LJS 85: How to Practice Smart and Improve Quickly (feat. Steve Nixon)

Welcome to episode 85 of the LJS Podcast where today we have special guest Steve Nixon from freejazzlessons.com on the show to talk all about how to practice smart and improve quickly. When it comes to becoming a better jazz musician it's all about practicing, and Steve knows more than a thing or two about this. Listen in!
Listen to episode 85







In today's episode, we have special guest Steve Nixon on the show. Steve and I had a great talk together about practicing. But not just any kind of practicing: smart practicing. Because when it comes down to it, you can waste hours and hours of your time and cheat yourself of the results you deserve.
Who's Steve Nixon? Steve Nixon is teaching the world his passion- jazz piano, from touring 17 countries as a musician to reaching over 120 countries with his online video lessons.  Steve is the proud owner of freejazzlessons.com. He is also a world touring jazz and blues keyboard player and educator. His performance credits include Grammy Winners Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Jaimoe Johanson (from the Allman Brothers) and many other fantastic musicians.
We all want to improve quickly. No one wants to wait ten or twenty years down the road to reach some of their musical goals. So how do we get there faster? You have to practice smart and practice the right things.
Steve unleashes a gold-mine of information in this episode, such as:

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How to set your practice sessions for success.

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How to ration your practice time.

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The top 3 things jazz musicians should be practicing.

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The importance of learning jazz standards.

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The importance of rhythm and time feel.

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The importance of ear training.

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How long should you practice?

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What if you don't have a lot of time to practice?


Steve also talks about his new jazz improvisation course called the Jazz Improvisation Super System. It's an awesome program with hours of video lessons featuring legendary pianist David Garfield. Definitely, check it out!



Read the TranscriptEpisode 85


Brent: [00:00:22] All right what's up everybody. My name is Brent. I am the jazz musician behind the website Learn Jazz Standards.com which is a blog and a podcast all geared towards helping you become a better jazz musician. I'm so excited you're here and just to hang out with me and listen today's show and welcome if this is your first time ever listening and as always if you're a regular listener, thank you so much for being here. Now if you've been listening to this show for a while you know that I love to have special guests on and earlier this month we had on the show Christopher Sutton from Musical U and he talked to us all about setting goals for your musicianship and today's special guests really ties in really great with our special guests and the talks that we're having because today is all about how to practice smart and improve more quickly and that guest that we're having on today is Steve Nixon from Free Jazz Lessons. He's the proud owner of Free Jazz Lessons.com. He's also a world touring jazz and blues keyboard player and educator. His performance credits include Grammy winners Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor among many others. He's really a fantastic musician. Now Free Jazz Lessons.com is a place for students from all over the world and get access to worl...