Joe Lovano once made, in one of his masterclasses, a statement that hit me really hard…

When you practice, you’re not practicing practicing. You practice playing.

This, like most profound statements, seems very obvious when you think about it. But I venture to say that most musicians don’t keep this idea in mind when they are practicing.

Practicing is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.

If you’re a great practicer, but you’re a lousy live musician, then I recommend rethinking the reason you practice to begin with.

The end goal is not to be an expert practicer. The end goal is to make better music.

Lovano goes on to outline, in the masterclass, how to go about practicing playing.

1. Develop a Repertoire

To practice playing, you must have a repertoire, Lovano says.

Repertoire is, very simply, a book of songs or tunes. It’s the material that you can go to at any moment to make music.

Pick a tune, any tune, and use that tune to make some music. Ideally, this will be a tune that you can and will be playing live in the near future.

2. Play Rubato

Practicing with a metronome is a key part of improving your musical ability. I think Lovano would agree with me here.

However, Joe’s point is that free playing allows you to personally shape the phrase. Playing independent of a regular pulse allows me to get inside the melody, get inside the harmony, and get to know the music.

The emphasis when playing rubato becomes more about making the melody your own and less about executing the perfect replica of someone else’s.

3. Avoid Copying

Lovano’s encouragement with this third point is to avoid going after a recreation of a famous recording and move toward reinventing or personalizing the music to your own.

You won’t be replicating that recording on a gig, will you?

No. Absolutely not.

You may quote a famous solo or a head to another tune on a gig, but it won’t be note for note. It will be modified and personalized.

This last point of Lovano’s outline for practicing playing is a crucial one. When we’re practicing playing, we want to move away from a preconceived notion about how a tune should sound and move toward a reinvention of that melody in a way that has never been arranged.

Wrapping Up

If we are going to become better players, then we need to focus our energy on practicing playing when we practice. When doing so, we would do well to follow Lovano’s outline of 1. developing a repertoire, 2. playing rubato, and 3. avoiding copying famous recordings.

Let’s spend time with the music. Let’s develop a relationship with the melody. Let’s internalize the harmony. Let’s challenge assumptions about how it should sound, and let’s develop the courage to create a new paradigm for the music.

Further Reading

3 Saxophone Questions with Timothy McAllister and Jeff Coffin

A Jazz Improvisation Lesson for Saxophone Beginners

Do You Want to Get Real Saxophone Lessons Online? Forget YouTube Videos. Get Skype.

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