Inspiration for improvisers
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Chords, How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Language, Transcribing
So you want to learn how to improvise jazz and that’s great, but where on Earth do you start jazz improvisation?!?! There’s so much information out there that figuring out where to begin playing jazz is a complete nightmare. But I’ll tell you this right now…If I could start jazz improvisation again today, I’d do …
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Jazz Language, Premium Only, Transcribing
You know that you should be transcribing jazz solos. That you should be learning the language of Bird, Miles, Coltrane, and Monk. You’ve heard time and again that it’s the unwritten “secret” to becoming a better improviser… The only problem is that transcribing is also frustrating, time-consuming, and with hundreds of solos to choose from, …
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Michael Brecker talked about it. Mulgrew Miller mentioned it time and again in masterclasses. And if you’ve spent any time on Jazzadvice, you’ve seen multiple articles about the importance of learning it. But why should you start thinking about jazz language? You’re already practicing technique, running scales, and listening to a ton of your favorite …
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Becoming fluent with jazz language is the key to unlocking your musical freedom when you improvise. It’s the missing piece of the puzzle. The lost ship. The thing everyone ignores… And it’s totally counter-intuitive… You copy, to sound original. You practice the same line over and over, to be creative. You use limitation, to find …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Perspectives
Learning language is arguably the most important aspect of learning to improvise. When you start to use the language you’ve worked on in your solos, you start to realize how powerful it truly is. You feel like a whole new perspective has been opened up to you – that you finally understand. But then, over …
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Jazz Language, Perspectives, Transcribing
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 anticipation. What new sights, new sounds, unusual food, and interesting people await you in this strange new place? Your mind …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Jazz Standards, Transcribing
So you’ve transcribed some ii-V lines. You’ve even learned a few solos note for note directly from the record, but, despite your efforts, you’re not seeing the results you expected. Transcribing those lines from your favorite player didn’t transform you into the great improviser that everyone had promised. At the end of the day, improvisation …
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We talk about jazz language a lot: what it is, what it isn’t, how to get it, and what to do with it. We constantly strive to better communicate these aspects of learning language because of the vital role that language plays in successful improvisation. It’s essentially all the raw melodic material you draw from …
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Ear Training, Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Jazz Language, Perspectives
Every single person who wants to play jazz starts out as a beginner. There’s no way around it!! And over the first couple years of learning how to improvise, only a small handful of beginners develop quickly toward the player they want to become…most actually have difficulty improving and never really get out of the …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Language
Have you ever felt like you’re stuck with the same old licks when it comes to improvising? Or that you’re trying to create a solo from a strict set of scales. The truth is many players share this frustration and it all goes back to the practice room. You see when it comes to tackling …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Premium Only, Transcribing
Learning jazz language is vital to your success as an improvisor. Without it you’re truly lost. You may know a scale, a chord, a concept…but without the fundamental ideas of what to do with these tools, you’ll aimlessly wander through the harmony. These fundamental ideas are gleaned from learning and studying language. A reader recently …
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Chords, Composition, Jazz Language, Premium Only
As the article last Wednesday discussed, learning to apply language to tunes is crucial because it puts the language into context, allowing your ears and fingers to gain an understanding of how to integrate the language into your overarching concept. Over time, the language you practice this way will spontaneously materialize in new form, surprising …