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UNWRAP THE SECRETS TO A SUCCESSFUL, EFFECTIVE AND FUN PRACTICE SCHEDULE WITH -AWARD WINNING BASSIST AND AUTHOR TONY GREY Learn how to master your time so you can keep growing and moving forward by practicing in a simple creative way... Join us for this limited unique 2 day course that will change your practice habits forever. YOU TOO CAN BENEFIT FROM LEARNING THIS PROVEN SYSTEM YOU WILL HAVE MORE FOCUS PLAY MORE MUSICALLY AND MELODICALLY DEVELOP A STRONG TECHNIQUE GAIN MASTERY AND AWARENESS OF YOUR FINGERBOARD IMPROVE YOUR EARS AND HOW YOU HEAR MELODIES LEARN HOW TO PLAY THROUGH NON RELATED CHORD CHANGES PRACTICE LESS TIME WITH GREATER BENEFITS LEARN HOW TO APPLY THESE CONCEPTS INTO YOUR PLAYING IMMEDIATELY YOU WON’T BELIEVE THE RESULTS Unwrap the secrets to a successful, effective and fun practice schedule with award winning bassist and author Tony Grey •About Me My path to music was rather different to most, in the sense that it came to me through a life changing accident. When I was 18 years old I was a victim of a horrific car accident which left me with a broken back. It was during my recovery that a family member bought me a gift which happened to be a 4 string bass guitar. It was a complete mystery and surprise to me as I had never shown any indication or desire to learn a musical instrument of any kind. I was simply told to stop feeling sorry for myself and to do something creative, like learn this bass. After wrestling with my ego for a some time I finally decided it may be fun. To my surprise I feel in love with the bass immediately. I tried a few local teachers to get me going and really found it exciting to learn new things and apply them to my new universe of music. As I progressed my father sent some tapes of my playing to my uncle and mentor Guitarist John McLaughlin. After hearing me play John invited me to his home in the South of France to study and learn from him personally. He advised me to go and study at the world famous Berklee College Of Music in Boston USA as soon as possible. I had many concerns that I wouldnʼt be able to make it or catch up with the high level of some of the students who had dreamt of a career in music from a really young age. He then looked me square in the eyes and said these life changing words to me: “you still have time, just believe in yourself”. At the age of 20 I auditioned and successfully won a scholarship to study at Berklee for 4 years. Listening to Johnʼs stories of his career and journeys he had been on over the years with the likes of Miles Davis, The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti, and listening to the vast and diverse recordings he had done had really given me a strong desire and passion to have a life involving music. I went from thinking I want a life in music to thinking I must have a life in music and what that really meant. I spent my first two years at Berklee making frantic notes of what the teachers told me. I felt I was being exposed as a complete beginner - I quickly started feeling overwhelmed and fell behind. I started practicing on my days off and holidays for about 12 hours a day and during full school days practicing up to 8 hours - not a healthy solution for your mind and body. Quickly, I started developing tendonitis and muscle problems. I was trying to learn everything at once and cramming so much information into my brain that it left me drained, burnt out and feeling I would never be able to play the way I dreamed of. In a desperate effort to continue my dream and not let it kill me, I started to break up the information I was given into categories of subject matter. For example : Technique, Sight Reading, Transcription, Ear Training, Fingerboard Harmony etc. As I couldnʼt continue to work the way I was working I had to be more organized and efficient with my practice time. I started breaking things down into 30 min lessons for myself so I could work on a few things a day without overloading my brain. I learned that a simple and clear way to keep track of what I was working on was using a practice diary so after 30 mins, no matter what my progress was, I stopped, made a note of where I was up to and moved on. The next day when I came back to that topic I found myself refreshed and ready to go again. I also learned in doing this that most important lesson I have is to accept where you are musically and where your ability lies, there is nothing you can do about it, so with that I learned how to practice in a very creative way to help me apply these things to my playing immediately. I graduated Berklee in 2004 with High Honors and during my time there I was presented with the Outstanding Performer Award. I have gone on to perform all over the world and record with Artists such as : John McLaughlin, Hiromi, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Karsh Kale, Branford Marsalis, Gavin DeGraw and Bliss. I have also written a Bass Method Book for Yamaha and released 3 solo CDs, of which the latest, Unknown Angels, was voted Best Jazz Album 2011 in the Independent Music Awards. •Course Introduction part 1 Since beginning my musical journey I have been searching for the most effective and productive way to practice. I have tried it all - from intense 12 hour practice days which resulted in tendonitis, fatigue and being burnt out, to 6 hour practice days which was full of clock watching and unfocused study, which left me with a feeling of frustration and lack of growth. I came to understand that the key is not how many hours you spend practicing, but how you organize the material you are working on. After I left Berklee College Of Music the time I had to spend on my instrument was becoming more and more limited due to being on tour, writing or generally finding ways to make my rent. I had to find a way to keep practicing and growing as a musician whilst being busy and having limited time and energy. Teaching helped me uncover these practice secrets as some of my students didnʼt have the luxury of being full-time musicians and in place had full-time jobs taking up all their time. One of the most frequent questions I was asked was “I donʼt have time to practice - how can I get better?” I had one student who was father to 5 kids and in the Army full time - the only time he had was when everyone was asleep and he could squeeze an hour in here and there. I decided the best way to approach this problem was to: 1. Decide on the areas you really want to improve in. 2. Make the study lessons short and focused (30 Mins). 3. If possible decide how long you can commit to practicing each day. 4. Keep an organized practice diary and system so you can review and update daily. •Course Introduction part 2 1. If you decide what areas you want to improve in you can focus on designing lessons to help make your precious time most productive and beneficial to you. 2. The more you practice one thing the more difficult it becomes to keep your focus and inspiration intact, you start forcing things, becoming sloppy and irritated, your body becomes tense and posture starts declining. All of these things lead to you becoming disheartened, burnt out which can really have an effect all the other things you practice and work on. All of this negative energy can lead to repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel and tendonitis. It can also have an overall effect on your enjoyment of music. The reason I put lessons and things I study into 30 min sections are for these following reasons: You are where you are in terms of ability and skill, for sure you can improve with dedicated focused practice but basically you canʼt really grow long term by forcing things. An element of calmness and patience is needed to be in order to be focused. If you practice sight-reading all day it will improve but once you have to improvise or comp you will be exposed in those areas. Basically I like to practice covering many topics, and since there is only a certain amount of time you can devote to your practicing itʼs better to find a balance in what you work on. You will find your overall growth will improve at the same time. Setting a time limit will force you to stop accept your progress and move on to the next thing. More often than not some time and space away from a particular lesson is really important so that you can absorb this new information. Donʼt forget even when you are not physically practicing your mind is still subconsciously working out problems you have come across. Sometimes my mind wonders whilst practicing so when I create things to work on for myself and my students I like to find a few things to work on at the same time for example, technique, fingering and neck study etc.