Jazz Education: Concepts, Problems, and Schools of Thought • Jazzadvice

I can’t. We’ve all said these fateful words at one point or another. Fill in the blank for your own situation. “I can’t (____)”…draw, run long distances, wake up early, stop eating cheesecake. Every day there are literally dozens of things that we convince ourselves that we simply cannot do, and playing music and improvising …

The Philosophy of Learning Jazz Improvisation: Thinking like a Composer

Eric

Chords, Composition, How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Jazz Language, Myths, Perspectives, Playing Techniques, Scales, Transcribing

Composition is selective improvisation – Igor Stravinsky. In 15 seconds the difference between composition and improvisation is that in composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in 15 seconds, while in improvisation you have 15 seconds – Steve Lacy. Learning to improvise is a big undertaking. Not only must …

The Anatomy of a Sound: Overcoming the Barrier of Music Theory

Eric

Chords, Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Jazz Language, Perspectives, Playing Techniques

From the moment we are born, the world tends to have a container already built for us to fit inside: A social security number, a gender, a race, a profession, an I.Q. I ponder if we are more defined by the container we are in, than what we are inside. Would we recognize ourselves if …

The Art of Teaching and Being Taught

Forrest

Inspiration, Jazz Education, Perspectives

Acrobatics is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. The physical prowess needed to do even the most basic maneuvers is on par with that of the Incredible Hulk, while the necessary flexibility exceeds even that of a ballerina. Upon seeing my first live cirque performance in Montreal, La Clique, I knew that …

Learning Tunes Your Way

Eric

How to Practice Jazz, Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Jazz Musicians, Jazz Standards, Perspectives

On this site we’ve frequently written about learning tunes. This is no coincidence – learning tunes goes hand in hand with improving as an improviser. Whether you’re practicing, performing, or simply listening to a few records with some friends you’re dealing directly with tunes. Keeping this in mind, building a solid repertoire of tunes should …

Connecting to the Music…Wherever You Are

Eric

Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Jazz Musicians

Music is meant to be heard live. There is no substitute for the visceral experience of sitting in an audience and soaking up a great live performance. Not only hearing the music, but feeling the physical vibrations of those melodies, chords and rhythms. Seeing the interaction between musicians as they collectively create music in the …

Know the Rules then Break the Rules

Eric

Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Perspectives

You have to know the rules before you can break them. You’ve probably heard this well-intentioned phrase before. It’s as common and overused as “Practice makes perfect” or any of the countless other sayings that we encounter when it comes to learning a musical instrument. As students of the music we get bombarded by these …

Developing Aural Knowledge: How to Turn Music Theory into Music

Eric

Ear Training, How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Jazz Language

Jazz is smart people music! I first heard these words from the great pianist Harold Mabern. Walking through the practice rooms at school one day, as was usually the case, a group of eager students was huddled around him as he told a story. An impromptu musical lesson that didn’t involve scales or chords, but …

the pareto principle in practicing music

Applying the Pareto Principle to Learning Jazz Improvisation

Forrest

Chords, How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Education, Jazz Language

The commonly known Pareto Principle states that 80% of the effects of something, come from 20% of the causes. In terms of learning, this means: figure out where the largest gains can be made and focus on those. For some reason in learning most anything, we tend to give equal weight to everything. We give …

frustration in learning jazz improvisation

Dealing With Frustration In Practicing Jazz Improvisation

Forrest

Inspiration, Jazz Education, Perspectives

When you’re frustrated with your playing it’s difficult to excel at all. It’s difficult to make a coherent musical statement, let alone even listen to yourself. These bouts happen to everyone. The key is to not get too discouraged and press on… Today we’ll look into some tactics for how to deal with frustration in …

Turning Jazz Rules into Tools of Expression

Eric

Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Perspectives

In jazz education, one thing that you encounter right off the bat are rules. There seem to be rules for every aspect of the music: Which scales you’re allowed to use over certain chords, which chord tones you’re supposed to land on, how to correctly employ voice leading in a line, what notes to avoid …

The Path to Playing What You’re Hearing

Eric

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 …

Jazz Education

Overcoming Mental Limitations in Music

The Philosophy of Learning Jazz Improvisation: Thinking like a Composer

The Anatomy of a Sound: Overcoming the Barrier of Music Theory

The Art of Teaching and Being Taught

Learning Tunes Your Way

Connecting to the Music…Wherever You Are

Know the Rules then Break the Rules

Developing Aural Knowledge: How to Turn Music Theory into Music

Applying the Pareto Principle to Learning Jazz Improvisation

Dealing With Frustration In Practicing Jazz Improvisation

Turning Jazz Rules into Tools of Expression

The Path to Playing What You’re Hearing

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