Members Terje Posted February 7, 2003 Members Posted February 7, 2003 I quote Kenny Werner's book Effortless Mastery. "The basic components to be mastered, ... , are 4/4 time, 3/4 time, the ii-V-I progression, rhythm and time, and four and eight bar phrases. Mastery of these issues will take tyou very far indeed!" Actually one could rephrase it all and seethat by not mastering just one of these you will almost always run into trouble when playing jazz. The only thing I'd add to that list is perhaps learning tunes. Basically Kenny suggests that you work on one thing at a time until it is mastered. If your rhythm isn't happening then work on it for a year or two until it's mastered. The other things will also have picked up by then. If you have a schedule to follow, dead-lines you must keep, you can practice this thing you need to master separately. Ah,read the book, it's really good and gets you thinking about music and why you play it. Which I think is good to do every once in a while.
Members timbuk3 Posted February 7, 2003 Members Posted February 7, 2003 Treje, I just started taking jazz lessons a few months ago and I am very deficient in my knowledge of the standards. Can you recommend 3 to 5 standards that demonstrate the ii-V-I progression?
Members Terje Posted February 7, 2003 Author Members Posted February 7, 2003 Originally posted by timbuk3 Treje, I just started taking jazz lessons a few months ago and I am very deficient in my knowledge of the standards. Can you recommend 3 to 5 standards that demonstrate the ii-V-I progression? Autumn Leaves is basically only ii-V-I in Bb major and ii-V-i in G minor. Why else do you think all beginners have to play this tune? Nah, it's a great tune also, you can keep playing it the rest of your life. In any jazz blues the last four bars will be (in C now) |Dm7|G7|Em7 A7|Dm7 G7| That's pretty much a ii-V-I in C. The Em7 and A7 is basically a Cmaj7, so it leads nicely to the A7 that leads to Dm7... Blue Bossa, a common beginners tune, but also a great tune to keep playing for the rest of your life, has a ii-V-I in Db major starting from bar 9 (it's 16 bars long, right?). Actually, you'll find ii-V-I's all over the place. All The Things You Are has one in E in the bridge, this is where all horn players {censored} up Jamey Aebersold has several play-a-long CDs, with books with some patterns and all, that have tracks that will take you through the ii-V-I progression in the most common keys or all of them.
Members evan_02 Posted February 7, 2003 Members Posted February 7, 2003 tune up by miles has some too
Members Flanger Posted February 7, 2003 Members Posted February 7, 2003 Originally posted by timbuk3 Treje,I just started taking jazz lessons a few months ago and I am very deficient in my knowledge of the standards. Can you recommend 3 to 5 standards that demonstrate the ii-V-I progression? Satin Doll is full of them.
Members thamiam Posted February 7, 2003 Members Posted February 7, 2003 1)How to swing 2)How to swing 3)How to swing 4)How to swing 5)All the other crap :D
Members lazaraga Posted February 7, 2003 Members Posted February 7, 2003 Originally posted by thamiam 1)How to swing 2)How to swing 3)How to swing 4)How to swing 5)All the other crap :D yeah but no. 5 should be How to swing peace
Members 555 Posted February 8, 2003 Members Posted February 8, 2003 I agree with everything said so far, except mastering one thing before moving on. Learning guitar is a cumulative process.....work on everything. Soon you'll know what aspects need particular attention....... mastering anything on guitar takes hours a day over several years.
Members timbuk3 Posted February 8, 2003 Members Posted February 8, 2003 Thanks to all for the leads. I'll give a listen to Autumn Leaves, Blue Bossa, Tune Up and Satin Dolls.
Members florestan Posted February 10, 2003 Members Posted February 10, 2003 In a Mellow Tone is a real easy one. Also good for introducing dimished arpeggios into your solos.
Members guitarizt Posted February 10, 2003 Members Posted February 10, 2003 All of Me is a challenging song to play. It's at this site. www.guitarmain.com
Members Terje Posted February 10, 2003 Author Members Posted February 10, 2003 Originally posted by 555 I agree with everything said so far, except mastering one thing before moving on. Learning guitar is a cumulative process.....work on everything. Soon you'll know what aspects need particular attention....... mastering anything on guitar takes hours a day over several years. I really think Kenny has a point there though. Mainly I look at it like this. If you have a problem with something in your playing then work on that until it has improved. Not neccesarily until it's mastered. I think it is very true for learning tunes though. Learn one tune really, really well, before going on to the next. One thing you'll notice is that the next tune will be easier to learn. "Go deep" is the message I think. I don't do like this myself all the time. I basically just play whatever I feel like, this is my hobby. Mastery is not what I strive for.
Members evan_02 Posted February 10, 2003 Members Posted February 10, 2003 did anyone mention "how to shut the hell up and listen" yet? that's pretty important....btw if anyone ever masters jazz, please give me a ring;)
Members Bopcat Posted February 10, 2003 Members Posted February 10, 2003 You have to absolutely be able to play what you hear in your head (in all 12 keys). Years ago, in another life I tried to play jazz clarinet. I worked with the Aebersold play along CDs all the time. All the common progressions in all keys. Just sounded like exercises. I quit. After talking to some professional musicians and reading interviews in downbeat I realized that they all could instantly play anything they thought of or heard. I think a lot of the didactic stuff puts the cart before the horse. Many of the jazz giants "heard" this stuff - then they could put a name to it (yeah, that's a Bflat minor 7th with the 3rd in the bass). Work on playing everything you hear - transcribe off cds - get the sound in your head. If you can't do that you probably can't really play jazz.
Members J the D Posted February 10, 2003 Members Posted February 10, 2003 And all these years I thought being in tune was right up there! Whassit in Jazz? 6? 10?
Members Terje Posted February 11, 2003 Author Members Posted February 11, 2003 Originally posted by Bopcat Work on playing everything you hear - transcribe off cds - get the sound in your head. If you can't do that you probably can't really play jazz. Good point.
Members thamiam Posted February 11, 2003 Members Posted February 11, 2003 Originally posted by J the D And all these years I thought being in tune was right up there! Whassit in Jazz? 6? 10? Being in tune hasn't been on the list since Ornette came to town.
Members skynyrd Posted February 11, 2003 Members Posted February 11, 2003 Originally posted by timbuk3 Treje,I just started taking jazz lessons a few months ago and I am very deficient in my knowledge of the standards. Can you recommend 3 to 5 standards that demonstrate the ii-V-I progression? Tequila and Oye Como Va are both straight ii-V Minor swing uses a ii-V-i as a turnaroundBernie's Tune makes fairly good use of a ii-V-i in D minorHerbie Hancock's Chameleon is another straight ii-V **Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White** kind of an obscure tune, but the entire head is a ii-V-I in Eb and the bridge is a V-I. This is just my opinion, but the perfect instrument for that melody is a flute. If you ever play that tune on a gig do yourself a favor and get a flute player. They're hard as hell to find, but if you get a good one you'll be very happy.
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