The Inconvenient Truth About Becoming a Better Improviser…
Making progress as an improviser is tricky business. I’m not talking about the baby steps along the way like learning a new tune, transcribing a solo, or even practicing a few scales. I’m talking about finding musical breakthroughs. Arriving at creative revelations and actually playing the ideas you’re hearing in your head. But I’m guessing ...
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Why You Hate Practicing: 3 Simple Ways to Love Your Instrument Again
Practicing is the most important thing you can do as a musician. Or so everyone says…But let’s be honest, practicing can be a real drag sometimes. It can feel like the daily chore that you can never escape. Hours of tedious warm-up routines, endless technical exercises, and slogging through every key while staring at the ...
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The Talent Myth: Why Exceptional Musical Ability Is Within Your Reach
Talent. It’s a word that’s thrown around in all professions and all parts of life. From sports and academics to art and music. And nowhere is it more prevalent than in jazz improvisation. We listen to the musical masters of the past century, we look at our teachers, the musicians at jam sessions and the ...
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The Reason You Need to Start Thinking About Jazz Language Right Now…
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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5 Simple Ways to Escape the ‘Diatonic Trap’ in Your Jazz Solos
You want to play exciting solos. Ones that will make the audience sit on the edge of their seats, that’ll make you stand out from every other musician in the room. But when you improvise everything ends up sounding exactly the same.. Many musicians share this frustration and for many it goes right back to ...
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What’s the Difference Between an Amateur and a Pro??
Mastering jazz improvisation seems simple in theory. At least every great player makes it sound that way. And on paper it all looks pretty straight forward. Memorize the chords, learn a few scales, and listen to the masters. With a little practice and transcription you’re good to go – you can almost hear the dazzling ...
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How to Take the Guesswork Out of Jazz Improvisation…and Unlock Your Creativity
If you’re like me, you can picture it in your mind. Walking on stage in front of an audience and jumping right into a solo. Knowing exactly what you want to play and confident that any note you hear will simply flow out with ease. Sounds pretty good, right? The only problem is getting these ...
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How to Avoid the 4 Harmful Mindsets that are Sabotaging Your Practice Routine…
If you’re serious about reaching your musical potential or stepping up your jazz improvisation game then the majority of your time as a musician should be spent in one place: The practice room. It’s where you’ll do the dirty work of pursuing your musical goals and where you’ll build your foundation as a performer. It’s ...
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8 Things No One Tells You About Learning Jazz Improvisation
People will tell you all sorts of things about learning jazz improvisation. But no one tells you many of the things that could actually help you the most. As we practice jazz improvisation, we develop a concept of how we think we should go about learning things. This concept primarily comes from what our teachers, ...
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Stuck on Rhythm Changes? Here Are 4 Coltrane Concepts That’ll Set You Free
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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Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Musician? (Answer This Question to Find Out…)
Let’s say this: You’re a 25 year old guitar player, serious and passionate about what you do. Each day after work you come home and head into the practice room, learning songs, practicing your technique, and dreaming about getting onstage. But despite all of this effort you’re still not seeing the progress you want. Or ...
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The 5 Key Skills You Won’t Learn in School: A Five Part Series
School is great…but it won’t teach you everything. Private lessons are awesome and downright necessary on your journey to becoming a better musician…yet that hour a week isn’t going to teach you every musical tidbit that you need to know. You see a curious thing happens when you take music outside of the classroom, when ...
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