General advice to folks starting to play jazz!
Well, if you already have some musical knowledge and some basic technique, here’s a few important ideas, in my humble opinion, that might be put to good use. (Please check out 30 lessons to learn Jazz guitar, too)
I am still very much learning, and while I don’t always do everything following these 3 main principles (+1), I do try to follow these in general!
- Learn from the Greats
- Prioritize on groove/time
- Learn (by heart) great tunes
- Have fun and enjoy the process!
These learning principles can apply to many types of music.
I’ve found practicing these learning principles in other musical styles (that are very beautiful but maybe not as harmonically/melodically “complex” as jazz) is a great way to learn more about music, and a great way to improve my ear and musicality.
Table of Contents
Learning (solos and groove) from the greats
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!
Duke Ellington and Irving Mills
I love playing with the greats! It’s like you are in that same room with all the guys back in the 60s. It’s a beautiful thing.
Check out Transcribe!. Transcribe (or any other program that allows one to slow the music down) – a great way to learn the real deal.
Transcribe slows down tunes, plus it allows you to loop a section. You can also slowdown videos on YouTube (with the gear icon in the lower right hand of the video) and there’s plenty of other apps and programs that let you do the same thing (help you work on specific sections of a tune).
Here’s some other articles, lessons and ideas that talk about playing along with the greats:
Sing what your hear
Try singing along to a solo or melody that you like to play. It’s a great way to learn the song. Also, you can sing the beat/groove, too.
Some very good musicians recommend learning a solo and/or melody by singing it first before playing it on one’s instrument. Truthfully, I haven’t gotten to that level of musicianship yet – I am working on it slowly though! I still use a slower-downer app like Transcribe to catch faster passages – but I think the being able to sing what one hears is a great musical skill for any musician!
- Play what you sing, sing what you play!
- Learning Songs: Listen, Sing, Play
- Playing what they’re singing
Playing Along with Great Grooves
Another practice style I love to do is play along with great tunes. This is slightly different than transcribing a tune. It’s not as focused or intense as transcribing, but it get me close to some great music.
I mostly do this on guitar and drums. I love doing this – if I like a song, I usually like grooving along to it. Some of my styles are groove heavy tracks in jazz, reggae, funk, salsa, etc.
I also like playing along to beautiful classical tunes on guitar, piano, viola, and violin – it really helps to relax and also learn from a great musician (like Daniel Barenboim)
- Improve Solos – Right Hand Groove (Jazz Guitar version)
- Six 5-10 Minute Groove Practice Ideas!
- Jazz Guitar Ideas – How to Improve Time (and Groove) for Jazz Guitar – Count Out Loud!
- Groove and the backbeat
- Learning to groove with Rebirth Brass Band
- Learning to Second Line (for Guitarists)!
- Learning to Groove with the New Birth Brass Band!
- Practicing Jazz Groove, Lesson 2
- Practicing jazz groove, Lesson 1
- Make your Own Backing Track (5 Minute Practice Ideas)
Solos and Melodies
Miles Davis is such an amazing musical person.
I remember one teacher saying the first guy to learn is Miles (for. solos). His solos are very simple and elegant, especially during certain periods of his life.
The simplicity is definitely part of his genius.
Anyways, Miles’ style is great for us beginners because there aren’t so many notes to grab a hold of. And you still learn a lot!
I like learning solos from modal tunes because it’s not as hard to pick out the notes. So What and Milestones are two great jazz tunes to learn about jazz and check out some great music.
Please check these tracks out and/or choose whatever tunes you would like to play. If they are super-complicated, then maybe try something “simpler” first.
So What
Check out Kind of Blue, etc..
Milestones
For jazz guitar there are so many greats, but for me, I think Wes stands alone.
He does some crazy stuff but don’t forget about the lines he’s playing that sound, to me, like Miles Davis (sort of).
I love Milestones and Mellow Mood with Jimmy Smith and Four on Six with, I think, Wynton Kelly, PC and Philly Jo!
Since Milestones is modal – G dorian minor and A natural minor, it’s “easier” to pick out a lot Miles’s and Wes’s notes.
- Singing – my Learning Experiences as a Guitarist!
- Play what you sing, Sing what you play!
- Great Tunes and Albums (for Learning about Jazz Guitar)
- Five 5-10 Minute Practice Ideas
Transcribe!
There’s two main ways people usually “transcribe” or learn melodies from a recording.
- Directly to their instrument
- Singing the melody and then to their instrument
Moreover, some people:
- Slow down the track to learn parts
- Don’t slow down the part, just keep working on it (or do something “easier” and then come back and learn it later)
Depending on what your time frame for learning some thing is,
learning to sing it first (maybe an octave lower), is proably the more comprehensive way.
But Practice Makes Progress! You’re going to be good either way!
- Singing – my Learning Experiences as a Guitarist!
- Five 5-10 Minute Practice Ideas
- Play what you sing, Sing what you play!
Directly to the Instrument
So once I’ve found a solo to work that I know I can technically play and that I am feeling, I get the mp3 or rip it from the album, then get it something like Transcribe!.
- Listen to the track and try to pick out the notes as you go.
- Then start at the beginning of the solo and go phrase by phrase.
- Don’t go to the next phrase until you’ve worked out the previous one
- Slow down the track as much as you need to get the notes, then speed it back up
Sing it First
With singing it first, you’ll learn slower in the beginning, but will increase your musicality more quickly over time. I’ve started doing this method now that I can sing better 🙂
And remember, if you struggle too much with a particular solo, pick something easier (even in a different genre). You can come back to the harder solo later on …
Check out this example of someone (Mr. Saxologic) learning a melody by singing it first.
Learning Groove from the Greats
Perhaps even more important is learning feel, groove & timing from the greats.
It’s actually “not hard”, especially compared to learning a solo. You pick a tune and work on your time/groove.
To start out – maybe pick something with easy changes, like a blues.
I’ve learned so much by playing chords along with different songs.
A lot of bands didn’t have a guitarist, so it’s like you’re adding the guitar part. I especially like doing this for the older-school/classic stuff, like Oscar Peterson, and New Orleans style jazz.
- Learn Jazz Guitar, Day 1, So What by Miles Davis
- Practicing jazz groove, Lesson 1
- Practicing Jazz Groove, Lesson 2
- Learning to Second Line
Working on time
Working on time, at least for me, is an ongoing process.
But it’s not really work cause the more you do it, the less work it is – and the more your time will feel good! B
To work on time:
- Playing along with music
- Use metronomes, DAWs, my cellphones recorder and Beatcraft
- Drumming
- Count out Loud
- Make a backing track
Generally for latin and straight beats, I put the metronome on the 1 and 3, For swung stuff I put it on the 2 and 4 – this is assuming it’s in 4. Using a drum machine is great because it sounds more like the real deal.
- Better time, 1
- Better time (Ideas to Improve Your Time), Part 2
- Improve Solos – Right Hand Groove (Jazz Guitar version)
- Make your Own Backing Track (5 Minute Practice Ideas)
Fancy Metronome Challenge
If you have a fancier metronome, set the it so that it will be silent every 4th beat and then every 4th bar. Practicing this way will really help you lock in better time. Just remember to attempt progress in small steps forward (each day if possible) and be patient!
- Jazz Guitar Ideas – How to Improve Time (and Groove) for Jazz Guitar – Count Out Loud!
- Make your Own Backing Track (5 Minute Practice Ideas)
- Six 5-10 Minute Groove Practice Ideas!
- Better time (Ideas to Improve Your Time), Part 2
- Better time, 1
Phrasing and form
Even if you have a good quarter pulse feel, remember that’s one part (an important part) of the equation!
Especially in jazz, it’s important to practice keeping the form.
For example, if you take a chorus long solo over blues changes, you’ll know where you are in the changes and will be able to end your solo at the end of the form.
If you are adding or subtracting beats, or adding or subtracting bars, or losing the one, please try practicing like I do!
Ways to Practice Keeping the Form of the Song
- Set your beatkeeper to mark a 2, 4, 8 bar chunk. You’ll see that you a keeping the form.
- Create your own backing tracks – you’ll hear if you are keep the form or not
- Record yourself and listen back to check that you are following the changes, keeping the structure of the song
- Practice playing along with the greats – for the whole tune comp, play the melody, solo. And mix up these 3 elements.
For example, with Beatcraft (or a metronome or DAW), I mark the start of every two to four bars. If the form is 12 bars or 14 bars or 20 bars, etc, you can mark it too.
Besides playing in four-bar phrases, you can practice playing 3-bar phrases, etc., plus if you want you can learn 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, etc…
Anyways, having a good drum machine, or something like Beatcraft, a DAW, or programmable metronome will really help a lot. And some great tunes to play along with!
- Jazz Guitar Ideas – How to Improve Time (and Groove) for Jazz Guitar – Count Out Loud!
- Make your Own Backing Track (5 Minute Practice Ideas)
- Practicing jazz groove, Lesson 1
- Practicing Jazz Groove, Lesson 2
Learning tunes
For most types of music, learning the standard repertoire is an important part of becoming “proficient” in that musical style.
When you think about it, many jazz songs are only 16 bars of musical material. Usually there will be an A section and B section and the song form will be AABA. Of course, not all tunes are AABA, but it’s very common.
Most jazz tunes are actually pretty “short” – not really that much to memorize as they seem (in many cases).
That being said, learning tunes and transcribing are two of my biggest challenges, so I definitely understand the struggle to become better at learning tunes!
How to Learn a Jazz Tune
One of the best way I know of learning tunes is the following:
- Learn the melody/chords by ear or take out the sheet music (if you have it)
- Cue up the song
- Either play the melody along with the players or play the chords
- After they have played the melody (or chords), they go to the solos
- While they are playing the solos, you play the melody (or chords)
- Keep playing the melody throughout the whole song
- You know you played everything right when they get back to the melody and everything lines up
- Switch to chords or melody (whichever you haven’t done yet) and repeat the process
This method works really well.
Listen to the drummer. You also check out how the soloists use the melody in their solos.
To Practice the Chords to Tune
To practice a tune’s chords, just follow the same process (outlined above), but play the chords throughout the whole song.
Try and memorize the chords while you do it. This might be frustrating at first but keep at it. You’ll get it and your musicality will really increase.
Learn a Tune from a Sheet Music and/or a Realbook/Fakebook
Truthfully, my reading skills are better than my ear – I am working on my ear (and my reading skills, too).
But I do learn a lot of tunes from a book.
As a “teacher”, I would say that it’s something that’s okay in moderation, but I would recommend (to myself and others) to strive to learn tunes by ear! In the long run, it definitely is true that learning by ear is usually the preferred way to go. Most of the more accomplished jazz musicians read well, but they also have learned a lot by listening and developing their ear, too.
Practice Learning a Tune – C Jam Blues
You can try learning this 2 note melody and practicing the chords with this song – though Mr. Peterson adds a 4 bar intro before a lot of the choruses.
Since the melody is pretty straightforward, it’s a great way to start learning a jazz tune by ear!
Have Fun, Enjoy the Process (Practice Makes Progress)
Most of all, I wish you the best and enjoy the musical journeys!
Learning from the Greats, Transcribing/Singing and Learning Tunes are three of the main things I have been working on for the last few years to develop my jazz skills. (Practicing these three things in any style of music will also help ones musical skill develop in general)
While I have a lot to learn, and I think that these practice ideas have already paid big dividends in my learning process.
I definitely really appreciate all the musicians who have shared these practice tips with me – and I hope they can help you, too!
All the best – and hope this helps!
If you have any questions, comments, suggestion and/or ideas, please comment below or contact me – thanks!
