Bass day (1h 20m)

Chord tones (Phil Mann)
- All triads (major / minor / diminished / augmented) in all inversions around the cycle of 4ths at 70bpm — 30m
- Major 7th chords in all inversions around the cycle (70bpm) — 15m
- Minor 7th chords in all inversions around the cycle (70bpm) — 15m
Walking bass lines + Latin grooves
- Latin patterns & improv with 3rds / 7ths over same jazz standard played with Latin groove (Shine by Dabney-Mack-Brown) — 20m
  - Mamba
  - Cha cha cha
  - Bossa

Observations

Latin patterns are super fun! Also, I was kind of contemplating enrolling in SBL Coaching program, but then decided not to as it seems that I’m focused enough and I have a lot of courses planned out for the next couple of months, so looks like coaching is not a necessity at the moment. But the idea is great anyway! I may join the next cohort.

Piano day (1h 20m)

Major ii — V — I, format 2 (Dan Haerle, skill 41 both pages) — without click, slowly several times (50m)
Shell voicings (7-3-5, 3-7-9) + inversions over walking bass line & drums for Autumn Leaves in Bb- (30m)

Observations

Shell voicings (chord inversions with some intervals removed or added) are probably the best thing I’ve learned during my jazz piano practice. They are fun to play (make you sound jazzy immediately) and at the same time they are an endless source of excercises! Like, you thing you’re cool playing all chords in 3-7-9 through the cycle? Then play ii — V — I based on each chord! Easy? Voice them as b6-3-b7, 7-3-5 and 3-7-11! Cool? How about playing chords instead of roots with the left hand and make your ii — V — I polychordal? Mastered that? Play the jazz standard now and feel like shit again! LOL. It’s so much fun and I can’t thank Mr. Haerle and Mr. Aebersold enough.

Bass day (1h 20m)

Chord tones (Phil Mann)
- All triads (major / minor / diminished / augmented) in all inversions around the cycle of 4ths at 70bpm — 30m
- Major 7th chords in all inversions around the cycle (without click, then at 50bpm) — 15m
- Minor 7th chords in all inversions around the cycle (without click, then at 50bpm) — 15m
Walking bass lines (Scott Devine)
- Partido Alto pattern + improv over jazz standard played with Latin groove (Be My Love by Nikolaus Brodzsky) — 20m
- Uptempo Cha cha cha over Miles Davis’ stuff that turned out to be too hard, so I switched back to Partido over simpler song

Observations

Seems like I’m finally getting a grip on inversions! Yay! Also trying to adjust session time a bit to make some room for production stuff I have going on. But keeping the 5-min rest in the middle though!

Bass day (1h 30m)

Eh, what was that? I skipped two days of practice which I could have explained with being busy producing my tracks and recording bass for other people, but that would’ve been just an excuse as there’s always time for at least 30m practice session. So, I just bailed, let’s admit it. Back on track now.

Chord tones (Phil Mann)
- All triads (major / minor / diminished / augmented) in all inversions around the cycle of 4ths — 30m
Walking bass lines (Scott Devine)
- Dominant 2-octave walking bass line exercise over cycle progression in all keys —30m
- Cha cha cha pattern over jazz standard (Nardis by Miles Davis in E-) — 30m

Observations

Practicing whatever and for any amount of time is always better than curling up in your bed, declaring yourself powerless and feeling miserable just because you had a bad day. I tried it, it works.

Piano day (1h 30m)

Harmonising Lydian scale with 7th chords — 40m
- All keys starting on F around the circle of 5ths (pattern: I▵7 — II7, I▵7 — iii7, I▵7 — #ivº7, etc.) at 70bpm
- All keys starting on C around the cycle of 4ths (same pattern, same speed)
ii — V — I’s in major keys in shell voicings through the full cycle of 4th (Dan Haerle, skills 40 both pages) — 30m
Shell voicings recap (3-6-9 major, 3-6-9 minor, 3-7-9 major and minor) at 100bpm without stopping around the cycle (skills 7-9 from Haerle book)

Observations

That’s pretty cool! I didn’t realise that I’ve actually got better at playing rootless chords in the right hand. When I first started Dan Haerle’s “Jazz Piano Voicing Skills”, it was really uncomfortable to play voicings like 7-3-5 or 3-6-9 or 4-6-9 because I was so used to block chords, but after intentionally switching to some heavy stuff (like polychordal progressions and ii — V — I’s in different keys) from the same book where author kind of assumed that you’re already familiar with voicings, I sort of internalised them along the way, although it felt really tough. Bottom line: playing hard stuff that assumes that you’ve already got the basics actually helps to solidify them basics 😄).