Jazz Lesson Sources

[Bare Bones]

Background: Intermediate player, mostly rock/folk/blues, on and off for 20 years

 

I've always been interested in jazz, and played trombone in jazz bands in high school and college. Lately, I've felt the itch to start playing some jazz on my guitar, learning standards as well as the basics and beyond of becoming a competent jazz player.

 

Does anyone know some good starting points - whether they be books or websites? I really don't want to take lessons at this point (which I've done a couple times in my life), although I may do it some point.

[jeremy_green]

Jimmy Bruno institute. I have heard great things and the price is very reasonable.

Plus Jimmy has had a rough go and could use the support. (jimmybruno.com)

 

Martin Taylor has one as well if you want a more finger-style (Joe Pass type) approach.

[JonnyPac]

Mike Dodge and meganutt7 are always here at LL; and so am I for that matter. Lot of good info to be shared. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I've been teaching and working on jazz for the last ten+ years. Best wishes... this stuff's always fun to discuss.

 

(I also post at jazzguitar.be forums - it's got a lot of good topics rolling on.)

 

[Bare Bones]

Jimmy Bruno institute. I have heard great things and the price is very reasonable. Plus Jimmy has had a rough go and could use the support. (jimmybruno.com)

 

 

Thanks, this looks really good and is a relatively inexpensive investment.

[3shiftgtr]

also don't forget our pal meganutt7.....

[Espresso]

 

Jimmy Bruno institute. I have heard great things and the price is very reasonable. Plus Jimmy has had a rough go and could use the support. (jimmybruno.com) Martin Taylor has one as well if you want a more finger-style (Joe Pass type) approach.

 

 

I was a member in Jimmy's old website and I've been a member of his new institute since day 1. I'm really glad I found out about him. He has a straightforward step-by-step approach. And it's a real joy to watch him play.

 

There are other similar online institutes which I don't have any personal experience with: Andreas Oberg's, Mark Elf's and Martin Taylor who as Jeremy said, teaches finger-style solo guitar.

[BydoEmpire]

I'm in almost the same boat. I always liked jazz to some extent, but it wasn't until recently that I finally sat down at started learning out to play it. I'm still a total jazz noob, so for what it's worth here's what I started doing:

 

1) I learned to sight read. This opened up the Real Book (as well as other transcriptions) and made all those melodies accessible. Of course, it'd also be really useful to start learning these tunes by ear, but being able to read the music is getting the style in my ear pretty quickly so that I can pick things out by ear. I hear there's a version of the Real Book you can buy w/ backing tracks for all the songs. I don't own it, but it's probably worth googling for.

2) I just went through the book and learning standards that caught my eye/ear. Pick out songs you like or might have heard of, given them a listen on Youtube, and build up your ear, chops and repertoire. As a related note, it wasn't helpful for me to try to tackle difficult songs at first, no matter how cool they were. My ear wasn't ready. Autumn Leaves, Blue Bossa, Take the A Train, Tune Up - these types of songs gave me some basic building blocks and gave me demonstrable progress so I enjoyed what I was doing.

3) I simply started listening to a lot more jazz & fusion.

4) Ted Green's "Chord Chemistry" is a great book, chock full of useful nuggets. Sounds weird, but I also use wikipedia as a reference for things like "what is the Coltrane Substitution all about?"

[Bare Bones]

I'm in almost the same boat. I always liked jazz to some extent, but it wasn't until recently that I finally sat down at started learning out to play it. I'm still a total jazz noob, so for what it's worth here's what I started doing: 1) I learned to sight read. This opened up the Real Book (as well as other transcriptions) and made all those melodies accessible. Of course, it'd also be really useful to start learning these tunes by ear, but being able to read the music is getting the style in my ear pretty quickly so that I can pick things out by ear. I hear there's a version of the Real Book you can buy w/ backing tracks for all the songs. I don't own it, but it's probably worth googling for. 2) I just went through the book and learning standards that caught my eye/ear. Pick out songs you like or might have heard of, given them a listen on Youtube, and build up your ear, chops and repertoire. As a related note, it wasn't helpful for me to try to tackle difficult songs at first, no matter how cool they were. My ear wasn't ready. Autumn Leaves, Blue Bossa, Take the A Train, Tune Up - these types of songs gave me some basic building blocks and gave me demonstrable progress so I enjoyed what I was doing. 3) I simply started listening to a lot more jazz & fusion. 4) Ted Green's "Chord Chemistry" is a great book, chock full of useful nuggets. Sounds weird, but I also use wikipedia as a reference for things like "what is the Coltrane Substitution all about?"

 

 

Good stuff, thanks. I learned to sight read back when I first took guitar lessons, but it's something I definitely need to revisit. I take it focusing on chords is really a good first step (i.e. learning all the different types of jazz-focused chords and inversions as opposed to playing melodies/improvising)?

 

I have also started listening to jazz more than I have in the past, although a lot of it doesn't contain guitar.

[gennation]

I have a number of Jazz lesson/tutorials online you can use.

These will get you through a lot of what you might call classic jazz (I would read them in this order to build a grasp on a number of things you can find in different styles of Jazz.)

1. The ii-V-I progression and playing over the changes - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/ii-v-i-playing-over-the-changes-t19.html

2. Substitutions and the VIm-IIm-V-I progression - Part 1 of 2 - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/substitutions-and-the-vim-iim-v-i-progression-part-1-of-2-t3.html

3. Substitutions and the VIm-IIm-V-I progression - Part 2 of 2 - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/substitutions-and-the-vim-iim-v-i-progression-part-2-of-2-t4.html

4. The Minor ii-V-i - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/navigating-the-minor-2-5-1-diminished-arps-and-the-t33.html

5. Common Sounds Found in Jazz - http://lessons.mikedodge.com/lessons/Jazz1/Jazz1TOC.htm

6. Directional playing FROM chord tone TO chord tone: http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/directional-playing-from-chord-tone-to-chord-tone-instead-of-t47.html

For more modern type jazz or even jazz/blues look at these, in no particular order, just pick what interests you

Mixing Functional and Modal - http://lessons.mikedodge.com/lessons/MusicTheory/Diatonic/ModalExample1.htm

Melodic Minor Primer - http://lessons.mikedodge.com/lessons/MelMinPrim/Intro.htm

Cop some jazz lines with Love Being Here with you - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/cop-some-jazz-lines-love-being-here-with-you-t46.html

A Modal/Fusion Idea - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/modal-fodder-d-aeolian-and-eb-lydian-dominant-t34.html

Using Quartal Chords - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/quartal-chords-t5.html

Footprints and Forward Motion - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/footprints-some-forward-motion-concepts-t2.html

[FredZepplen]

I have a number of Jazz lesson/tutorials online you can use. These will get you through a lot of what you might call classic jazz (I would read them in this order to build a grasp on a number of things you can find in different styles of Jazz.) 1. The ii-V-I progression and playing over the changes - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/ii-v-i-playing-over-the-changes-t19.html 2. Substitutions and the VIm-IIm-V-I progression - Part 1 of 2 - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/substitutions-and-the-vim-iim-v-i-progression-part-1-of-2-t3.html 3. Substitutions and the VIm-IIm-V-I progression - Part 2 of 2 - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/substitutions-and-the-vim-iim-v-i-progression-part-2-of-2-t4.html 4. The Minor ii-V-i - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/navigating-the-minor-2-5-1-diminished-arps-and-the-t33.html 5. Common Sounds Found in Jazz - http://lessons.mikedodge.com/lessons/Jazz1/Jazz1TOC.htm 6. Directional playing FROM chord tone TO chord tone: http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/directional-playing-from-chord-tone-to-chord-tone-instead-of-t47.html For more modern type jazz or even jazz/blues look at these, in no particular order, just pick what interests you Mixing Functional and Modal - http://lessons.mikedodge.com/lessons/MusicTheory/Diatonic/ModalExample1.htm Melodic Minor Primer - http://lessons.mikedodge.com/lessons/MelMinPrim/Intro.htm Cop some jazz lines with Love Being Here with you - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/cop-some-jazz-lines-love-being-here-with-you-t46.html A Modal/Fusion Idea - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/modal-fodder-d-aeolian-and-eb-lydian-dominant-t34.html Using Quartal Chords - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/quartal-chords-t5.html Footprints and Forward Motion - http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/footprints-some-forward-motion-concepts-t2.html

 

 

 

Written by Harold Hecuba

Produced by Harold Hecuba

Directed by Harold Hecuba

And starring . . . Harold Hecuba

 

Just kidding Mike, I think you're old enough to get the joke.

[gennation]

Written by Harold Hecuba Produced by Harold Hecuba Directed by Harold Hecuba And starring . . . Harold Hecuba Just kidding Mike, I think you're old enough to get the joke.