Inspiration for improvisers
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The Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim is well known to improvisers with dozens of tunes frequently played and recorded in the jazz repertoire. However, one song in particular stands out… The “Garota de Ipanema” or The Girl from Ipanema. Composed in 1963, it propelled a Bossa Nova wave around the world and was recorded by …
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Chords, Composition, Jazz Musicians
What do you play over a minor ii V? Minor ii Vs are notoriously tricky. As compared to their brother, the ii V in major, the ii V in minor adds quite a few more challenges. First off, instead of a minor 7 ii chord, it has a minor 7 b5 ii chord. This causes …
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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 …
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Jazz Musicians, Jazz Standards
Confirmation is one of those tunes that gives most people a difficult time. But somehow Charlie Parker had no problem playing the most beautiful lines over it time and time again. His lines flow naturally and effortlessly as if he’s composing a perfect solo in real-time… In fact, I remember Eric Alexander telling us students …
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Composition, Jazz Language, Playing Techniques, Scales, Transcribing
Every so often you’ll make a musical discovery that will drastically change the way you approach improvisation. One day you’re struggling over the same tunes, growing more and more frustrated with your own predictable patterns and then it hits you – you discover a secret that was hidden right before your eyes. A subtle mental, …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Perspectives
In 6 Disastrous Mistakes You’re Making In Learning To Improvise, we detailed some pitfalls that cause people to waste tons of time and cause years of frustration. Let’s get right into it…here are six more mistakes that will hinder your musical success if you let them… 1.) Ignoring the fundamentals Why are you trying to …
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Here’s a recent question from a reader struggling with fast tempos: “Hi, I’m a saxophone player in Toronto. What might you recommend in terms of practice techniques to play on blistering fast tempos?” When it comes to fast tempos, we could all be better. Want to play fast? Start slow. Slow over fast tempos No …
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A reader recently asked: “I was wondering about how to play over altered dominant chords. What are some strategies for playing over Dominant 7 #9 chords, specifically.” This question comes up frequently for many improvisers. It seems like everyone has a “fail safe” scale or lick that they use exclusively every time they see an …
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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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Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Jazz Musicians, Perspectives, Playing Techniques
I’m guessing you’ve heard of Miles Davis. That you know Louis Armstrong and have listened to Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. But have you ever stopped and wondered why you know these names? Some of these masters have been gone for 40 years and some of their records are nearly 80 years old. So why …
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Chords, Composition, Jazz Education, Scales
Have you ever thrown your hands up in frustration trying to understand music theory? Have you ever found yourself lost and panicking in a solo as you search for the right scale or chord to play? Many frustrated musicians run into this wall every time they try to take a solo. From the outside improvising …
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When I think about what it means to “let go,” detailed scenes from Hollywood hits come to mind. Scenes like Neo in The Matrix learning that “there is no spoon,” and Tom Cruise in the Last Samurai being taught to think “No mind.” There’s a good reason these type of scenes take place in so …