Practicing jazz can be so frustrating at times

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guitarplayer33_1999

almost 7 years ago

To many dam things to work, I have an Index card that looks like this.
Line of the week
Jazz blues book
Tunes
Melodic Minor scale
Comping
Arpeggios
5 Position study
Improv practice
Chord movements
Continuous 8th notes
Picking technique
and a few more things I'm working on like jazz blues etudes
Ken
Information overload

Barry Greene Mod

almost 7 years ago

Nowhere on your list is playing with people. No matter where you are with the above items, playing with people should take up half of your time spent with the guitar.

3 Likes

guitarplayer33_1999

almost 7 years ago

I currently have a Bass player I jam with, but that's just once a week. I guess need to go to some of these jazz jam sessions

Kurt in Austin

almost 7 years ago

That list seems really ambitious to me, but it depends on how many hours a day you're practicing and how many of those topics you're hitting per practice session. It's interesting though. Different people learn different ways. For some short intervals on many topics is better than just picking a couple of things to work on a week. Then again, some people lose focus when hitting the same topic for extended periods of time.

I hit a lot of those things you mention above, but do it all within the context of tunes. I also play with a couple of cats that I'm hoping will inspire me to improve. The only problem is that they are cats :) (see what I did there??)

guitarplayer33_1999

almost 7 years ago

Sometimes i have 2 hours which is nothing, I'm working on 1 fairly intense Jazz blues etude that will take a year to fully understand and internalize. I visually hit that for an hour straight. Some days i can do 3 hours On several topics...some days only an hour. When I'm off from work I can do about 4 hours

Kurt in Austin

almost 7 years ago

You are getting some good time in. If you are focused in your sessions, you will reap the rewards.

guitarplayer33_1999

almost 7 years ago

Decided to use tunes to to work on all topics

guitarplayer33_1999

almost 7 years ago

It definatley makes me crazy at times

Barry Greene Mod

almost 7 years ago

Just play music. Make mistakes, have a beer, just enjoy the moments when things go right!

6 Likes

Kurt in Austin

almost 7 years ago

I'm good at #2 and even better at #3 :)

1 Like

guitarplayer33_1999

almost 7 years ago

I wonder how professional Jazz musicians go about memorizing and internalizing new music. Do they work on just 2 measures at time until its ingrained? Or maybe some other way...I guess everyone is different as well

Barry Greene Mod

almost 7 years ago

Again it comes down to ears. You listen to the tune over and over again until you have it memorized. Playing it on the guitar is a completely different thing. Just as you’ll never forget popular songs you’ve heard through your lifetime. The hard part is getting to know your instrument well enough that you can play what you hear. Sometimes I get very difficult music to learn And in those situations I do have to take my time learning phrase by phrase. But in the case of standard tunes that have very singable melodies, it’s all about using your ear.

2 Likes

Kurt in Austin

almost 7 years ago

What Barry said. You should be able to listen to a standard (one that you've never heard) and be able to hear the changes. Minor ii-V, Major ii-V, major>minor, turnarounds, etc.

I always seem to put in in a context of rock/blues which is where I came from. I know what a I-IV-V sounds like and I can hear it anywhere anytime.

As far as single lines, you can try an ear training CD (Aebersold has a pretty good one), but honestly you just need to be able to hear intervals. A perfect 4th = Here Comes The Bride, Minor 2nd = Jaws or tricks like that work for some. If you work at that you can improve your relative pitch and actually work out a song in your head without your instrument. Many instructors promote the value of practicing without your instrument. Ear training can be done anywhere .... listen to the birds, commercials, anything really.

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