Paul Hirsh
jazz panpipe pioneer and designerRecent Comments
Tag Archives: wholetone panflute
Serious noodling
The whole point of having an intuitive instrument is to be able to follow the promptings of your Inner Ear without having to stop and think. Which scale is this? What note am I starting from? And much less: which … Continue reading
Playing like singing in the shower
In my ongoing research into finding the best instrument for learning to “play like singing in the shower”, and in the process helping you, the gentle reader, to do the same, one instrument I have placed near the top of … Continue reading
Violin Mind and Guitar Mind or Why You Should Learn Two Instruments
Here is an exercise that builds on a fragment from John Coltrane’s solo on Giant Steps that gets you through all the major triads (4 3) and half diminished arpeggios (3 3 4). In the original context the half diminished is actually … Continue reading
Posted in Intuitive Instruments, Musicianship
Tagged diminished, guitar tab, half diminished, major, minor, Saxophone, triads, violin, wholetone panflute
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The Universal Scale Game
In my last post I mentioned Taffanel and Gaubert’s daily exercises. One of the most popular of these has been nicknamed the Scale Game. It might be more accurately named the Pentachord Game as it only covers 5 notes of … Continue reading
Posted in Moves notation, Scale Practice
Tagged Balboa, Daily exercises, Gaubert, Saxophone, Taffanel, wholetone panflute, Xenophon
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Why kids give up
“I did a bit of piano when I was little” How many times have you heard that? Do you even need to ask what went wrong? The piano keyboard, whose design dates back to before the discovery of equal temperament, … Continue reading
Ear Stretching Exercise
This is a daily exercise I invented for the whole tone panpipes. The aim is to strengthen the ear to take command of the instrument. With the panpipes you are forced to play blind, unless you use a mirror. But … Continue reading
Intervallic Awareness for Improvisers 