Inspiration for improvisers
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Jazz Language, Perspectives, Playing Techniques
We spend a lot of time thinking about what we want to play, but how often do we think about what we don’t want to play? I’m sure if you spent some time recording yourself or simply observing what you play, you’d find you’re playing some things that you actually do not want to play. …
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Playing Techniques, Transcribing
A magical thing happens when you listen to a recording of your favorite player and begin to play along with the record. It’s almost as if an unconscious transformation takes place, an instant instruction through aural osmosis. Simply by sitting by the speakers with your instrument and taking in those sound waves, you can instantly …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Playing Techniques
How creative are you each time you play your instrument? Think about it for a second…are you actually creating new musical ideas in your solos? Are you actually free when you improvise?? As a creative improvising musicians, this is one question that we should all ask ourselves from time to time. It’s well known that …
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Inspiration, Perspectives, Playing Techniques
What if you could approach something in a completely new way than you’ve ever done before? What would happen? Perhaps an entire world of possibility exists from this new angle, but how do you get there? Trying completely outlandish, almost silly techniques can spawn immense creativity and improvement in one’s ability. In all art-forms, it’s …
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Composition, Playing Techniques, Premium Only, Rhythm
Many times when we’re soloing we get boxed in so to speak. We think that when we’re on a particular chord, we must play that chord and that chord only. We have tunnel vision and there exists little possibility. One technique that dramatically relieves this boxed in sound and mindset is harmonic anticipation. Anticipating a …
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Composition, Jazz Advice and Tips, Playing Techniques, Rhythm, Scales
Time and again, we’ve stressed on this site that scales are not the secret to jazz improvisation. However, scales can be beneficial if you practice and apply them in the right way. Once you aurally understand and ingrain the vital aspects of the jazz language (i.e. phrasing, melodic construction, expression, harmonic application, time, articulation, etc.) …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Playing Techniques
Do you find yourself having trouble remembering the solos you’ve transcribed? Have you ever memorized the melody to a tune only to forget it a week later? Do you have trouble recalling the chord progressions to your favorite standards? If you are screaming “Yes, that’s me!”at the computer screen, then the solution to your problems …
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Amateurs phrase in a way that sounds boring and boxy. In contrast, professionals phrase in a way that gives excitement and forward motion to their playing. In this article I’ll explore some tendencies that I’ve observed in the recordings of my heroes. Of course, your personal observations would result in different conclusions, which is why …
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A reader writes: It seems like everyone is taught the standard “off beat” articulation of swing eighth notes, but I feel that swing is really much more complicated. Why is it that some players seem to swing so hard while others do not? What’s the secret to swinging hard? Yes, everyone is taught the standard …
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Composition, Jazz Language, Playing Techniques, Scales, Transcribing
Every so often you’ll make a musical discovery that will drastically change the way you approach improvisation. One day you’re struggling over the same tunes, growing more and more frustrated with your own predictable patterns and then it hits you – you discover a secret that was hidden right before your eyes. A subtle mental, …
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Chords, Composition, Playing Techniques
We all have lines we use frequently. Some lines we use so much, that we can’t stand them, criticizing ourselves for playing them over and over, thinking we’re being unoriginal and uncreative… It’s ok. Even the masters repeat themselves often. When you’ve got some specific language to this point, where it’s coming out naturally and …
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Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Playing Techniques
Play what you’re hearing in your head! These are the instructions that numerous books, videos, and educators tell us as we struggle to figure out how to play over chord progressions. The only problem in situations like these is, as beginners, we aren’t hearing anything in our heads… Think back to the first time that …