All About Learning to Play Jazz Guitar

On 12.28.09, In Jazz Blog, By admin

Let’s get rid of one myth right here! One common myth floating around is that jazz music is complicated. Some people have the idea that it can only be learned by unraveling the deep mysteries of the inner being – like it’s some sort of mystical experience that requires years of learning theories, scales and chords. That thought alone is overwhelming and as a result, we need to refocus our attention to one thing – keeping it simple.

If you seriously want to become a better jazz guitar player, then keeping it simple is all you need to get where you want to go. Start with the basics. You already know that you’ll need some knowledge of jazz guitar scales and chords. You’ll also need a mentor or a teacher who can help you develop your talent and skill and lastly, you’ll need to begin developing confidence in your playing ability (this means practicing what you’ve learned). For the new player, these basic activities will help you progress in your learning and soon, you’ll be looking for the intermediate and advanced teachings in jazz guitar!

The first step to learning how to play jazz guitar is to invest in some jazz guitar lessons. In the basic type of lesson, you should be learning the different scales and chords from a teacher who isn’t trying to impress you with his or her blinding knowledge and ego. Instead, find a teacher who keeps it simple so that you can grow as a student.

Know that you have to invest some time into your playing and practice! One of the players I met used to avidly videotape his playing the gypsy jazz guitar so that he could improve his playing technique. Another woman I met used to listen to a melody over and over again until she had it solidly in her mind. As she listened to the melody, she attempted to memorize it and recreate it on her guitar. In fact, she’s memorized a lot of tunes that way. A few years ago, I knew of a student who used to go over the lesson he just learned for hours, and I literally mean hours, until he knew it inside and out. I think he was just looking for an excuse to play, though, because even after he knew the lesson, he didn’t quit.

Before you get out there and start buying your jazz guitar amps and other gear, consider if you’ll have the time to do the basic things you need to do to learn all about playing jazz guitar. Set your learning and practice habit up for success by keeping it simple and you will reap the results of your investment!



By: Logan Young

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Jazz Piano

On 10.28.09, In Jazz Blog, By admin

Jazz piano is one of the most vibrant, energetic, specialized types of music. Famous jazz artists you may want to listen to are Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarret, Bill Evans, to name but a few. To learn jazz piano you need to take some time to listen to jazz CD’s and maybe watch DVD’s as well. To learn jazz piano, one needs to be very patient and dedicated to practicing the genre.

Jazz piano is characterized by a lot of improvisation. A jazz musician can be given a fake music sheet or chord chart and he can improvise on the spot over those chord progressions. It is recommended that a jazz musician know or have standard songs in their repertoire. Standard songs include songs like “Willow Weep for Me,” “Summertime,” and “Georgia on My Mind” to name but a few. Standard songs are songs that have been covered by many recording artists in the past, usually every year. For example one may consider the gospel song “Amazing Grace” a standard gospel song because a lot of artists have covered the song throughout the years.

Knowledge of scales and chords are essential tools needed to be a good jazz musician, let alone the technique needed to play this genre. As a jazz musician you will need to practice different types of scales, chords, arpeggios, staccato playing, legato playing, playing chords on the left hand while playing scales in the right hand at the same time.

To learn jazz you need to start with the basics: minor and major scales and minor and major chords. Once you master these then you can go forth to learning advanced chords(jazz chords) and scales. These chords include diminished, dominant, major nine, tritone chords, etc. Advanced scales will entail learning lydian, diminished, chromatic, melodic minor scales, for example.

You must remember that when it comes to playing the piano, it is not how you play but how you play is very essential as well. This is the reason why you need technique: how hard or soft do you play the notes, how you sit at the piano, breathing, how you position your hands and fingers on the piano, playing chords and scales, etc.

You will definitely need resources to play the piano, someone to hold you by the hand. The key to mastering jazz piano is to learn (get as much information as possible), patience and practice!practice!practice!

By: Jay Mtimkulu

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Jazz Guitar Tips and Tricks – Learning Jazz Guitar Playing

On 10.20.09, In Jazz Blog, By admin

Jazz is more complicated than any other music genres as far as playing guitar is concerned. But there are a lot of jazz guitar tips and tricks that you can use to make it easier for you and to help you become a better jazz player and a well-rounded guitarist.

At the top of the list of the important jazz guitar tips is knowing your scales and modes. Internalizing jazz guitar scales is considered to be one of the most challenging part of learning to play jazz because of the many scales to be learned and mastered. These scales provide the basis for the improvisational sound of jazz music.         

When it comes to modes, it becomes confusing because many guitar players call modes as scales. Technically, a mode is a scale but modes are used by many musicians to open doors to new sounds. Jazz players rely on the major and minor modes in setting the tone of their music. They use these to get the great flavors of music out of the scales aside from just using the full neck of their jazz guitars.

Other important jazz guitar tips include eliminating the feedback produced by the guitar, using a software to practice improvisation, and using a metronome in your practice to achieve good timing.

In learning to play jazz guitar, you should also learn and memorize the lyrics to help you recall the music better. Recording yourself will also give you a clear picture of how does your guitar playing sound.

And of course, you cannot play jazz guitar better if your guitar itself is not in a good condition. Before starting to play, check first if it needs some tweaking. You will know if it needs a tune-up when it begins to feel tiring to play.

The basic adjustments you need to do are in the truss rod, the bridge, height of the pickups and intonation. To ensure that the strings are on the proper height, you have to regulate the nut. Examine also the high and low frets and level them as needed.

In adjusting the intonation, do it in small increments and consider your ear’s accuracy in deciding the pitch between two notes. For more accurate results, use a highly accurate tuner with analog-style needle display.

Other helpful jazz guitar tips that will bring your performance to the highest level are ensuring the proper location of your guitar and your hands. The strap of your guitar should lift the instrument up to about midway on your chest. It will feel tighter but will give your left hand more mobility. Your right hand should not also exert much effort in picking out the notes.

To sum it up, you should be familiar with the important components of learning jazz guitar which include effective scale usage, harmonization, rhythm, melody and jazz chord improvisation.

Also, learning jazz guitar requires an astonishing skill that you can’t develop by just relying on your music sheets or music teachers alone, so keep in mind to practice and persevere.

By: Carolyn Anderson

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