Inspiration for improvisers
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Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
Stuck in the same monotonous pattern? Not excited about playing lately? It’s time to start with a clean slate and welcome in the new year feeling motivated. Here’s 100 ideas to reinvigorate your energy for the music. Read through the list and pick one that gets you excited. Then, just do it. Transcribe your first …
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Jazz Musicians, Playing Techniques, Rhythm, Tunes
Paul Desmond plays the alto saxophone unlike any other…sweet, melodic, and precise, always leading the listener through a clear story from one musical idea to the next – It’s as if every single idea he plays naturally builds on what came before it… So how does he do it? How does Desmond so effortlessly move …
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Composition, Playing Techniques, Premium Only, Tunes
If you’ve ever been to a jam session before, you’ve probably encountered the famous Thelonious Monk tune Well You Needn’t. Over the years, it’s become one of the most popular jazz standards, but unfortunately, this is one of the tunes that the infamous Real Book got wrong… The chord progression of Well You Needn’t written …
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Composition, Ear Training, Perspectives, Playing Techniques
I have a vivid memory of the first time I tried to play in an early jazz group. I was in school and was asked to play the trumpet part in an ensemble that met each week studying the music of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and other significant early players. Cool, building my jazz …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Jazz Standards, Playing Techniques, Transcribing
Back in September we released a free presentation walking you through What You Should Practice. And in that presentation, we showed you and discussed the 3 essential pieces to practicing jazz improvisation… Getting new language Developing language Working on tunes But they’re not the easiest concepts to grasp… So, we thought it might be helpful …
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Blues, Jazz Standards, Playing Techniques
Have you ever tried to play over a so-called easy tune, only to find that it’s not actually that easy? All Blues, one of the most incredible tracks from the legendary Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, is commonly referred to as an easy tune throughout jazz education, yet this seemingly simple composition contains more …
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How to Practice Jazz, Inspiration, Jazz Musicians
Clark Terry is one of the legends of this music. He’s played with every big name in jazz over the last half-century from the likes of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, to Ella Fitzgerald…the list could go on forever. With such a rich performing career spanning over six decades, he continues to play …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
Do you ever feel like you sound mechanical, predictable, and boring, like a robot? Nobody wants to sound like a robot. We’re human. We have thoughts, ideas, emotions…and we want to express these things in our music… How do we break out of this rigid playing style and feel free when we play? Here are …
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Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Visualization
What is a jazz musician’s most important tool? Is it their ear? Their technique? The concepts at their disposal? All of these are extremely important, but without this one specific tool, they’re all useless… The jazz musician’s most important tool is their memory. Harold Mabern used to drive this point home to us all the …
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In Zen Buddhism there is a concept of the beginner’s mind. To quote Wikipedia: It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would. When we begin studying this music, we’re excited and …
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Composition, Jazz Language, Jazz Musicians, Playing Techniques, Rhythm
With his unique improvisational style and innovative approach, Charlie Parker not only revolutionized how to play alto saxophone, but how to play jazz as a whole. He had a concept all his own that transcended what came before him and elevated the music to new heights! It’s no wonder that nearly every jazz musician since …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Language, Rhythm, Tunes
Every single musician to ever embark on learning to improvise jazz runs into countless musical problems. That’s just the way it is. One problem after another, figuring out different ways to approach a progression in hopes of clarifying their musical ideas and better communicating them to the listener. So if you want to play jazz, …