Jazz Blog » Chord Changes

The Evolution of Jazz

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:07:55 +0000

Jazz is an American form of music that has come from an interesting background and evolved into a worldwide genre. It roots are in blues and other African-American styles of music combined with the classical European musical system, and it largely started in the southern United States. While the term jazz may refer to many different things in the beginning it eventually evolved into a style comprised of improvisation, syncopation, swing, and blue notes. This base of jazz has constantly evolved over time to where we find it today.

Jazz improvisation originally started out as slight modifications and embellishments to the melodies of standard tunes. This changed into a harmonically based improvisation style where the soloist uses notes based on the harmony of the tune to construct a sometimes completely new solo line. With this development, jazz improvisation started on a course towards some of the most technically proficient and impressive improvisation of all time in the bebop era, characterized by lightning fast runs of notes over highly complex and frequent chord changes. Once this style had reached its zenith, the jazz world reacted by moving in a new direction; minimal chord changes and slower tempos of the modal jazz era, started by Miles Davis.

From here, jazz has evolved more in instrumentation and overall style rather than in improvisational philosophy. Miles Davis also helped bring about new forms of fusion and experimental jazz. In the 70s and 80s, bands got started mixing jazz with the funk and popular music of the time. All of these developments have spread jazz to new listeners and new places.

Today you find too many different types of jazz to mention. There are neo-traditionalists, modern players who use traditional arrangement but play with new harmonic and structural elements, a huge number of different types of fusion, and finally, the widespread addition of electronic music elements to jazz. Electronic jazz represents a new direction and ability for jazz to appeal to different music lovers and increase the ability to jazz musicians to arrange and compose their music. A new era of jazz should be provided by the addition of electronic music and modern recording technology. Look for this new style of electronic jazz to have an impact soon.

There are already many jazz musicians who have redefined themselves with electronic jazz, which enables them to make use of more types of sounds in their recordings and enables them to craft more precise compositions.

By: Randal Stevens

Jazz Piano and Style

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The piano or keyboard is an instrument that can be played in a solo performance or it can be part of a band. Jazz bands make heavy use of pianos since jazz began. The reason for this is that pianos along with guitars are some of the few instruments in a jazz band that can play chords in addition to a melody or counter melody.

In the past, a jazz pianists main role was to keep tempo with a combination of repetitive chords, but in recent years this has changed. Jazz pianists now days are able to select from a multitude of styles and techniques that they will use to accompany a band or singer. Short and sustained chordal or melodic fragments are used.

Experienced jazz pianists are not only great at sight-reading, but can also improvise chord symbols and adapt to the various playing styles of jazz bands. A jazz pianist must balance this improvisation and interpretation with the music style of the band.

The extended range that the piano provides also helps a jazz pianist with creating unique sounds that other instruments in the jazz band can not create.

Jazz pianists have 3 goals that they aim to achieve while they are playing. The first is to provide a clear rhythm and swing. The second is to play a melody or improvised solo with the right hand. Jazz pianists are also expected to help guide the band into chord changes with the help of notes leading up to the chord change.

It is quite a challenge for pianists to meet these 3 demands at the same time. Most jazz pianists are quite skilled in this art and are able to maintain this while planning unique improvisations.

If the intend to be great at playing the piano in a jazz band, you need to master these styles and techniques.

By: Mary Nicole Hicks

Hearing the Song in Jazz Guitar – Memorizing Tunes

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If you’re serious about learning to play jazz guitar, you will need to memorize a few standard tunes. Many people already know this, and the first place they head to is to a fakebook. They’ll try to learn some tunes that way and wonder why their playing ends up being rigid.

We don’t want to say that a fakebook isn’t a great tool, but there are other ways to learn that we would like you, as the jazz guitar player, to open yourself to. For example, you can always learn some of your favorite tunes by listening to them over and over and then learning to play them during your jazz guitar lessons or practice time.

- Hear the song. One way to learn a tune for your gypsy jazz guitar is to listen to a tune over and over. Keep listening to it until it becomes so embedded in your mind and heart that you’ve memorized the tune even when it isn’t playing on a CD. Doing this will help you replay the song and harmonize it in different chords and transitions.

- Once you’ve got the tune memorized, find the tune on your fretboard. If it helps, you might also consider hooking up jazz guitar amps to help you hear and give it a more “real play” feel to your practice. Sing the tune and try to figure out the notes going back and forth until you’ve learned the tune. Don’t be concerned about playing it in the right key, just be concerned with learning the play the tune. Remember to add in learning the chord changes and you might also want to add in your own substitutions for the tune.

As you’re learning to play jazz guitar this way, you’re also learning to hear the song and replay it on your jazz guitar. If you stick to the music sheets, you might find that you’ll have a harder time feeling the music and putting some “soul” into it.

While your play might be technically correct, it will still lack the essence of the song. You decided to become a jazz guitar player because you somehow connected with the music, not because you wanted to be a technically great player.

If you learn how to hear a song and then recreate it, you’ll be taking yourself through an important learning activity that sets the foundation for your improvisations and solos down the line. You see, you’ll need to learn how to hear the music naturally before you begin doing improvisations.

Imagine how you’d feel if you were able to learn a new tune this way. You’d feel pretty motivated to stick with your jazz guitar learning and you might even be inspired to delve deeper into the art of playing jazz guitar.

By: Logan Young

Practice Jazz Using Space Age Online Tools

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

It is not unusual for young men and women who are full of God given talent and music enthusiasm to want to dive right in and begin sitting in with musicians who have been around for many years and know how to capture an audience with their playing. To the young “want-to-bees” they just can’t wait for their chance to show what they can do. But for many of these young musicians, their first sit-in with experienced musicians did not yield a happy ending.

One of the problems young musicians have with trying to break into the jazz scene, accord to many seasoned jazz musicians, is they don’t know the tunes. It just stands to reason, “How can young musicians play with seasoned jazz musicians if they don’t know the tunes?” The only way for up and coming musicians to learn and memorize a large number of jazz tunes are through hard work and many hours of practice. Practice, practice, and more practice is the key to becoming an exceptional jazz musician who will eventually be able to play with the best, anywhere at anytime. Getting to that point is not an impossible feat, but it takes a level head and strong determination to achieve. But first, above all you must learn the correct changes for every song you play. This is key!!

In the old days, there was no internet, nor sophisticate music software applications, nor notation software that could bring the music to you in a laid out form. Musicians of old had to spend the time necessary to figure out chord changes, melodic patterns and solo arrangements. Many musicians put an album on the turntable and turned the speed back in order to “cop” the runs and solo changes played by Oscar Peterson and many other great jazz pioneers.

Today it’s a different story. If you want to learn the tunes- which basically mean the jazz Standards- and play them well, there are a number of internet based sites available to get you there. An internet site that is very visual and jazz education based is the site sponsored by Doug McKenzie at http://www.bushgrafts.com/jazz/home.htm. Doug McKenzie also has great educational videos on YouTube for jazz pianists. It’s a great online tool for all jazz instrumentalists.

A great new online jazz practice tool is provided at www.studiobypass.com. StudioBypass allows you to select from over 400 jazz and Latin tunes, listen to and manipulate the song of your choice, edit the final output, then download it onto your computer for future practice sessions. It is a fantastic practice tool for new up-and-coming jazz musicians, and also for seasoned jazz professionals. It’s a new day for jazz musicians, and space age tools are available to help you to become better-than-average jazz musicians.

By: Akhila Choudhary

Jazz Piano and Style

admin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:19:27 +0000

Jazz Guitar Chords Online

admin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:38:50 +0000

Learning jazz chords online can be confusing and frustrating to
say the least. Just when the budding jazz guitarist thinks
they’ve stumbled onto something along comes another version of
the same song with a completely different set of chords.

For our present discussion, we’ll limit our observations and
suggestions to learning jazz chords online, however a quick
browse through any well stocked sheet music store will reveal the
same issues that any aspiring jazz guitarist must learn to
overcome.

The choice of chords the guitarists selects has a significant
effect on the soloist’s choice of notes in their solos and
presentation of the melody.

There’s an endless list of possible chords, chord inversions,
chord substitutions etc. that can totally blind side the newbie
jazz player. In fact, the task is often so overwhelming that the
avalanche of information swamps the guitarist with an enormous
amount of stuff they do not have to learn.

So,before trotting off to another jazz guitar website in search
of the lost chord, here’s a few things to think about to pin your
ear on straight!

Focus your jazz studies on specific objectives: a great idea is
to learn the chord changes to “jazz standards”.

Jazz standards are tunes that working musicians are likely to
encounter at any time. Too often, guitarists with a rock or
country background wishing to move into jazz don’t know the tunes
that are the common currency of players in all styles of jazz.

Here’s a sample list of 20 jazz standards:

1. Autumn Leaves

2. All The Things You are

3. All Of Me

4. Ain’t Misbehavin’

5. C Jam Blues

6. I Got Rhythm

7. Have You Met Miss Jones

8. Out Of Nowhere

9. I Cover The Waterfront

10.Satin Doll

11.Misty

12.Summertime

13.St.Louis Blues

14.Watch What Happens

15.Lullaby Of Birdland

16.Sweet Georgia Brown

17.Georgis

18.Take The ‘A’ Train

19.Stormy Weather

20.There Will Never Be Another You

There are many books that show how to use chord substitutions,
but if the basic chord changes are not known, substitutions and
embellishments often confuse the improviser and the listener.

When the musician is learning jazz guitar chords online, it’s
essential to learn the basic set of chords for the jazz
standards.

Chord substitutions to basic chords are usually determined by the
melody notes and the style of music being played.

The point is that guitar players can become totally absorbed in
jazz chord manuals that teach chord substitution etc., without
firstly learning the basic set of chords.

Keep in mind that while the melody of a jazz tune is usually
presented in an accurate manner in standard sheet music, the
harmonic changes are rarely suitable for a jazz performance.

Once the guitarist learns the skills of being able to uncover the
basic chord changes to jazz standards, they can then re harmonize
the harmonic background many different ways to reflect the way
they wish to present a particular piece of music.

Understanding how to strip back the chords also helps the
guitarist see many similarities in the small number of chord
templates that thousands of jazz tunes are composed over, which
helps us remember tunes.

I repeat, The essential skill to learn is to be able to ’see’
(de-code), and ‘hear’ the basic set of chords.

The purpose of learning the basic set of chords when you are
learning jazz chords online is to help the jazz player learn the
basic changes and allow the player to add embellishments and
substitutions on a solid framework.

By: Mike P Hayes