"Transcribing"

    The Philosophy of Learning Jazz Improvisation: Thinking like a Composer

    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,...Read More

    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...Read More

    Happy New Year! 8 Musical Resolutions That Will Change Your Playing

    A new year is the perfect time to look back at what you've accomplished in the practice room and to look forward  to what you still wish to achieve as a musician. It's also a...Read More

    A new year is the perfect time to look back at what you've accomplished in the practice room and to look forward  to what you still wish to achieve as...Read More

    Why This Simple Jazz Transcription Hack Will Change Your Playing

    It's just past one in the morning. I'm standing on the sidewalk in lower Manhattan as garbage trucks rumble by and panhandlers hustle for loose change. I've just stepped outside of Smalls, the last note...Read More

    It's just past one in the morning. I'm standing on the sidewalk in lower Manhattan as garbage trucks rumble by and panhandlers hustle for loose change. I've just stepped outside...Read More

    The Jazz Practice Plan for Getting Good Fast

    Have you ever thought about why you’re practicing every single day for hours and what you’re actually trying to achieve with all your hard work? To play better over a G7 chord? To master that...Read More

    Have you ever thought about why you’re practicing every single day for hours and what you’re actually trying to achieve with all your hard work? To play better over a...Read More

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

    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...Read More

    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,...Read More

    5 Skills You Won’t Learn in School, Skill Four: How to Speak the Jazz Language

    Imagine that you've just stepped off a plane in a foreign country. You grab your suitcase and step onto the soil for the first time and suddenly you're filled with a sense of excitement and...Read More

    Imagine that you've just stepped off a plane in a foreign country. You grab your suitcase and step onto the soil for the first time and suddenly you're filled with...Read More

    10 Exercises to Practice When You’ve Run Out of Ideas

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    We often get a ton of great questions from our readers about what to practice. These inquiries range from players that are stuck in a daily musical rut to aspiring improvisers that simply don’t know...Read More

    We often get a ton of great questions from our readers about what to practice. These inquiries range from players that are stuck in a daily musical rut to aspiring...Read More

    Your Assumptions About What To Transcribe

    People have been writing in a lot lately asking us what's okay and what's not okay to transcribe. With all the different styles of jazz and genres of music, people are entirely confused as to...Read More

    People have been writing in a lot lately asking us what's okay and what's not okay to transcribe. With all the different styles of jazz and genres of music, people...Read More

    3 Ways To Extend Your Range You Probably Haven’t Thought Of

    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...Read More

    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...Read More

    3 Reasons Why You Should Sing Everyday

    Have you ever wondered why great pianists, guitarists, bassists, and drummers often sing along as they improvise? Ever noticed how many of the best horn players also happen to be great singers? Great musicians all...Read More

    Have you ever wondered why great pianists, guitarists, bassists, and drummers often sing along as they improvise? Ever noticed how many of the best horn players also happen to be...Read More

    Listening to the Words of the Wise

    Learning improvisation can be a curious process. Every now and then as we endeavor to educate ourselves musically, we hear bits of advice and pick up words of wisdom from master classes, videos, books, and...Read More

    Learning improvisation can be a curious process. Every now and then as we endeavor to educate ourselves musically, we hear bits of advice and pick up words of wisdom from...Read More

    The Part of Practicing Music That No One Talks About

    I wish I could tell you it’s all fun. That every time you practice music is meant to be super creative, interesting, and joyful. That it never feels like you’re just working and trudging through....Read More

    I wish I could tell you it’s all fun. That every time you practice music is meant to be super creative, interesting, and joyful. That it never feels like you’re...Read More

    The most powerful tactic to integrate & amass jazz vocabulary

    After countless hours in the practice room, you've finally managed to transcribe one of your favorite players. You figured out a particular line that caught your ear, and now you're learning it in all keys....Read More

    After countless hours in the practice room, you've finally managed to transcribe one of your favorite players. You figured out a particular line that caught your ear, and now you're...Read More

    The Improviser’s Tipping Point

    When exactly do I become good at improvising? Is there a single point that occurs where I can finally play like I want to? These are questions that inevitably pop up and hover at the...Read More

    When exactly do I become good at improvising? Is there a single point that occurs where I can finally play like I want to? These are questions that inevitably pop...Read More

    How to Transform Your Improvisation Over Your Summer Vacation

    It's already May and before you know it those lazy months of summer are going to sneak up on you. And just as quickly they'll be gone, leaving you wishing you had more hours in...Read More

    It's already May and before you know it those lazy months of summer are going to sneak up on you. And just as quickly they'll be gone, leaving you wishing...Read More

    Thinking About Musical Phrasing for Improvisation

    Recently I’ve been studying and transcribing a lot of Miles from around 1956-1957. Albums like Cookin', Relaxin', and Workin'. More than the notes or the harmonic devices in his solos, the one thing that sticks...Read More

    Recently I’ve been studying and transcribing a lot of Miles from around 1956-1957. Albums like Cookin', Relaxin', and Workin'. More than the notes or the harmonic devices in his solos,...Read More