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Larry Carlton Sleepwalk Jazz Music CD Review

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 08:40:08 +0000

Sleepwalk is the latest release from Jazz Sensation Larry Carlton, and is another winner from this talented musician.

It’s a rare day indeed that I get a CD from an artist that I can truthfully say does not have a bad track in the bunch. I’m more than happy to announce that’s exactly what I must say about this one. There simply isn’t a bad one in the bunch. No fillers here at all, with each song standing tall on it’s own.

Sleepwalk is a pleasantly varied, mix of 8 tracks that are very well written songs by this clearly outstanding artist. With many of the songs displaying a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Clearly drawing from what I can only imagine are him own real life experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions like love, heartbreak, pain, failed relationships and unattainable romance. They’re all here.

Listen to this CD and I believe you’ll find there’s not much to dis-like about it. The songs are inspired, the production is simply outstanding, and Larry Carlton is clearly in top form. So much so that if you’re even mildly into Jazz music you’ll enjoy this album.

While this entire album is outstanding the truly standout tunes are track 3 – Song For Kate, track 4 – Frenchman’s Flat, and track 8 – You Gotta Get It While You Can.

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 7 – 10:00 P.M.. This is a great track!

Sleepwalk Release Notes:

Larry Carlton originally released Sleepwalk on October 25, 1990 on the MCA Jazz label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Last Nite

2. Blues Bird

3. Song For Katie

4. Frenchman’s Flat

5. Sleepwalk

6. Upper Kern

7. 10:00 P. M.

8. You Gotta Get It While You Can

By: Clyde Lee Dennis

All About Learning to Play Jazz Guitar

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

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

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

Improvising a Song on your Jazz Guitar

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

1) Know the genre you want to learn for improvisation.

One of the best ways to find out the genre that appeals to you is by listening to a few styles (i.e. jazz, blues, rock, folk, country, pop, etc.). The ones that stick in your mind are the ones to start off with. Like with anything you learn, learning becomes easier when you’re interested in it. As you listen to the various styles, one thing to keep in mind is that the blues genre relates to most all the other genres. For that reason, if you learn to improvise in the blues genre, it will ultimately end up helping you improvise across all the genres.

2) Build up a foundation of jazz guitar licks and riffs.

Successful players have built up a memorized library of licks and riffs. During their jazz guitar lessons, they have absorbed and practiced these licks from a variety of sources so that when it comes time to perform solo or lend an improvisation, they are ready to practice and apply what they have learned. Improvisation becomes easy because they know how to blend tunes on their gypsy jazz guitar.

3) Knowing the scales is the foundation for improvisation.

No jazz guitar player can improvise without knowing their instrument and how to craft the melodies together. When learning to play jazz guitar, you can’t ignore this important step. You don’t have to learn all the scales. In fact learning just a few scales like the major scale and the blues scale will be sufficient for a lot of improvs and solos. For example if you can see a lick in and filter it through the major scale, you’ll have mastered what makes a jazz guitar player a jazz guitar player and your audience will appreciate your talent and effort!

4) Transcribing tunes are a great source for improvisations.

Transcribing involves learning a tune by ear and then working it out in different chords if you choose. Transcribing really helps any serious player and should be a regular part of their solo practice. It involves trial and error practice where you’ll discover what works for you and what doesn’t work.

5) The best part is hearing yourself play.

Inspire yourself during your improvisation by recording yourself (you might also consider hooking up jazz guitar amps). When you listen to the recording, you’ll be able to hear even better the areas that need work. At the same time, you’ll also hear the areas that work very well and demonstrate the progress you’ve made as a jazz guitar player.

Improvisations and solos are like a string of musical ideas that you have gathered along the way through your learning career. You’ll get these “musical ideas” by learning and mastering the scales, learning to key licks and riffs and by transcribing tunes that you enjoy. You’ll soon see your creativity and skills take off!

By: Logan Young

How To Learn Simple Jazz Improvisation

admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:40:27 +0000

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