Scales Are Not the Secret Short-Cut to Jazz Improvisation
When you first began learning how to improvise, chances are the first thing you encountered were scales. Memorizing lists of scales from Major and minor to diminished and octatonic. Knowing which scales work with which chords. It can seem like the practice of scales never ends. This philosophy has become so entrenched within the art ...
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Why Jazz Education Doesn’t Fit the Mold
One thing we’re all accustomed to in this day and age is results with a limited amount of work. From daily tasks to larger life goals, this mentality has been ingrained into our collective mindset. Put in a set amount of effort and time and you’ll reach your goal, getting the exact results you’ve envisioned. ...
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Combating The Enemies of Progress
We have met the enemy and he is us – Pogo We all want to get better and we always will. There’s never a point where a musician thinks, “Well, I think I’m good enough now. Guess that’s it.” What’s stopping us? What’s holding us back from becoming the player we wish to be? The ...
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Jazz Education Blunders
Jazz education has steadily become increasingly popular and for good reason: playing jazz is fun! In an attempt to make jazz improvisation accessible to everyone, much of the learning material has been reduced and packaged in a manner to get people playing at a mediocre level more quickly. The problem is that these methods get ...
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How Jazz Standard Play Alongs Waste Your Practice Time And What To Do About It
It’s Saturday. You’ve got plenty of time. You’re excited to spend some quality time practicing. You meander into your practice room, peruse your jazz standard play alongs and grab the first volume that sparks your interest, pop it in, and off you go. Sound familiar? As fun as it is to “just play” over a ...
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Mythbusting the Top 5 Myths About Jazz Improvisation
Learning how to improvise is not nearly as clear as people think. And what makes it worse is that there are quite a few myths about it. Today, in no particular order, we’re going to dispel five myths about jazz improvisation for you right now! Myth #1 When it comes to improvising, you either got ...
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Overcoming Obstacles in Transcription
Whether it’s figuring out difficult double-time passages, navigating advanced technical lines, or even finding the motivation to do it everyday, transcribing can be difficult. Transcribing, while essential to learning to play the jazz language, is often one of the most demanding tasks to complete on a regular basis for improvisers. Two readers recently asked questions ...
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How To Stay Sane While Pursuing Your Art
As a musician or any other creative individual, we get so wrapped up in what we are doing, that we often lose sight of everything else. Consequently, when something within our own little bubble is not going how we would like it to, our positivity plummets and our world comes crashing down. Here are some ...
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