One of the reasons that people devote their time to learning the guitar is that they love the idea of making up their own songs and music. Simply by sitting down at an inspired moment, a guitarist might come up with a great song in only one session. Some guitar styles differ greatly from another, but it is by learning the jazz guitar that many musicians have experienced the liberty it brings. The deviations in styles that somehow hold to one rhythm and work together in the name of improvisation are why jazz musicians are said to be filled with “soul”.
When training your ear or your mind to learn how the jazz guitar fits into an entire ensemble of musicians, it is important to first know how jazz music works, at the root level. Much like an athlete prepares for a race, a jazz musician also prepares for a performance. The jazz musician needs to warm up, have an introduction, and be allowed to have some time to get used to the atmosphere of a place and an audience. Some musicians, however, especially those who have played a long time together will jump right into a tune without warming up, giving listeners an awakening into what’s about to take place.
A jazz guitarist in a band may or may not lead the group through a melody. Many jazz performances may not have a singer, but instead a trumpet, or some other horn instrument will take this lead. If a horn isn’t present in the ensemble, then the guitar or piano might work to lead a session. Since jazz music is made up of a band, each person in the band has a certain role to fill before they begin their improvisational role. The jazz guitar tends to hold the players together within a certain chord so that other band members can stick to what’s being played. A jazz guitarist in this role, will not necessarily strum a rhythm such as in other forms of music, but will instead move rhythmically with the rest of the players involved.
In the game of jazz music, improvisation is key. If you know how to play another instrument, learning the jazz guitar might be a little easier. And, if you love improvising on the piano, for example, then you might love it on the guitar. “Improv” as it is sometimes referred to, is one way music can be highly addictive and liberating. When that liberation happens with a group who is playing together, the soul and reaction from the audience involved can be magical. Overall, learning to play the jazz guitar will be rewarding on many levels. Learning to play the necessary chords and knowing when and how to strum to the rhythm of others in the group takes time and practice. Give yourself plenty of time and dedicate yourself to listening to and learning how jazz music works and you’ll be on your way to playing along with a jazz group in no time.
By: Rich Matthews
If you’ve always wanted to improvise, but don’t know how, here’s a simple way to get started. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t improvise on the piano or that it takes talent to do it. Improvisation is a skill and like any skill, it can be acquired through practice. It involves risk, but the rewards are very enjoyable.
1) Start with a very simple tune. Memorize the melody. For the purpose of this article, we’ll choose “Happy Birthday”.
2) Play it as written – no changes… yet.
3) Now play the first line again. This time try to alter the pitch and rhythm. For example, if we’re playing it in the key of F, the notes of the first phrase as written are: C C D C F E, two eighth notes followed by three quarter notes, then a half note, alter it like this: C D C B C D C F E, four sixteenth notes followed by five quarter notes.
4) Use the same patter for the next phrase: alter C C D C G F for C D C B C D C G F.
And so on and so forth for the rest of the song. What you’re trying to do is adding the neighboring notes and alter the rhythm of the original melody line. Remember in jazz improvisation there’s no one way to go about it. This is a very simple way for you to get started. Experiment with other tunes. Use your ear to dictate what notes to use. Soon enough you’ll find other ways to improvise.
Be relaxed and have fun. Practice slowly at first. Slow down the tempo, if you’re not used to sixteenth notes. Try only the right hand first. When you’re comfortable with it, add your favorite left hand chord voicings to make it sound even better.
By: Alex Nguyen
Learning jazz guitar can be intimidating and overwhelming for a beginning student. Unlike styles like rock, blues, and classical, jazz guitar demands that a musician master a wide variety of skills, including jazz guitar scales.
If you are absolutely fresh on jazz guitar, the first thing you’ve got to wrap your fingers around is the major scale and its modes. It’s the reference against which all other scales are defined. Learn them in position as well as up and down single strings. It’s also cool to practice them in one, two, and three octaves.
Once you’ve got those under your fingers and in your ears, it’s time to start learning the melodic minor scale on guitar. The difference between a melodic minor scale and a major scale is only one note, the flat third. The melodic minor scale also has some really cool sounding modes, like lydian dominant which works over a 7#11 chord.
It’s also important to learn your pentatonic scales. Most guitarists coming from a rock, blues, or country background are already familiar with the minor and major pentatonic scales, and if you aren’t you have to check them out. The blues scale is also useful.
A common trap that students of jazz guitar fall into is only practicing scales up and down. Of course, it’s important and is the first step to mastering jazz guitar scales. But if you’re at a point where it’s comfortable to play ascending and descending scales and you feel comfortable with the notes, the next step is to start practicing intervals and sequences. Also, try to vary the rhythm in your scale practice.
Learning jazz guitar scales is an essential part of mastering jazz guitar.
By: Scott Anderson