Musical guidelines

Musical guidelines for 2024, from Denk (2022) and Paul Desmond.

• Practice phrasing.
• Don’t be a perfectionist, it’s a deadly weakness.
• Get the mechanics of performing right by way of correct posture, fingering and breathing.
• Learn to practice right: Mechanics, play with your brain and discover meaning in the music you play.
• Listen and learn pieces well enough to describe it in your own words, use metaphors like the master György Sebők did. When you perform the music, let your metaphors guide you.
• Harmony and melody are sacred but rhythm is where you can exercise your freedom.
• If a note is wrong, you’re only one fret away from it, just shift your finger, and you’ve arrived at the right note.
• Emulate Paul Desmond’s sound: a light, melodic tone on the alto saxophone, like a dry martini.

Reference