will compose a sound (or music) piece inspired by that place. We at Camembert Électrique believe that there are so many beautiful places in our world, that they deserve to be honoured musically.
I chose one of my very favourite places. The River Gorre near Saint Auvent. Just a stones throw from where I live. I walk there often and I find it to be a magical place. I make a point of stopping to just watch the river flow for a few minutes.
Listening is the number one thing – taking your attention away from yourself.
In one way it was good to get back to practicing and being in my own head during the Covid lockdown. But when you’re playing with a band, that’s not what you’re supposed to be doing.
You need to have your attention away from yourself. I don’t want to be thinking about what I’m doing. I want to be as focused as I can be on the people around me.
It helps me so much to just look at the other people in the band. It sort of opens everything up. It’s such a simple thing but it really helps the music for me.
Listening is such a huge thing. It sounds simple, but it’s a lifelong struggle to really, really listen.
2. Don’t Judge Yourself
What we perceive we’re doing when we play often has hardly anything to do with what’s coming out the front.
At the time you might think, This is the most badass shit I’ve ever played in my life! And then you listen to a recording and go, “What was I thinking?”
Or, you could be having some crisis in your head like, I just can’t play anything! But when you listen back it’s beautifully formed.
All that stuff in your head – you have to shut it down. The idea is to get rid of all that and just be immersed in the music.
Try not to attach yourself to whatever just happened. You have to be constantly shedding off the idea it was good or bad.
3. Be Present If you have a really great night, like you’re all high off the gig, you can’t think, That was so great – let’s do that again at the next gig.
The reason it was great is because you were all in the moment and you were responding to whatever was going on around you.
You just have to be as present as you can at all times. It’s the most amazing thing when the whole band is in the moment. It’s like you’re not thinking.
Gigs can be completely different to what you expect, no matter what you do before to prepare.
You get there and there’s like a loud refrigerator motor going over here and a bunch of people yelling over there or whatever – just nothing like what you had been planning for.
But you can’t hold on to what you hoped it would be. It’s about acceptance and letting go. You just have to be there, present.
4. Embrace Mistakes
Mistakes are awesome. If you don’t freak out.
Like if you’re going for something and you mess it up, maybe the tendency is to think, Oh shit! I fucked it up! But again, it’s about listening.
If you listen to what it is, if you’re in the moment, it could be better than what you were trying to play.
If you make a mistake, what you play after it can make it sound right. If everyone in the band is in the zone – listening and trusting each other – it’s like you’re rescuing each other all the time.
It’s not supposed to be a contest. I’m really not into the whole ‘I’m right and you’re wrong’ thing. I mean, let’s try to make something cool with what just happened.
5. Practice is Great (Up to a Point)
I used to think that if you practiced real hard you get to this place where everything is just great all the time. But it’s just not so. The joy is being in the process.
Anyone that says they’ve got it completely together is lying.
I’ve seen that mess with people. You can’t think, I’m going to practice and get to this certain point and then I’m going to do something. Because you’ll never get there.
You just have to go for it right now and do the best you can, and just keep on pushing ahead.
You can’t wait until you’ve finished something before you get to the music.
6. Don’t Think for Others
You’re the only one who truly knows how successful you are.
If you’re worried about what somebody else is going to think it’s just another thing that gets in the way of doing it. Because you’re never going to know what the audience is hearing.
For me, the most honest way to perform is to think, I love this and I’m going to do it as best I can.
If I’m feeling some kind of joy in what I’m doing, then hopefully the audience is going to hear that and get off on it. And if they don’t hear it, well there’s nothing I can do about that.
I’m lucky. I’ve had people listen to me play. But if I was just trying to figure out what they wanted to hear I’d be chasing around forever.
7. Be Yourself I definitely spent time early on trying to be cool. Like maybe there would be a song I liked but I thought it was kind of corny, so I didn’t want people to know I really liked it. I wanted people to think I was this super hip blues guy or something.
But as time went by, I realized I had to be honest about who I am and where I came from.
I can’t take on the persona of someone else. I wasn’t a jazz guy that grew up in the ‘30s and ‘40s; I grew up in Denver in the ‘50s and ‘60s. That’s my experience.
Being honest with your own experience is going to make things way stronger. Don’t be afraid to show who you are and where you come from.
Sometimes it’s scary to put yourself out there, but try to overcome that and don’t be afraid to be you.
8. Destroy Competition
This whole idea that music is about competition – as if someone is better than someone else, or this instrument is harder than that one, like what are you talking about?!
I mean it doesn’t make sense. I love what John Andrew Rice, one of the founders of Black Mountain College, said:
“There are things learned through observation that cannot be learned any other way. Whatever cannot be expressed in words cannot be learned through words…
“The worthwhile struggle is the interior one, not against one’s fellows but against one’s ignorance and clumsiness.”
Instead of trying to keep score we should just be helping each other. We know how successful we are with trying to do what we’re trying to do. And that’s enough to worry about. We don’t have to be putting that on somebody else.
John Andrew Rice thought there shouldn’t be a winner and a loser in a debate – he believed it was about finding the truth, as opposed to being a contest. That’s how I feel about music. Let’s try to get together and make something good. It’s not a competition.
9. Take Chances
The music gets way higher when everyone in a band feels safe that they can take a chance. It’s a lot better to just go for it than be thinking, I better not try that because I might mess it up.
It might be good or bad, but that’s how you learn. It’s the only way to move ahead.
Skill is great, but there has to be some sort of story behind it. All this technical stuff is nothing if you’re not saying anything with it.
It’s about showing who you are – that’s all you can do, I guess. And that’s often not about what you learned in a book.
10. Learn to Forget I know we need to practice our instruments, but you need to be able to shake that off when you’re really trying to play the music.
I’m in a privileged position because I have a lot of gigs, but if I practice all day and have all that stuff in my head later on at the gig it can be detrimental.
Sometimes, you’ll find there’s stuff you can do in practice that you can’t seem to bring into another scenario. You want to take it with you all the time, but it just doesn’t work that way.
When you’re on stage you’re not in your own living room, y’know?
We have to practice and learn things. If I’m learning a song, I want to get the song so deep down inside me that I’m not thinking about mathematics or numbers – that place where it becomes automatic. Like if you’re riding a bike, you’re making a million calculations but you’re not thinking about it.
Sonny Rollins (one of my biggest heroes) said that music is happening too fast to be thinking about it while you’re playing.
