What is a bad or a good habit for learning Jazz? 🙂 Some of the most important things to learn for Jazz Beginners: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-F_uuHfrMfIQ.html
I've never had much fun with backing tracks. But some of my best ideas come from listening to my own songs in my head while working on some other task. I'll come up with something to try later on when I get to my guitar playing just by imagining it. This is mostly involuntary so I must be doing the work.
Definitely a bad habit is to learn theory "blank", so without looking at actual music. Look at music you like and then try to figure out how it is made.
1st Absolute Rule to Learn: Like Cats, You don't Find Them,They Find You. You don't find Jazz, Jazz Finds You. 2nd All "Melodys" are Found within Chords (Most Time) 3rd Allow The Song to Guide You, Not the other way around. 4th Less is Best (Much of the Time) 5th Learn Every Chord Imaginable....Make up Your Own.... Different Tunings are always on the table Also.(Fripp, Holdsworth, Etc) 6th Good Valuble Listens Include: Pass, Beckert, Hall, Wes, Atkins, Coltrain, Miles, Getz, Chet Baker, Carlton......) 7th If You Drink like a Fish...Swim Home.....btw....Nice Vidio
Another bad habit is trying to learn the flashy, advanced stuff before the basics. I sometimes cringe when I hear a student who can't outline the chords of Autumn Leaves try to throw some ultra hip Holdsworth stuff in there. Fail! 😐
Excellent as always Jens. My bad habit is learning a head, learning the harmony, getting comfortable improvising a solo, and then calling it a day. The song is learned and im moving on another. Then I practice my tunes, but don't really give myself enough time to develop them. I've been working on creating more time to explore tunes and get to know them more deeply.
I always love the themes that go behind videos like this. It's always important to use theory for music, not to let theory use you. I also very much agree with listening to Jazz in order to play Jazz. It's basically like listening to Rock and being able to then play Rock, or any genre for that matter! Cheers
A good comment my teacher made to me was "practice the scale til you feel comfortable with it, then immediately begin trying to make music with it - stop 'practicing' the scale for that session of play".
Unfortunately, my guitar skills is not enough to even start me to try to play jazz. But a delight is to watch Lars videos with his knowledge and melodies
On green dolphing street el tournaround del final lleva muchos acordes en esa sección y tuve que componer melodías e ideas encajando por bloque de compases para no pensar tanto...
Number 1 had me as a jazz beginner from age 15 to age 35. I started writing iiVI licks and playing them through standards with a metronome on beat 2 and 4 about 3 years ago. Now, I am still a jazz beginner, but I am a better beginner than I was for the last 20 years. If only I had found Jens 20 years ago. Thanks for the great content.
For me, number 6 is the hardest. No matter how much jazz I listen to, I can't keep a jazz tune in my head. If you can't hear it, you will have terrible trouble playing it.
Totally agree about backing tracks. I post vids using them for entertainment value…ie no one wants to listen to or watch me practicing with a metronome lol. But i do. Another thing i love is drumgenius which jens turned me onto in another of his vids. More fun than a metronome but still minimal compared to a backtrack and the drums are real. But back to backing tracks: i especially dig phil wilkinsin’s organ/drums tracks. Hes a great guitarist too and the drums are real and very organic even if theyre looped sections…so lots of nuance to play off of. I like the chocolate cake analogy.
Wauw Jens, you teach and tell the exactly way to play, and not bla bla what I see on RU-vid.this guy,s have very big ego , but you shared hard working knowledge to all and that is teaching .🙏
How come even your "fails" sound better than my playing...? 😂 Joking aside, we're so lucky to have you teaching us... i live on a small remote island in the south pacific, my strings are 3 years old (in marine surroundings... ;) and don't even own a paying card but, thanks to you, i have one of the best teachers i could ever have hoped for... Many thanks again for all the work you do to enlighten us ! :)
I really love this channel, by the way. I'm an intermediate rock/blues guitar player who took up jazz seriously about six months ago, and I have certainly committed some of these sins early on. On number one, you don't specify how someone is supposed to develop this vocabulary, but one method I know you have endorsed before is learning solos (by ear, preferably). I jumped in with both feet and started doing this right away, which was helpful, but one mistake I made was spending too much time analyzing what I was playing to figure out the "formula" - e.g., "why does this Db7 arpeggio work over Eb7? How does that work?" Some of that is useful, but if I had to go back in time a few months ago to give myself advice I'd have told myself to relax with all that stuff and just get the licks under my fingers. Since I started doing that I'm seeing more improvement On number 7, I couldn't agree more. Something my favorite players do is strike a balance between outlining the chords and then straying outside them with other scale and non-scale color tones. When playing with accompaniment, I was doing absolutely none of the former. I was relying solely on the backing track to carry the tune and just noodling. After playing unaccompanied, I've noticed myself being more musically anchored to the song, outlining the chords and even playing some chords in my soloing. I didn't set out to do this deliberately. It happens out of necessity to mark my place in the song, but it has been invaluable. I play with a metronome, but most of my playing now is unaccompanied and I'm seeing so much more improvement than when I was using a backing track. Keep up the great work!
I like the message "Notes are not music!" I like the way you pointed out that learning songs as groups of chord progressions (in blocks, or groups) is important. Sounds great! But, I'm not quite ready to learn jazz (not just yet, but I will be!). I'm still learning to play rock & roll. Great sound, though!
at 4:05, can someone tell me whats going on with #IV(_2) to indicate a Ebdim on the right side of the screen? I don't know what that subscript is supposed to mean? And I guess Eb is somehow the IV because we are referring to the parallel minor, although that kind of came out of nowhere = ]
I 100% agree that listening should be a huge part of your practice. But I’d be shocked if Joe DiOrio recommended listening while doing something else. Would you practice your scales while reading a book? Of course not. To derive value from listening, you need to give it your full attention just the way you do when you’re practicing your instrument. Listening must be active, and I would also argue that you need specific goals when listening, just as you need specific goals when practicing. Why are you listening, and what are you listening for? What aspect(s) of the music are you focusing on? Why did you pick this particular artist or this particular song? Are you comparing how various artists treat the same song? Are you trying to pick up some rhythms, licks or harmonies that characterize a style? Are you listening to learn a solo? Whatever; the list could go on forever.
I don't think most of these "bad" habits are bad. It depends on how they are used. The first example isn't wrong, as long as you don't remain stuck in playing those scales. You start there, then you move on to just playing the appropriate notes at the appropriate time, without thinking about the scales. It's just ear training. Working on a ii-V-I until you can hear the notes and play through it skillfully doesn't seem like a waste of time. A few days? A few weeks, for a little bit of your practice time, then be done with it. With many things, it's not necessarily wrong, it depends on how you use and apply that thing. I think spending a lot of time on scales is a waste of time, but I read something last night from George Van Eps, where he said that a thorough mastery of all the common scales, in all positions and all keys in absolutely necessary. I wouldn't want to argue with George, but maybe I'm wrong. Or maybe it's how it's used/applied?
once again, thank you, mr larsen, for these instructive guides… but i still feel so stupid… thank you for leading me out of my stupidity and how to enjoy music.
Learning songs! I hate seeing old guys like me insisting written music when we decide to play a jazz standard they've heard for decades but never learned.
Worst habit is to come to a gig dressed not good, playing by ireal pro, not understanding what tune is about, playing tune trough, not making connect with the band, taking 80 bucks and come home
I have a big issue with something that I see many jazz educators use as advice to students to sound 'hip'. Play an F maj 7 arpeggio over a Dm. In this context the notes create a D minor 9 sound. Why not just learn minor ninth arpeggios so you understand the VALUE of Each Note you are playing. Are you supposing people are too stupid to absorb this? Do you say "play an E minor arpeggio over C to create Cmaj 7" ? Here's one example - "play an A minor 7 arpeggio over D minor to get a D minor 11 " ? In the previous context it isn't A minor 7 any more. Isn't it important to know the Function/Value of each note you play? . Is it really that hard to learn 5 or 6 note arpeggios? Seems more confusing in the long run and involves extra steps to arrive at your goal. I understand all of this and in my mind instantly translate C/D to D sus 9 which lets me know what the function of the chord is. Do artists say green or blue/yellow? You will see older music sheets give guitar players triads in the chord boxes but when you look at the piano bass parts you find the full chord is something else. You might see the guitar given Bb dim but the bass note in the piano music is A. They don't say A 7 b9. Or you will see guitar player Dm , piano bass note F instead of F6. I always assumed that they thought the guitar players of the day were either too simple to understand or couldn't play anything but triads. Is it still that way for educators? By the way you have a great channel.
While I have quite a few videos that actually explain this in some detail then I don't think it is that important to get so hung up on extensions. In most cases there is no real difference for the music if you play an arpeggio that makes a single 8th note sound like a m7 with a 9th. When it comes to learning more arpeggios then you can of course do that, but if you are already practicing the 7th chord arpeggios then why not use them and spend more time on the lines you play than on practicing arpeggios, that seems to be what Parker and almost everyone else did, so it will also fit better with the music that inspires you and that you listen to. Does that help explain it?
Parker knew he was playing upper extensions and their tonal relationship to the chord of the moment. It is not hard to add two or three notes to the arpeggio you already know and thus understand their tonal value. It doesn't take hours of practice. Of course everyone will use the approach that works for them. Not being argumentative, just offering the approach that many greats of jazz (before there were jazz schools. I went to Berklee for a bit so I am familiar with both schools of thought. I think you are doing a great job. @@JensLarsen
@@scottbaekeland9750 Surely if it isn't hard to add the notes then it is also not hard to understand them without playing those notes and practice arpeggios that you are anyway not hearing in the solos of people like Parker and the rest. Keep in mind that you don't have to learn everything from a theoretical point of view first, understanding can also come after hearing it.
Understood. Without hearing the theory applied (as you do so well) it is just boring academic stuff. Notes on paper make no sound until you are well along in the world of notation. Music theory is just a way of describing existing music. The music came first. Like language came before the concepts of nouns, verbs , prepositions etc.. Just like learning English - we speak it before we approach it theoretically. But if you want to go deeper into it you can. Someone could speak and understand many words without knowing how to spell them or what parts of speech they are. I think that the more one can connect both sides of the brain on these things the better off one is. They used to say - "When you practice remember you are a student - when you play just play". etc. Best wishes.@@JensLarsen
Very good ideas to keep in sight. Another problem for me trying to remember all the things I could have learned in many years of playing and studying and used those ideas and concepts when playing a solo. Or is it a subconscious path when a good player performs a great solo to collect and gather in real time in his mind and in retroaction with the other musicians the tools necessary to create a great solo ? In any case improvised music is a great accomplishment ! Thank you mister Larsen !
Am I the only brand new jazz player that is confused about teachers saying "notes/chords/scales aren't music," then proceeding to talk for ten minutes about how scales and arpeggios should be used in jazz? Anyway, this channel is obviously an incredible resource and I am grateful for it.
Thanks Jens, I start using metronome, with click 1 and 3, (I feel it better than 1 & 4). It is also a year that I start to construct and compose my vocabulary, however the licks that I composed do not sound always jazz enthousiaste for me, is that normal or common? Maybe was the same also for joe pass at the beginning!!;)
Thanks a lot Jens, you opened my mind after so many years playing guitar. I've switched to bossa nova when I realized improvising was too complicated to study, but the semplicity of your lessons made me think I can still can make it. I'm not any better at the moment but I enjoy a lot understanding what I try to play😂. I really appreciate the effort you put into sharing your huge knowledge and passion. Keep on following you!!!
Great, Jens - as usual. Thanks. I would also like to hear some advice about learning how to think ahead, not just for comping obviously, but also for soloing, and how to practise that mindset.
Thank you for this video and for maintainig this channel. Your channel is a valuable resource😊. A "good habit" could be singing or whistling phrases, arpeggios etc. from time to time before I play them on the guitar. This helps me to internalise the music, shifts attention to rhythm and phrasing, and prevents me from playing "ergonomic scrap".
hello , youre right , play the arpeggios not only scales etc ! but man i love jazz but one question to you ...i love jazz but not all jazz , i mean , giant steps or cherokke etc , i hate theses tunes !!! i tried for so long to play "donna lee" man its boring to me , i can play standards more simple as , "round midnight" or " all blues " but i cannot motive myself if its too difficult and honestly i got no pleasure at all just listening to those tunes ! am i normal ?
Thanks for this Video Jens. You have such a deep wealth of knowledge but you also cater to beginners in such a good way. I've kind of lost my way in my practice sessions and this video is the catalyst to help me get back on track. Thank you so much. You are a great teacher.
A very small thing I might add to the process of familiarizing myself with options for a song: A short term exercise I found helpful for familiarizing myself with the diatonic notes near the chord is to practice the song by playing the scale starting from each of the chord tonics.
Hey Jens, also thanks to you I've shed most of those bad habits - except scratching the surface of a lot of stuff simultaneously. I really need to make a conscious effort to stay focused on one thing at a time! One thing about scales. Totally agree with what you say, at least if what one wants to play is swing and bop. I just realised, however, that scales (all sorts, including chromatic) are essential vocabulary especially for fast phrases. The art is all in … playing scales while thinking chord tones! A few album suggestions for earlier jazz guitar styles. Charlie Christian: any collection (particularly a beautiful 4Cd collection "The Original Guitar Genius"). Django (anything, but I most love his early 40s stuff with the clarinette quintette and the amazing bop-inflected later records, collected in "Nuits de St.Germain des Prés"). Barney Kessel (all of his 50s stuff and especially "To swing or not to swing", the first "Poll winners", and Hampton Hawes' "Four!", not to mention his amazing guitar work in Ben Webster and "Sweets" Edison "Complete Sextet Studio Sessions). Unknown to many, but a wonderful player, Remo Palmieri (especially in Teddy Wilson's All Star Sextet, but he also cut the wonderful guitar solo in Dizzy Gillespie's "Groovin' High"). I love Wes, Grant Green, Benson, Jim Hall, Joe Pass… but those are my big four, at least right now, and not enough people listen to them. Honorable mention for an extraordinary swing cut: "Rosetta" by the Nat King Cole Trio with an extraordinary Anita O'Day singing. Oscar Moore's solo swings like nothing else did before or since. The list could go on, and on, and on… happy listening!
You have the best advice as a Jazz teacher, wonderful to follow. My feeling is that scales, arpeggios and chord progressions are building concepts but that doesnt constitute music. You have to listen and listen and listen until internally you have something musical to say. One starting point is to understand and enjoy the theme (compare Have you met miss Jones to Autumn leaves to Girl from Ipanema the scales or chords are a minimalistic approach). The theme, or the song, is the real message as to what you can do with the chart. I learned this from my father whose 'pop music' was Jazz ! Beyond the theoretical constructs, one has to develop a sense of music, just like a writer or a painter. The technical side is necessary, but it's not the end product !
Thanks so much for your videos, very helpful to a jazz newby (at 63). I don't know if you mentioned this, but is it also helpful to practice the actual tune melody? It has seemed to help a lot with my reading, but also, I can use the melody as a starting point?
I didn't realize that backing tracks were holding me back. Great advice. The great country player, @guthrietrappmusic, starts all his videos playing in that manner. Now I understand how and why!
Thx Jens for your work. I dedicated a significant amount of time exploring various musical concepts, which undoubtedly enhanced my overall understanding. However, I found that these explorations did not significantly contribute to my ability to navigate through chord changes while playing. In the past six-eight months, I focused extensively on mastering closed triad patterns across the entire fretboard ... was hard work. I can confidently affirm that this approach has proven to be highly effective. For me, triad patterns have emerged the first key solution for visualizing and navigating through tunes.
Great tips as always, Jens! But I really did not grasp the last piece of advice: for me, a backing track has a metronome in it. It should tell you you are lagging behind. And, well, you’re supposed to listen to the backtrack, dont you? So, it helps with the harmony as well. Only the groove part gets really compromised.
That is the whole point. You need to hear that inside, not lean on a backing track. But you can check quite easily, try to take a song you never played with just a metronome and then play it with the metronome on 2 & 4. Then you know if you can feel the groove and hear the harmony.
Got it now! sure I’ll give it a try! Maybe this will solve a problem I have: When I’m playing chords I feel every chord, guess what comes next, hear progressions perfectly! But as soon as I start soloing, all these feelings becomes much harder- as if the harmony vanished out of my head.
I look at the a section of rhythm changes as one big chunk and i turned that theme on other chord islands in other songs. This helps break the song down to an easier way of thinking and hearing it.
Yeah i was just joking 🙂👍 but i think the simplicity of popular music also has a lot to do with people not playing in bands so much anymore and making music on their laptop instead.
@@JensLarsen I enjoy all of your teaching. Helpful as I've been playing for decades, on and off professionally... had to get a day job. But your videos help keep me focused and fortunately I agree with pretty much all you say. Learning to simplify has been my goal. Focus on chord tones and motifs. Too many players, like myself, overcomplicate it. It's really good to know the complicated stuff, but then simplify it so you can execute without thinking too much!
@@JensLarsen There are good materials for specific things, but as far as I am aware, nothing so specific for jazz. If you happen to know something, please let me know. Still I learn a lot with your videos as some things are common between both.
@@cmingus26 Thanks for the tip. Will defnitely check it out. Also I am quite tempted to take the jazz guitar roadmap, but for now I am focusing on mastering my triads on the bass.😓
IF there is a structured path to learn the jazz language, any instrument could be used to realize that, maybe even drums 😂. Or you could look at it like, in that cell with Jens near the beginning, there was plenty of room for other players of various instruments, and if anybody gets out, its got to be through the doorway. Much more with the mind, much less with the instrument. That's my problem: I want to play guitar so much that the music gets in the way 😨
Sometimes i feel like i play better when i haven't practiced for a while, it feels like i'm more free and less stuck in routines. So maybe practicing to much is also a bad habit lol 😁
