Adam Neely brought me here too, I liked your video, I subscribed to you - but I’m not convinced… maybe because I don’t own a Real Book and I don’t play (well I play the drums as best as the next lazy and uncoordinated guy). But I don’t get it - why is it so different from classical? Wouldn’t it be the same for classical, then - don’t read the score, just listen to several different recordings of La Mer by Debussy and you’ll get it… well, maybe it'll come to me, or maybe not, but I liked how you explained your experience. Kudos!
+Júlio Reis I'm not an expert on music history but here's what I think Classical sheet music tends to have much more accurate instructions, and they would have been originally written by the composers themselves which means the only errors would be in the copying process. Classical sheet music will show you almost exactly how it should be played. Also keep in mind the cultural differences too. For classical music, sheet music fufilled the same role as recordings do now. To experience classical music, you either had to go to a concert or get the sheet music and play it yourself (or have someone else play it for you). Regarding jazz, recordings essentially replaced one of the roles that sheet music filled in the past.
Thanks. There's still a lot of room for interpretation in classical... Piano, forte, rallentando and so on may be written in the score but how they're played is not. Tempo is loosely indicated. No two interpretations should be the same. And, why not look at a score for jazz? Or do I have to play it just like Art Blakey did, that one time? I still don't fully get it, but you're making sense. 😊
There's indeed lots of room for interpretation in classical sheet music, I didn't mean to imply there wasn't. In comparison to lead sheets in a real book though, the difference in detail in the sheet music is night and day. Lead sheets in the real book give you chord symbols instead of exact voicings that you would get in traditional sheet music, and you will only get the main melody line with no accompaniment. If you want to really see the difference, look up "classical fake book" on google images and you'll see my point a lot more clearly, especially if you decide to compare it with the original sheet music for any piece you see. Just to clarify as well, learning by ear doesn't mean "copy the musician". It's meant for you to practice transcribing and internalizing the music. Either way, the more probable reason for this difference is likely the cultural one that I mentioned in the previous comment. Before the development of sound recordings, the industry was all about published sheet music sales, instead of record sales. To listen to a piece of music back then, you had to buy the sheet music and play it yourself. Since Jazz started after the advent of sound recording, and due to the improvisational nature of jazz music, sheet music isn't going to be as prevalent, or as useful.
Honestly, when I got to to college the instructors picked tunes that weren't in the real book, and told the band to transcribe a lead sheet in the hour. Not only did we know the tune we felt more confident in soloing over it, and people praised us in concert for sounding "authentic." This was crazy because all of us grew up viewing the real book as biblical scripture.
The Charlie Parker story you're talking about was when he played Honeysuckle Rose in the original key, when the band was playing it in a different key. He later said that "at the time, I didn't know there were different keys or anything like that." -- but what he MEANT was, he didn't know that musicians transposed tunes. He knew there were different keys.
Christopher Gontar thanks for that, Christopher. I shouldn't tell a story unless I'm sure I'm getting it right, but sometimes I'm just kind of improvising as I go. I don't think I said it was too much confidence so maybe people will forgive me. :-) Thanks for straightening me out.
Aimee Nolte When I was in the marine band (a good while after being Ellis Marsalis's student), my marine friend tried to teach me to break free of fakebooks. I have to some degree, but for a long time attempts to transpose on paper brought me back to paper. I'm not doing that on-paper transposition into all 12 keys much anymore, which didn't create a natural transposition skill.
I agree with what Amy is saying about memorizing tunes by ear- they do stick to you better. Passion will drive musicians to memorize. But repertoire is important. I know fantastic musicians who don't know many tunes. The real books ( and there are a hell of a lot more than three of them now) come in very handy in those situations where you don't have a tune memorized and you need to play it on the spot. They are also an invaluable tool for building repertoire and introducing standard tunes to younger musicians. You're not going to hear many standards played on the air today! I get a little irritated when jazz purists condemn the use of real books in the learning process of jazz. There are more great jazz players today than there have ever been- one of the reasons is having all of the standards and tunes at their fingertips. Bottom line- learn tunes with real books AND also learn tunes without real books- both processes will allow you to grow musically.
I completely agree about playing/learning by ear, but fake sheets are a tool just like anything else. I saw Chick Corea (with Brian Blade and Christian McBride) in Ottawa in 2010, he pulled a few fake sheets out of the piano bench then apologized for "not knowing this one" and then did a killer rendition. If you're doing a session/gig/ few songs with a band you may not have time to go learn a particular version. You're going to get your sheet and go. I think it depends on how you choose to utilize them.
Hi Aimee, Just seeing this now, 7 years late! I got to spend a couple of hours with John Clayton when I was in Long Beach. I was playing for my friend Anders Swanson, who was studying with John and preparing for his senior recital. Truly great time with Anders and John! Thanks as always; my students and I love hearing/seeing your videos!
When I was 9 I've started to play the piano and it was difficult to me to read the notes - my piano teacher noticed this and exchanged the sheet- however, I played the song as well as I heard him in my head and he angrily said: "You play just what you hear - you never become a good musician!" Today I am 37, audio engineer and I have my own studio ;-) I love your channel whish my english were better so I could understand every single word. Greets from germany!
You articulated that so very well. Back in college, I got a call for a gig with a trumpet player named Bobby Mitchell. It was a little quartet gig at an Elks club in the little town of Selah, WA, right outside Yakima. Bobby had been on the Basie Band as a soloist and he was known for knowing a lot of songs. Well he started calling things like, Slow Boat To China, Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom Wine, Green Eyes, What A Wonderful World, etc. Guess what, .... those Real books were useless. Luckily I'd met Ray Brown, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, and Monty around that time period and was working towards transforming my playing towards that school of playing. I later became even luckier when I started working with a great bassist in Seattle, George 'Buddy' Catlett who was also a former Basie guy, and played with Louis Armstrong. He and his best friend Floyd Standifer(trumpet, sax, vocalist) were willing to call and let me learn on the bandstand, the old school way. Plus, they knew I was copping ideas from records(as they saying used to go). The best advice Ray(Brown) always said, "Learn the melody first(and the lyrics) because melody dictates the harmony even if it means reducing everything to I - IV- V at its basic core. Besides you can harmonize it any way you want later..." We all should realize it's helpful to read music, but learn to read just well enough not to hurt your playing. In other words, don't be a slave to the written page. Music, especially jazz, should be approached just like spoken language. We learn by emulating the sounds of others to build our vocabulary and syntax in speech. Aimee, thanks for the great work and enthusiasm you share about music(not just jazz).
I Got to meet and see Monty Alexander at a midtown Manhattan restaaurant. Duffy Jackson on drums circa 1992-93 He also played a Flute with piano keys on it. Sitting 5 feet away eating dinner at 10pm. Had reservations
Wow, got here from Adam Neely then saw you speak with Rick Beato. As I sit here in my chair, I agree what you said is right on. As a scrawny 18 year old I took guitar lessons from an old hipped that taught jazz at the local junior college. He would put on a tape and ask, "What do you hear, " or "What's the bass doing?" Until this video I didn't really know that's the best way to learn music. In college I would go home and put on a CD and pick up my guitar and learn a song. Of course life moved on and I wasn't a music major, but it's fun to turn on a song and learn it in a few minutes. All because some hippie put on a Doobie Brothers tape and asked me what I could hear. Thanks for sharing, I feel like we have something in common.
I just found your channel. What a breath of fresh air! From a long time bassist. Strangely enough, got my first Real Book (5th edition) in 1984 from a music shop, under the counter, all hush hush. Surreal experience for a 16yo kid.
thank you so much Aimee! I'm a classical pianist trying to learn jazz. During my childhood I hated sight reading and easily memorized everything, and teachers always reprimanded me for it. I thought to learn jazz I had to become very agile at reading and arranging from the fake book, but I see that it isn't as valuable as figuring out by ear, makes total sense. My inner child is super happy to ditch the fake book
Awesome video, thanks Aimee. I am a recovering Real Book addict, I've been concentrating on ear training and learning tunes by ear for the last 1 - 2 years. I must say at first it was extremely tedious and difficult. I had breakthrough moment when I realized that I know some tunes that I didn't even know that I knew, because I had heard them so many times and I could sing them (melody and chord root progression) that by the time I got to my instrument I was most of the way there already. Some tools I've found helpful: Slow-down software (like Transcribe!), adjusting the EQ to focus on different parts of the music, and good headphones. About your comment about John Clayton - I attended the Port Townsend Jazz Workshop (where he is the director), which was an amazing learning experience. Don't sell yourself short, I could totally see you being a faculty member there!
Aimee, I think the great success of your content and teaching on RU-vid is a product of what you are explaining here. To get to that level, you have to internalize not just the theory but the songs. I've been hoping that I could learn to compose and play by learning theory and scales and exercises. I've watched interviews with Monk, Evans, Oscar Peterson, Elton John, and others and one thing they all did was learn the songs by the masters, and played them until they could do it backwards. Then, they went on to develop their own craft. Ain't no shortcuts in this gig! Thanks so much :)
I didn't know anything about this during my misspent youth, so I read through the whole Real Book, and learned all of the songs. I don't think it hurt me at all. A couple of times I misread the charts, and listening to a recording set me straight. Reading and listening, it's the way to go.
Hi Aimee, I agree with you in this video. I spent a month listening to Lullaby of Birdland everyday by different performers such as of course George Shearing the original composer and also Ella Fitzgerald, Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum. Learning the lyrics also I feel also helps a lot. I still have a long way to go myself. Just relying on the real or fake books is bland, however they provide a useful reference I believe.
wonderful expression of life ,, openness , true to life is the picture i get from watching your vids. Thx. Ami. I play guitar and sing some and your lessons on the piano are beutifull . thank you.@!!!
Recently I borrowed the transcription book of solo Monk recordings and the transcription of Ruby My Dear had 3 wrong chords. I knew it a soon as I played it because I've heard his recording hundreds of times. Listening is more important than reading in many cases.
I understand what you're saying about not looking at the real books anymore but I still refer to them only because I want to understand the harmonic structure of the songs and the melody. I feel that once you understand the harmonic structure and melody in your head, it will be far more easier to improvise because you'll "know where you're going" with the song. Also, the sheet music is great for those times when you want to reharmonize the songs which will improve your transposing and transcribing skills. With Jazz, since there is so much dissonance, sometimes it's hard to figure what chords are being played (inversions, 2nd inversions, 3rd inversions, quartals, etc) so that's when I'll go to the sheet music and say to myself, "Oh, so that's the chords they're using...it makes so much sense now!" I started to read music when I was in High School playing Alto Saxaphone so maybe that's why I'm a little partial to sheet music. But make no mistake about it, Jazz is about playing what you FEEL so use the real books as a blueprint, internalize the harmonic structure AND melody, then put aside the chart and feel free to "go to town" with the songs! Love your channel and love your vibe. Keep swinging' sister! ☮️🙏🏳️🌈🌎🎹
Hi, As a long time musician, my handicap has always been with reading music mostly rhythms. My problem has always been, I have perfect pitch and I can transcribe music in my head, I can tell you what chords are being played no matter what style of music and play the chords on the Piano. But for some unknown reason, If I don’t hear the music or rhythms played first, I’m at a lost. When I took music lessons as a kid, the teacher didn’t know that I learned how to play the music by hearing her play it first, then I would look at the music and play it, and of coarse, not know where I was in the music. A few years later, I got caught, he heard me playing the piano without music. She then played a tune and asked me to play it back. I played the whole song back to her. All I can remember is that I wasn’t going to music class anymore until I went to college to study boring music theory.Without hearing the music first it means nothing to me. If I hear a Person play I can hear other chord ideas in my head. I always admired people that can sit down and read from a Jazz fakebook and know all the concepts without hands on. I consider you amazing to be able to do both. Thanks for the video.
I have seen an old film footage of Art Tatum playing some old Rag stuff and the tempo was quick but his speed and accuracy is on another level that is hard to believe someone could even play so fast. He had poor eyesight and difficulties in life but the piano just brought him all the joy in the world. I don't know what it is that for some people music makes them happy and only music can make them feel that type of joy where as most others just listen and find happiness in other things in life. I think that some people are just wired a little different as they have that burning desire to play the instrument of their choice and nothing else can fill that space in their hearts and minds. Music is a celebration of life, love and happiness:)
Thank you for your thoughts Aimee. I recommend ( and have done for years) to my students that any tune you are going to learn should be practiced in all 12 keys. That will get anyone to memorize a tune and have it stick for years!
I just scrolled down and noticed that. I have also found it very helpful for myself and for students to map out the key changes in more complicated tunes. Anyway's you do a great job and thank you so much for your terrific videos!
Eric Sutz yeah that's great! My friend Rick Beato likes to SAY all the names of the chords as fast as he can to internalize the changes to tunes. His videos are great if you're not already hip to him.
I have to admit Aimee you have given me new insight of what I've always knew when it comes to learning a piece from memory just by listening to it. Sad part about it I hardly ever gave it a try, but that's going to change now that I've watch this video. The video's you put out on youtube have had an impact on improving my piano skills. Thanks a million for all your hard work and your willingness to share your music knowledge.
Awesome advice Aimee. I play guitar and I just put on one of my favourite Jazz Blues players Grant Green. I put on his Album Sunday Mornin and the first track is Freedom March. In no time at all I work out the Chords and the head. Presto. And yes when your ear works it out it sticks. No for the soloing. Thanks a ton for the encouragement. So goooood. Blessings to you
Absolutely agree with this Aimee. I'm a roots guitarist who don't read music. I'm pretty good with chords though and can/could follow basic chord charts. Years ago I got offered to play rhythm guitar in a swing band. I was given the real book charts and told that my first gig was to be a few weeks later - no rehearsal! Not being really into Jazz at the time nearly all the tunes were new to me. I intensely listened to Freddie Green type playing to get the feel etc. Some of the real books charts didn't seem to match up with the recordings I was given, so I just kept replaying the recordings and tried to find my own chords/voicings; other tunes seem easier to read so I didn't listen too much to the recordings beforehand. Even after nearly 3 years of the playing the same setlist I still had to read the charts to some of the tunes - they just wouldn't stick in my head. Guess which tunes I enjoyed playing the most?!
I taught myself guitar at age 12 using "Nick Manoloff's Guitar Chord and Harmony Manual." We didn't have money for sheet music in 1963 so I had to figure out the chords to folk, country, and jazz standards by ear using the radio, a few vinyl albums, and some worn-out 78's. I realize looking back that not having money for sheet music was a blessing.
"I took 'em outta my backpack, for pete sake." Adorable. Great lesson once again. As a fellow music teacher, I just want to say how much I enjoy your videos.
actually it has very little movement if you're voice leading correctly and carrying over the common tones proper. To not try is to fail. open them books and more important. listen to mucho jazz from various artists 24/7.
@@urzathehappy72 If you can read sheet music effectively. point is, not everyone is as good as you, so just telling them "it's easy" isn't good advice.
Cool story! Thanx for sharing! I started playing in a group in 1967 and that is the only way we had to learn songs. When a new song hit the charts we'd run to the record store and grab a copy (45 RPM). We'd usually wear it out picking all the bass and lead parts out of it. Those were the days!
I love classical music too, and I practise using real book, how do I achieve greater heights in jazz, bcos I want to be play alone jazz pianist and be able to perform for an hour or two, before I even think of bringing in other musicians.
You already changed my life in another video I saw a few months ago. You said you first learned to improvize over changes by spending an entire month playing one song until it was ingrained. That inspired me to memorize instead of using sheet music when performing, which I've been doing since - and it's so much more rewarding! Now this is the next level - not relying on sheet music even to learn it! Thanks Aimee.
Amy, for me this is the best and most important of all your videos. I play easily from fake books, so it's tempting to just sit down and play through a bunch of songs. However, you're right on the mark. Playing by ear is the name of the game.
what you said about Spotify is absolutely right. I never really considered it when I started playing jazz and for a while after, then i started getting lessons and my teacher had it. It's such a great resource. recently I spent almost an entire working day listening to every version of 'I remember Clifford' to get the melody in my head and it worked.
I was lucky enough to spend a week studying with John Clayton at the Stanford Jazz Workshop many years ago. He delivered the same crucial message. When I ran into him in more recent times I thanked him profusely. John's a brilliant musician and a very gracious guy.
Can't agree with you more. When I was learning I got so tired of my 3 real books in my back pack that I just made a list of every tune I didn't know at a jam or a gig and went home and learned them. Came back and they'd be playing other tunes so I'd go home and learn them! So many people are using the old real book and the changes are just wrong. I learn tunes from guys like barry harris, oscar, keith jarrett also uses really nice changes. I even learn the words to the tunes these days. And now they have the Ireal book! guys on stage reading off their mobiles. Call me old fashioned but I don't believe it's a positive way forward. So cool you love Monty too, one of the greatest!
All this reminds me of some brilliant advice I got from the late great Bucky Pizzarelli. I brought up the subject of theory, and he said, "Don't worry about theory. Just learn all the standard songs. All the theory you need is in there already."
Great stuff, Aimee. I'm an alto horn player and recently had a skype session with Alex Terrier from NYC .. that experience has thy self wood-shedding my arrrrrrse of ! I love your wry sense of humour- keep up your inspirational work !!
Thank you for that. It confirmed my decision to take my music with me in my head and not my backpack. When I was still a junkie to written music I blew a key audition because the band never used lead sheets and I was lost with out them. Never again.
Thank you for sharing your story. I definitely can relate to your experience of not relying solely on charts. One of the bands that start calling me for gigs has charts but their piano book is so disorganized, it's frustrating and stressful to look for the chart of songs called on the spot. I decided to practice and memorize their repertoire and make it less stressful - it's working!! Last gig we played two one hour sets, I just needed to look at one chart!
When I use the Real Book (or any sheet music). What I play from the page, stays on the page. I almost never memorize it. If I learn it by ear, it's almost automatically memorized for me. I thought it was just me...I can relate, Great story!
I agree 100%, and it's pretty crazy how so many people can go to schools to learn jazz and completely miss this part about playing. I had a teacher who was big on giving me written transcription as an assignment and never really asked me to transcribe anything. Then I had a chance to go to a workshop with Jeff Clayton and he really got me inspired about learning by ear.. so I spent the entire summer learning a whole bunch of Oscar Peterson's solos by ear. When I came back to school, my teacher was not pleased at all. She told me that my phrasing sounded too "old school" and I didn't used ot sound like that. I was really conflicted back then and it took me a long time to realize that my teacher was wrong. Heck, if anything, the fact that my teacher noticed it means that all that learning by ear was working. I eventually parted ways with the teacher, but looking back, I really wished I moved on faster and doubled down on what I was doing. I guess I was lucky enough to have teachers who told me about the importance of learning by ear, but I have met so many people who have graduated from music school and never learned that lesson. I know so many of these types of musicians who tell me that they are working on playing outside or odd meter etc.. at the same time, these people are reading off charts to standards they've been playing for years. If you take the sheet music away from them while reading "All the things you are" or tell them to play rhythm changes in one of the less common keys, they are dead in the water. I have to say, a lot of music schools and education seem to have it's priorities in the wrong places, and it's really nice to hear real, grounded advice like this one.
Charlie said in an interview that he knew Lazy River in F and the first 8 bars of Honeysuckle Rose. When he went to the "famous" jam session with "Papa" Joe Jones (who supposedly threw a cymbal on the floor to kick him off), they were playing Body and Soul long meter and he jumped in with Lazy River. The 12 - 15 hour practicing supposedly happened after that incident when he took a big band gig at a resort outside of Kansas City that summer. The piano player in the band coached him and he transcribed records note for note, including the Count Basie small group recordings with Lester Young playing Shoe Shine Boy. He later quotes Lester's solo on one of his first recording sessions in Kansas City with a trio. On that trio recording it is evident that he pays homage to Lester Young , Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins while at the same time expressing his new found concept. On another note about learning music by ear, the late great guitarist Johnny Smith in a video interview spoke about having the radio as the primary way to learn songs. He had till the end of the tune to memorize it! He said he got so good at it that he could hear any transposition they threw at him and follow the chords to every song that came on. I am sure that many of the great players learned only by the radio in that era.
Nice story. Subscribed! I tried learning a few funk drum licks from a book the other day. It was a fun experiment, but I couldn't truly get the feel and groove of them down 100%. I also had to think really hard to remember them at the end of my session. Luckily the particular book also comes with record recommendations for each category to counteract this effect, but it was certainly different to any time I learned a fill or a beat by ear.
That's so sweet. Thank you for sharing it with us. Oh, and John Clayton is the man. For some reason the duo version of Fly Me to the Moon with him and Diana Krall really sticked with me; I feel like there's some subtle meta-magic about that recording, something very human about it. Kinda the same as with this video I guess. Anyway, that's some real musicians you learnt your lessons from.
Aimee I call this the Garmin effect when I teach medical students. While you and I had to learn how to drive to places, and even though we didn't know the street names, we knew how to get to places. Now with GPS no one "knows" how to get anywhere because they depend on GPS to get there. I've been in towns where I've had to find a place three times in 3 days and if you turned off the GPS on the fourth day mid-drive I'd be lost. So if you're Garmin (dating myself) breaks you're lost. Same thing with the real book. Great video.
Thank you for this video! Many years ago, I heard John Clayton's talk on throwing away the real books. I am not there yet, but I have learned a number of tunes by memory and am going to keep focusing on this. I bet John would love this video.
Thank you, Aimee Nolte, for being a great inspiration. I've been slowly working my way through the many videos you've posted. I decided to post a comment on this one because it really encouraged me. I only have one Real Book. I ran across it the other day in a box in my mother-in-law's basement. It was musty and pretty much ruined. Point is, I never used it much. I put away my Real Book too, not after a life changing talk from a jazz elder statesman, but just on my own. Even when I used the R.B. it was just to remind myself of a melody. I have always enjoyed making my own arrangements and interpretations of songs. So this video was particularly encouraging for me. And it's so true...the songs I work out on my own are easy to recall. I never forget them, plus I can build on and improve my own arrangements, sometimes adding a tasty riff or chord substitution. So, thank you again for all you do for us. You have such a nice and easy way of talking to us. Really makes learning fun!
I did sound for those guys. I never owned a real book. I never knew where to get one. It was one album that changed my whole life. I’ve charted literally thousands of songs and play those that I remember. Play the very greatest songs of all time! This was a great post. Thank you for all your tips!
I'm so glad I found this video (six years later haha). I was about to buy the Real Book, but won't since I don't do gigs or anything. I learnt Piano the classical way, and couldn't seem to memorize the tunes for my life. It would take me so long to learn a song with sheet music, to the point that I would get dis motivated and not finish learning the piece. The few pieces that I did learned all the way with a sheet, I would forget in a week or so after learning them. So I started learning songs with chords charts (no melody included) with the app Chordify. I think I've played around 1000 songs in that app, so many that I started memorizing chord progressions, how each chord sounded, learnt all my minor and major keys, and how to add the melody! After this, I stopped using the app and tried to attempt songs completely by ear with the knowledge I had gained, and man how it easy it was compared to reading sheet music. The best part is that I was finally memorizing tunes without even trying. Knowing how to read sheet music is a great skill- being able to play whatever you want when you sit on a piano without having to rely on a piece of paper is even better.
Thank u Aimee for sharing!! I've that books too, and trying to learn each note...but I believe there's a feeling too, a feeling we have to elaborate the best way, and that we have to feel deep inside and be alle to share...thank u
I started playing the guitar ar 14 (I'm 80) and jazz at 18. There were no books. No jazz guitar teachers in my area (NJ) Had to go to Manhattan for a teacher, so my teacher was my record player. Still play but the old fingers don't work like they used to. I got Real Books when they came out but rarely used them because I already knew most tunes jazz players used. In fact at a jam session, one guy asked me "how come you never use the music? " You are spot on. You're better off learning the tunes from a good recording.
Great idea Aimee, thanks, I'm going to try that! I heard MarkTurner at a sax symposium recently at an auditorium at GMU in Fairfax, VA. It was a very informal lecture with him talking and playing. He took questions and somebody asked about developing repertoire. He said how as musicians, we have to memorize music, "thats what we do, we memorize tunes". He memorizes the bass line, chord structure and melody, but it really stuck with me when he went on to say, "you don't go to a gig and take out your Real Book, that would just be embarrassing and sad..." Your video is a nice follow up to that idea of how to break free from the written page.
I like this thought about moving on from the books. I was never much of a Real/Fake Book person. I have tried them. When I finished studying Music Therapy 20 years ago. I started a brand new life in a new town. I had a prior pro muso lifetime and the college years. That was a lot of leaning. In my new world I was building set lists for my singing group at the community center. It started with the song pages inherited from previous teachers. But they all became problematic for various reasons like small print and online formatting were mixed into the pages. So I developed a standard for lyric pages with the best font for seniors to read. A big change came when I started building my Christmas setlist. The pages that were shared by so called experts were messy and mistake ridden. I had to get the Christmas ones right. SO ultimately with minimal help from those messy ones, I began to build my own song lyric chord charts with accuracy and clarity of vision and musical detail. I had to do it from listening to the recordings. My page managing skills have soared and the songs are fun to play. Hmmm, I should dig up Chestnuts Roasting. Cheers and thanks for the ideas.
3:42 Charlie Parker 10 - 15 h / day when he was a kid. I've logged my hours too. Peeps won't believe if I tell them. Not only the hours, also scales and exercises, some songs.
It's really a great idea to play the melody of a song by ear. But when you see a written chord sequence, it's easier for you to understand it. Especially if you write chords on paper.
Learning this years later, getting back into music after switching careers away from music. I know a song so much more inside and out if I figure out the chords by ear.
How I wish you had been around (and the internet, too) when I was learning. What you discuss is how I eventually learned what I learned so that I could play Ragtime on the guitar. I really wanted to make the jump to Jazz, but there was no way in. I wasn't a good enough player by ear to transfer except on tunes like So What which is modal and sufficiently related to folk music and blues to be learned. When the number of changes passed 6 in a song, I just got lost. Thanks so much for all of your lessons. Absollutely wonderful.
I agree, been playing/practicing piano for 20yrs. I never memorized a piece nor can I sit down and play anything without my sheet music. Its a real crutch. But i'm happy when I do have a score in front of me.
I have been given the same advice in clinics, and I mostly agree. I think that there is one key concept which could be missed from this advice though - that is, you have to put your real books *away*. That implies that you have real books and have been using them. I think that they can be a valuable tool as well, particularly for learning how to read music. There are a lot of musicians who cannot read music, which to me, is like moving to a foreign country and never learning the language. Another way to think of it is that in order to break the rules, you have to learn the rules first. Thanks for sharing your story.
Love your stuff on spotify. I'm a rock and roll musician, my dad taught me in the style of jazz and I'm so glad he got me started learning by ear as a kid!
Thank you so much for your opinion and for this video. It’s so important for understanding music by hearing. For me it’s very hard to understand the harmonical structure of a tune and what a musician play in a solo. I think it‘s easier for a beginner to listen to the records from Fats Waller‘s (from the 1930’-40’) time to understand jazz.
Just a question on playing along - if you learn voicings for chords, do you analyse them, and do you ever write down the chords? Or do you keep the chords in your mind? Do you think of functions like II V I or is it purely chords (which would make it hard to transpose them). Paper is definitely the worst trap for developing an understanding and memory.
This one time, in seventh grade, I wrote answers to a test on my sleeve and it turned out, the process of writing it on my sleeve, burned the answer into my mind and I didn't need to take a look at my sleeve. However, the teacher found out because the burn-out next to me was trying to look at my sleeve? wtf. I ended up being asked to leave school, but went on to a career in hospitality management, so I'm doing ok! and I figured out how to play "Uptown Funk" by "Bruno Mars" with out looking at the sheet music! so thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Definitely. I can probably remember to play every song I figured out by listening, but when I google "_______ chords," I forget how to play that song a few hours later. I never really put that together before. Thanks :)
