When life gets too busy or travel keeps you away from your instrument, you don’t have to stop making progress. Learn how active listening and mental rehearsal can help you “download” new techniques, master tricky passages, and continue improving—even when you can’t pick up your horn.
Want to learn jazz standards without the stage fright? Think of your backing tracks as a flight simulator. Here is what happened when I tackled Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo” after a break, stumbled into an unexpectedly fast backing track tempo, and used the “sink-or-swim” method to build up performance confidence in private.
Coming back to music after a long absence is tough. Your coordination is gone, your endurance is shot, and the frustration of past vs. present ability can make you want to put the horn away. But you can’t force your way back. Discover the two essential mindsets that helped me navigate the slow crawl of progress and rebuild my playing, one five-minute session at a time.
