Dave Lalama...Day 5

Much to my dismay, today was my last workshop with Dave; I won't be here next Thursday because of the A.P. Lit exam. But this series of workshops has been fruitful; we covered a lot of material and I know what I need to practice. I can now say that I understand the form of a rhythm changes far better than I did before. As far as what I need to practice before college (and for the rest of my life, I suppose): continue studying piano, master diatonic exercises ascending and descending in all keys, really "know" all key signatures by playing the scales all different ways until they're engraved in my mind.

Dave Lalama...Day 4

Another eventful workshop. The workload is getting more challenging, which is a good thing, of course. We're intensely examining the rhythm changes form; I understand all of the roman numerals and why each chord functions the way it does. The only thing that's still confusing me is these secondary chords, like V of IV and VII of V...I understand what they mean, but when Dave asks me to explain the function of the chords "Ebmaj7, E7b5, D-7) it takes me a minute to figure it out, so I need to be able to grasp that concept quicker. Dave gave me two important books to buy (Jazz Improvisation by Scott. D Reeves and The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine) so I plan to buy those ASAP and just shed all the material and exercises in them until they're burnt into my brain. And even though I'm a sax player, I need to study Bach and classical theory, because that does have its influence on jazz, and as Dave said, "If Bach were alive in the 50s, he would've been Bud Powell."

Dave Lalama...Day 3

Today's workshop was fantastic! I was skeptical at first, but it's getting more challenging and I'm definitely learning new things. We covered a lot of material; we did ii V I's in a few keys and improvised over them using only the bebop scale of the V chord, then we cycled them, switching keys rapidly; it was a good challenge that required me to think quickly, while at the same time listening to see if Jack was comping with the major 9th or the minor 9th extension, so I would know which one to play. Then we applied this to the B section of Scrapple from the Apple, which is basically a series of dominant 7th chords, since it's a rhythm changes.

What I need to do:
-work on connecting phrases over the bar line when soloing with bebop scales in the B section
-write out a one-chorus solo for Scrapple
-pick some new tunes to work on

Dave Lalama...Day 2

I'm still struggling with descending diatonic triads and sevenths, but I've been practicing it in the two keys we're doing it in. Aside from the workshop though, just for my own musicianship, I have to learn these exercises in all 12 keys. We read two Bird tunes...Scrapple from the Apple and My Little Suede Shoes. We're working on soloing by "writing sentences" as we solo and "making melodies." I don't want to say I'm not challenged, because I still can't do the descending triads and sevenths perfectly; I'm by no means perfect. But I wouldn't mind more of a challenge, or just more material to work on in general. I feel like in the last series of workshops I did with Dave, we had more of an incentive because we were learning a bunch of Jobim tunes. Not only is Bossa Nova a totally different style of jazz, but those changes can be really difficult. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the group we had last time...of course, I have nothing against anyone in this group, but the musical chemistry just isn't there. But part of the STAC code is no complaining, so I'll hope for the best and keep doing whatever Dave tells me to do!

My Project: Oil Painting

My project, suggested by Luke, is a very exciting new endeavor! I am oil painting for the first time. I'm accustomed to drawing; I've barely worked with acrylics or any kind of paint besides watercolors, so using oil paints is a whole new world. So, the more I work with this new medium, the better I will learn how to manipulate it. This week, I'd like to finish one oil painting...it will probably be a self-portrait.

Dr. Dave Lalama...Day 1

Dave was surprisingly nice today...maybe not "nice," but certainly less scary than usual, although he did throw around the word "Caucasian" several times. But I digress; I've gotten used to his cut-throat teaching style by now and I love it! Today was mostly an introduction for the new workshoppers and a review for me of some exercises we did with Dave two years ago. Regardless, it was great to review them because they are eternally useful. I can even feel how I've improved...I can do exercises in the workshop now that I couldn't do perfectly two years ago, and I intend to practice the ones I still struggle with. I need to be able to do ascending and descending diatonic triads and diatonic sevenths in all major keys. We also worked on a bit of ear training by learning a melody by ear.
Here's what I need to practice for our next session:
Scrapple from the Apple-learn the head and work on the changes
Dave's diatonic exercises in all keys

My Book Report-Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

I feel good about my presentation. Public speaking and presenting is a skill everyone will need in college and in life in general, so I'm glad I am able to speak and convey what I want to say coherently and charismatically without saying "like" or "um." I consider my presentation successful because I addressed the questions that we were required to address and I was able to explain, to the best of my ability, some very difficult and sophisticated concepts, such as Pirsig's "Metaphysics of Quality." I don't think five minutes is enough time to talk about such an important book that contains so much information, but of course, it would not have been fair if I were allotted more time than other presenters. So I packed all the information I could into those five minutes, and I believe I was successful in explaining the main ideas of the book. The PowerPoint was very effective; it helped me to stay on topic and change topic appropriately, to cite examples from the text, and to illustrate the most significant points.