Inspiration for improvisers
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How to Practice Jazz, Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
It’s been a few weeks since the new year when we posted articles on setting goals and making musical resolutions. Did you make some resolutions this year? If so, how are they holding up? Maybe you didn’t exactly make a conscious resolution, however you probably have some areas of your playing that you want to …
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A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention – Herbert Simon, Nobel Laureate. Let’s be honest, we’re pretty lucky as jazz musicians in this day and age. As a musician interested in jazz today, you have access to more recordings and resources related to learning this music than any previous generation of improvisers struggling …
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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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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Standards
Learning tunes is a key part of every jazz musician’s practice plan, but one thing that can really help motivate you to learn a specific tune is to understand why that particular tune is so important. You see, each jazz standard contains vital pieces of information… Some have a lot of ii V7, while others …
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Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Playing Techniques
Play what you’re hearing in your head! These are the instructions that numerous books, videos, and educators tell us as we struggle to figure out how to play over chord progressions. The only problem in situations like these is, as beginners, we aren’t hearing anything in our heads… Think back to the first time that …
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Chords, Ear Training, Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives, Playing Techniques
Each day when you get your instrument out of its case and set out to practice improvisation, your goal is to play the right notes. Whether it’s playing with great technique and great sound or finding the best line to play over that new tune, you’re looking for the fastest way to sound good over …
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Every improviser has to face it at some point. We’re talking about those 32 bars of music that you know as Rhythm Changes. Sure it’s easy enough to sing the melody…And you’ve heard all the recordings of famous musicians playing circles around this familiar chord progression. But when it comes to improvising your own solos …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Transcribing
So you finally transcribed your first solo, but unfortunately, you don’t feel like you’re improving at the rapid rate you’d hoped for. Where did you go wrong? This is a common situation. I know people that have transcribed hundreds of solos, but little to none of it translates into their playing. Transcribing whole solos is …
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How to Practice Jazz, Perspectives
Your mental approach to the things you do can have everything to do with your success or failure. In fact, the way that you think about things like setting goals, learning new skills, or creating routines directly affects how successful you’ll be – and this is especially true when it comes to practicing jazz improvisation. …
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Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
We’ve all seen concerts that have affected us greatly and left a lasting impression on our musical perception and even our lives. Performances that seem to transcend the stage into another form of communication and stick with us long after the show has ended. It’s as if certain groups or performers have an uncanny ability …
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Chords, Composition, Jazz Advice and Tips, Premium Only, Scales
After you’ve been improvising jazz for a while, most chords are pretty familiar. You’re used to major, minor, dominant, and half diminished…but just as you thought you were getting a handle on things, a chord comes out of nowhere that makes you go “What is that?!?!” And not only do you have to figure out what …
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Here’s a thought. What if you could go back in time and take a lesson with John Coltrane? Yes, that John Coltrane. I mean drive up to his home in Dix Hills, knock on the door, politely say hello to his wife, and walk in past the stacks of staff paper and saxophone mouthpieces into …