Thoughts On Learning Tunes
We practice long tones. We work on two-five progressions until our fingers bleed. We work on new ideas and concepts. The work is mostly enjoyable, sometimes frustrating, and hopefully productive… But what is all this diligent dedication for? Tunes. What else is there? Everything we do is to play tunes in the way we so ...
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Finding a Fresh Approach to Playing the Same Old Tunes
Repetition. It’s one part of learning to improvise that’s par for the course. We practice scales over and over again until the technique is securely in our fingers, we spend hours repeatedly working out ii-V7 lines that we’ve transcribed, and we memorize the melodies and chord changes to numerous tunes until we can play them ...
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Learn New Material by Total Immersion
One thing you always want to be doing is learning new material. New lines, new tunes, new concepts…there’s always something new to learn. We preach the mantra “Quality Over Quantity” in practically everything we write. So, while it’s true you always want to learn new things, the idea is to judiciously select what you want ...
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Building Your Repertoire Part II: 10 Key Tunes
In a recent post: A Blueprint for Building Your Repertoire, I outlined some ideas to ponder while creating a repertoire of tunes. Concepts like how to learn, listen to, and how to approach the Great American songbook as you prepare to build your own repertoire. However, the real work begins when you get into the ...
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A Blueprint for Building Your Repertoire
Learning tunes. Memorizing standards. Building a solid repertoire that continues to grow. These ideas are always hovering at the back of an improviser’s mind. We make lists of tunes, print out lead sheets to study, set deadlines to learn a ton of tunes by and so on and so forth. For years, I did all ...
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Piano Basics: Necessary Skills for the Non-Pianist
At some point in your musical journey, regardless of what instrument you play, you’ll find yourself in front of that 88-keyed beast we call a piano. This can be a daunting task for many musicians. Often times, one of the biggest fears or stumbling blocks for non-pianists is that of comping chord changes. This simply ...
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Never Forget a Tune Again
Ever spend a lot of time learning a tune, only to realize that you’ve completely forgotten it a few weeks later? When you’re not achieving your desired results in pretty much anything, check your methods. What’s your process? What’s your approach? After detailing your current methods, you can then easily modify them to realign yourself ...
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How to Play the Blues In All Keys
A recent question from a reader inquired about the blues in all keys: “I’m a sax player and have been working through the blues in all keys for the past few months, and was wondering if you guys had any tips, tricks, or any advice?” We’ve all heard it time and time again: Learn the ...
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How Jazz Standard Play Alongs Waste Your Practice Time And What To Do About It
It’s Saturday. You’ve got plenty of time. You’re excited to spend some quality time practicing. You meander into your practice room, peruse your jazz standard play alongs and grab the first volume that sparks your interest, pop it in, and off you go. Sound familiar? As fun as it is to “just play” over a ...
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How to Practice Improvisation Less and Improve More
A reader recently wrote in the following question: “I used to play classical guitar, then stopped for a couple of years, and am now trying to teach myself jazz guitar. Here’s the thing: I’m a college student. Between classes, homework, and work, it’s hard to get in practice time. What would you recommend working on ...
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5 Tunes To Know & Why You Should Know Them
Learning tunes is a key part of every jazz musician’s practice plan, but one thing that can really help motivate you to learn a specific tune is to understand why that particular tune is so important. You see, each jazz standard contains vital pieces of information… Some have a lot of ii V7, while others ...
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Learning Tunes
It seems like jazz musicians are always thinking about tunes; knowing tunes, learning tunes, how does that one go again? Performing in different situations we are expected to know certain tunes that other musicians will call or even people in the audience will request. This can seem like a very daunting task at first and ...
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