Seattle's music scene is renowned the world over not just for musicians like Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain, and not only because it has a thriving local music scene, but also because Seattle is the home of some of the best high-school music programs in the world. Seattle area public high-schools such as Garfield, Roosevelt & Mountlake Terrace routinely win the top prizes at national and international jazz festivals every year. Seattle's middle school jazz programs do as well.

Seattle has a thriving scene of local jazz professionals and students alike. In 2007, Earshot Jazz will bring these communities together by offering Practice This! Practice This! is a series of articles that will appear in each of the twelve issues of Earshot Jazz Magazine in the next year and on-line as well.

Each month, Earshot Jazz will interview and record a lesson with a different local jazz musician. Each musician will be asked to describe a particular practice technique that young music students can use to improve their jazz playing skills. Each recorded interview will include the artist demonstrating the technique being taught. The recordings will be posted on the Earshot Jazz website for students to download and study. After the interview, an article describing the technique will be published in Earshot Jazz Magazine.

The lessons will be non-instrument specific, and applicable to all students of jazz. They will also provide insight to the readers of Earshot Jazz about how musicians think about and conceive of their craft. There will be lessons by performers on every major instrument and vocalists as well.

Practice This! will help us preserve the techniques and practices used by Seattle's finest jazz improvisers, and help keep jazz alive in our community by sharing the wealth of musical ideas that is present in our local artists.

June 2010

Matso Limtiaco talks about Building Strong Listening Habits

Saxophonist and composer/arranger Matso Limtiaco recently started a website, blog and clinic format designed to emphasize quality listening as a part of your practice regimen and learning process. (read more)

March 2010

David Marriott Jr. talks about the Required Tools for Measuring Progress

In our path to absorb more vocabulary, more theory, more ideas, more depth, more dexterity – or whatever it is we might be working on right now – it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tthe simplest and most common tools are the ones that can give us the best feedback. (read more)