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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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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Chords, Composition, Music Theory, Scales
Jazz chords are at the very heart of why jazz sounds the way it does and as a player, these sounds are essential to have in your ear on a deep level. But what makes this so difficult? What are jazz chords and why do they sound different than regular chords? And what makes them …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Jazz Language, Jazz Standards, Perspectives
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. But the truth is, until we have devices from The Matrix that can hook up to your head and teach …
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Composition, Jazz Musicians, Music Theory, Tunes
Always searching for a new sound to explore and share with the world, jazz musicians are constantly trying to evolve and push the music forward, reaching for something different and exciting… And this is exactly how modal jazz came about. Legends like Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, and Miles Davis began exploring …
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Chords, Jazz Education, Music Theory, Scales
Jazz scales are something everyone talks about. Chances are, you’ve been told that you need to know dozens of scales to play jazz and that these structures hold the keys to unlocking jazz improvisation. But what you might not realize is that you don’t need to know a million jazz scales to construct a solid …
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Composition, Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Education, Perspectives
Everyone hopes to be perfect one day. Play with perfect intonation, the perfect sound, perfect lines…But what if I told you that the whole idea of perfection is actually what’s holding you back? That aiming for some self-imposed ideal of what’s perfect could not only be hurting your practice, but taking the fun and self …
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Chords, Composition, Jazz Education, Playing Techniques
Minor harmony is everywhere in jazz. Whether you’re playing a tune in a minor key or a jazz standard that shifts to the relative minor for a section, you need a solid understanding of how minor harmony works in jazz. From this understanding, you’ll memorize jazz standards faster, understand chord progressions on a deeper level, …
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Blues, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Language, Jazz Musicians, Jazz Standards, Perspectives
Blues is the backbone of so much in jazz. The melancholic feeling. The soul. The call-and-response phrasing, walking groove, and clearly defined melodic statements…blues is ingrained in jazz at its very roots. And every jazz musician at some point or another has to learn how to play the blues. There’s no way around it. If …
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Jazz Education, Jazz Language, Perspectives
The idea that jazz is a language can be quite confusing and ambiguous. We often make this statement, as do many teachers and professionals, but it takes time to understand what this phrase actually means and what it doesn’t mean… We’re used to a language being something like English; a body of words, phrases, grammar …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips
Do you feel like you’re always trying to catch up? Like everyone else pursuing music started fifty steps ahead of you and the only way you’ll reach them is by moving as fast through the material as humanely possible? This is how most beginner to intermediate jazz improvisers feel and unfortunately, without addressing it, this …
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How to Practice Jazz, Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Standards, Perspectives
Why is learning how to play jazz so hard? Is it that there are a million tunes to know? Or the thousands of great jazz solos to transcribe? Or is it all that crazy music theory, the mental aspects behind a jazz standard that make it so difficult? All of these challenges make learning jazz …