Inspiration for improvisers
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Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Transcribing
Transcription can be a real struggle sometimes. Some days it feels like you can spend an hour trying to learn a few measures, and after a dozen frustrating attempts, you end up in exactly the same place you started. If this feeling rings a bell with you, you are definitely not alone. Many of the …
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Jazz Language, Perspectives, Playing Techniques
When we practice jazz improvisation, we zoom in on one area of study so much that we often lose sight of the whole. How do we practice in this truly focused way, while simultaneously train ourselves to perform in a way that expresses all of what we know? In other words, how can we shift …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
Great solos don’t come from nowhere. The ability to apply innovative harmonic concepts, flawless instrumental technique, and appropriate musical language doesn’t just materialize out of thin air. These prized aspects of excellent musicianship have to start somewhere. However when it comes to pondering our musical idols, for some reason we can’t help thinking in this …
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Composition, How to Practice Jazz, Perspectives
I practice a lot. Some days more than others, but I try to get in a couple hours everyday no matter how busy I am. In many jobs I’ve had, I’ve even been known to take my horn to work and sneak away in a spare room once everyone leaves. I bet your life is …
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Ear Training, How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Playing Techniques
Recently I’ve been checking out a book called “You are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Execises.” The author, Mark Lauren, is a former instructor and trainer for elite special forces soldiers. The central premise of his book, geared toward your everyday civilian, is that you don’t need all those fancy high-tech weight machines …
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It’s as easy as getting from point A to point B, right? Of course it is. But what they fail to mention is that the distance between the two points is not a straight line! In terms of large goals, like learning how to improvise, the path is not linear. In terms of small goals …
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Chords, Composition, Ear Training, Playing Techniques
Recently we’ve gotten a few questions regarding chord tones: how to work on hearing them, how to aim for them in your lines, and how to connect them when you’re improvising over a chord progression. Understanding the sound and function of chord tones is important to your success as an improviser. However, it’s important to …
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Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Perspectives, Visualization
You’ve heard it time and time again…PLAY WHAT YOU HEAR!! But when it comes to improvising jazz, how do you actually go about playing what you’re hearing? And how do you mentally hear the beautiful jazz lines that you want to play? Playing what you hear sounds so easy in theory, but it’s much more …
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Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Standards, Premium Only
Everybody talks about learning tunes. I mean everybody. It’s the one common thread that pops up at jam sessions, on gigs, in music schools and in conversations with great players. Hey, what tune do you want to play next? Do you know this tune? What tunes are you working on? I really need to learn …
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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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Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
Being successful as a jazz musician isn’t all about practice routines, ii-V licks, or memorizing tunes. Sometimes getting to the next level as a player is all about having the right perspective. Here are 20 things every improviser should know… 1. Nobody’s checking for your music degree Just because you graduated with a degree in …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Transcribing
The extreme ranges of any instrument express extreme emotion, but they’re not easy to tackle. The high register is notoriously difficult on most instruments and the low register is often under-developed and under-utilized. The standard approach towards these registers is to extend your scales and arpeggio exercises as high and as low as you can. …