u/FatLoserWithBO

One of the things I've learned since I started my jazz piano journey as an adult learner several years ago is that it's far better to be able to learn something simple fluently and then add layers of complexity to it, than to learn something complex and find out afterwards that it didn't improve my fluency at all. This mostly only occurred to me in the context of learning standards and techniques ("Why would I think I can play Misty with rootless voicings when I can't even play it with shell voicings?").

But after reading many comments about how transcription is essential to developing my jazz skills, and subsequently beating my head against the desk attempting to transcribe relatively easy solos (with the playback speed set to 0.75x and painstakingly rewinding small sections over and over again), I took a step back and realized the same thing applies here. Why would I think I can transcribe a Wynton Kelly or Hank Jones solo when I haven't proven I can transcribe anything far simpler?

Since then I started with some extremely easy sounding pop songs, xmas tunes, and even nursery rhymes, and set out to figuring out how to play them by ear. I found that I can actually do this, and what's more it is even rather enjoyable when I've dumbed down my target sufficiently. I did that for several months and then came back to a jazz solo I was failing to transcribe and suddenly it was much easier.

This probably seems obvious to many but I am putting it out there in case someone is stuck like I was. Transcription is its own separate skill and it's not necessary to transcribe jazz as a starting point. It might even be a waste of time, relatively speaking. You might find, like I did, that it is far easier to transcribe jazz once you have transcribed easier non-jazz tunes. In the thousands of comments I've seen telling beginners that transcription is essential, I don't know that I ever saw anyone suggest that they start with non-jazz tunes if transcribing jazz is proving too difficult. So I am here to offer that as a possible option to my fellow beginners who may read this.

~12'x12' deck, looking to have the top hand rails replaced and the whole thing refinished. Seems like a lot of places aren't interested in smaller jobs. Any one got recs for a deck company or handyman who would be interested?

Dear diary,

Parity has been fucking awesome. This counter jerk that's developed over the past few years is absurd. I wanted more parity ten years ago and I got it and it has been amazing.

No, Bill Simmons and users of Reddit, I do not want to see the Celtics win 4 championships in 6 years. I want MY team (and really, because I am a fan of the NBA as a whole, ALL teams) to have a shot at a championship and when they win one I'm sure as hell not gonna be a fucking baby about it if they don't repeat. Looking at you, Celtics and OKC fans. And Spurs fans who are already both assuming that they are going to win one AND that they aren't going to get to have a dynasty. The entitlement is unreal.

Edit cause this is getting more traction than I expected:

Also just wanna say the quality and intensity and variety of ball has been something to behold lately. I do think parity has something to do with it. Teams have to find different ways to win and pivot more often. Sometimes I think people forget that the NBA is two separate games: it's basketball, and it's the roster building game GMs play. Sometimes it feels like people actually enjoy the GM game more than basketball (which is wild to me) and they're pissed off the second apron has changed the GM game. Well I don't give a fuck about that, I like to watch hoops and the hoops have been unbelievable

Double edit:

For those saying the parity started before this CBA, that is true and a good point. The groundwork for the current state of affairs was really laid in the 2017 CBA when supermaxes were introduced which made it a lot more difficult to have more than one mega star on your team. But the current CBA builds on that and my point stands about both the current one and the previous one: I am a fan of the resultant parity and the basketball itself

Went to Southland this past weekend and was immensely disappointed to find that their record section (in the upstairs bookshop portion of the building) is completely gone. They now only have records downstairs in the dvd/videogame/etc shop... but the old, upstairs record section was the "thousands of old records that all have low prices, and you have to dig through them to find hidden gems" type of record selection. The downstairs shop has some good records, but it is the "lots of new shrink-wrapped records, and curated old records that have been individually selected, sleeved, and priced at market value" type of record shop. For my personal taste, way more fun of an activity to go record shopping at the former type of store.

Looking for recs for your favorite record stores in general, but in particular really looking for options that are like the old southland collection.

Edit: Also, I am pretty sure that the collection itself that used to be at Southland must have belonged to someone distinct from the bookstore but who was being allowed to operate out of that location, because the records specifically were cash only. So I am guessing they moved out and their collection may still exist somewhere and possibly still be for sale? If anyone knows if this is the case and if the purveyor has relocated to somewhere else where they are still selling from the same collection, I would be very grateful for any leads.

I have been grinding for about 3 years on this now, starting from zero (meaning I did not transition from a classical background or take piano lessons as a kid or anything like that). I have found great success by simply choosing a selection of half a dozen standards, and then playing them in all 12 keys using increasingly difficult techniques.

So far I've done:

Root note in left hand + melody in right hand

Root note in left hand + shell chord in right hand

Shell chord in left hand + melody in right hand

Shell chord in left hand + shell chord in right hand

Half note bass line in left hand + melody in right hand

Half note bass line in left hand + shell chord in left hand

I play all 6 standards in all 12 keys for each technique before moving on to the next technique. My general feel and comprehension of the keyboard has increased by leaps and bounds doing this. But it is freaking tough and requires many hours of grinding.

I have just moved on to my next target which is doing a stride style (root note followed by 3+7 or 7+3) in the left hand with melody in the right hand, and it is REALLY slow going, and yet I can feel the improvement with every session which is awesome.

My question is, does it ever get easier adding techniques to your playing? I want to think that this is mostly so difficult because my general keyboard fluency started from zero and that there will be a point where my feel for the piano will allow me to learn successive techniques more rapidly, but this addition of stride is going as slow or slower than any of my previous techniques added which has me second guessing this notion.

Curious to hear from anyone who has worked through this, especially anyone who like me started both learning to play keys in general AND learning to play jazz specifically at the same time.