The Claude Gordon book "Systematic Approach to Daily Practice" - has anybody gotten all the way through it? Ever?
Now, I've heard great things about Claude Gordon as a teacher, and as a player - I even have a copy of his big band album (or did he make multiple albums?) Everybody respects the guy, and everybody respects the book "Systematic Approach to Daily Practice". Problem is, I've never ever run into anybody who's used the book like the instructions say. It's just too demanding... takes too much time and effort for an amateur and takes too much time and chops away from a working professional. Seems to me like it'd be a great book to use every once in a while, maybe even several times a week - but that's not what the book says to do. Several times in the introduction Claude states how the only real way to use the book is to play each lesson every day for a week, minimum. That's a solid YEAR right there, minimum, and even lesson #1 would take at least 2 hours, factoring in the required rest periods.
Anytime I've brought this up with a Claude Gordon student, they tell me how the book is just for people who don't have a teacher; that the best way to do it is find a Gordon student who knows and teaches his stuff the way Claude did. They say that the book doesn't have in it everything that Claude's lessons did.
BUT... that doesn't change the fact that he wrote this book, which is widely distributed, read, and respected, and he was very specific about how to practice out of it.
A few years ago when I was at Berklee, I did about 3 1/2 solid months through the book. I felt terrible at the end of it. But two weeks later my chops felt like gold. Two weeks after I stopped using the book. If I had used the book in a reasonable manner, a few days on, a few days off, or at least a day off each week, it might have worked for me. But that's not what Claude said to do.
SO... what is the longest anybody has made it through this book? Can anybody beat my record?
Now, I've heard great things about Claude Gordon as a teacher, and as a player - I even have a copy of his big band album (or did he make multiple albums?) Everybody respects the guy, and everybody respects the book "Systematic Approach to Daily Practice". Problem is, I've never ever run into anybody who's used the book like the instructions say. It's just too demanding... takes too much time and effort for an amateur and takes too much time and chops away from a working professional. Seems to me like it'd be a great book to use every once in a while, maybe even several times a week - but that's not what the book says to do. Several times in the introduction Claude states how the only real way to use the book is to play each lesson every day for a week, minimum. That's a solid YEAR right there, minimum, and even lesson #1 would take at least 2 hours, factoring in the required rest periods.
Anytime I've brought this up with a Claude Gordon student, they tell me how the book is just for people who don't have a teacher; that the best way to do it is find a Gordon student who knows and teaches his stuff the way Claude did. They say that the book doesn't have in it everything that Claude's lessons did.
BUT... that doesn't change the fact that he wrote this book, which is widely distributed, read, and respected, and he was very specific about how to practice out of it.
A few years ago when I was at Berklee, I did about 3 1/2 solid months through the book. I felt terrible at the end of it. But two weeks later my chops felt like gold. Two weeks after I stopped using the book. If I had used the book in a reasonable manner, a few days on, a few days off, or at least a day off each week, it might have worked for me. But that's not what Claude said to do.
SO... what is the longest anybody has made it through this book? Can anybody beat my record?
