Inspiration for improvisers
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Practicing jazz improvisation is a life-long pursuit. But just because you put in the time, doesn’t mean you’ll improve. HOW you spend that time is just as important… Here are 3 keys to practicing as effectively as possible: 1. Create your own space As a musician, time spent working in the practice room is an …
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Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
There are really two areas of musicianship, aside from technique on an instrument, that a jazz musician requires to be a complete improviser. One is developing great ears and the other is an intellectual understanding of harmony. These two qualities can especially be found among the countless innovators of the music. Take the musicians of …
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Learn tunes. Transcribe solos. The instructions for aspiring jazz musicians are pretty much the same everywhere you go. You want to play longer lines and master tricky chord progressions? “Learn tunes and transcribe solos.” Need more technique and better ears? You get the idea… We receive this advice from our teachers, friends, and from our …
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Chords, Jazz Musicians, Playing Techniques
Minor chords are found in every style of music, especially in the jazz repertoire. From popular jazz standards and the minor blues, to the ii-V-I progression and the minor vamps that pop up in numerous tunes… The truth of the matter is if you want to sound good in any sort of musical situation, you …
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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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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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Clifford Brown is one of those rare musicians that always seems to play the perfect solo. Every phrase is expertly crafted, every note is musical, and each idea is delivered with impeccable sound … If you’re sitting here like me, wishing you had even one of these qualites in your improvised solos, Clifford Brown is …
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Contrary to what many people think, great solos don’t just happen by chance. They aren’t a lucky run of notes that happen to sound good or a sudden stroke of divine inspiration that hits once you walk on stage. If only it were that easy! The ability to get up and improvise in front of …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Jazz Musicians, Playing Techniques, Transcribing
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 out about Miles is his sense of phrasing. This is what sets him apart and why so many listeners connect …
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Composition, Ear Training, Jazz Standards
Bebop “heads,” what jazz players sometimes call the melody of a tune, tend to be some of the trickiest and most technically demanding strings of notes you’re likely to encounter. Much busier than classic jazz standards, these intricate melodies are generally more difficult to learn, understand, and commit to memory. So what do you do …
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Blues, Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
You’re staring at a chord progression on a lead sheet. Thinking through the first few bars of a jazz standard. You’re getting ready to start your solo and carefully choosing the first phrase you’ll play… It’s finally time to show off the stuff you’ve been working on. Time to create music on the spot instead …
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Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Tunes
As a musician you know should be learning tunes…After all it’s the backbone of how you play with other musicians, speak the language, and share your musical ideas. But, the big question is: How exactly should you go about doing this? Right now you might be wondering this as you work to build your repertoire …