Members gnr2391 Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Hey guys, So I am working with my teacher to develop the jazz language. He tells me my ears are good, I got ideas, but he's not hearing thelanguage, which is understandable, cuz I have only been playing jazz recently when before that it was cats like Page, Hendrix, Angus Young, Slash and some of the more modern cats like Satch, Vai etc. So I sometimes wonder how useful it is to just play these ordinary scalar lines from a book repeatedly, when I can just transcribe jazz solos and see what's going on over each chord. Isn't the language something I'm going to get just by listening and transcribing the jazz gods? What do you guys say about this? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xrleroyx Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 I'd try to copy saxophone solos. It's so completely different than the blues based guitar you've been playing. What setup do you use as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zetor Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Watch this: [video=youtube;JZy421SJSV8] He talks about scales and transcribing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Hey guys, So I am working with my teacher to develop the jazz language. He tells me my ears are good, I got ideas, but he's not hearing thelanguage, which is understandable, cuz I have only been playing jazz recently when before that it was cats like Page, Hendrix, Angus Young, Slash and some of the more modern cats like Satch, Vai etc. So I sometimes wonder how useful it is to just play these ordinary scalar lines from a book repeatedly, when I can just transcribe jazz solos and see what's going on over each chord. Isn't the language something I'm going to get just by listening and transcribing the jazz gods? What do you guys say about this?Thanks! I agree with you completely. I would also like to suggest that you learn from as many sources that are available to you - just like learning a spoken language can benefit from reading and listening. A long time ago I used to record Deep Purple albums on an open reel machine and play the songs back at half speed and learn what Blackmore was playing and how he fit his bits into the chord progressions and I learned a lot about the guitar. Another thing you can do is load up your ipod with music from players like Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomory, George Benson et. al. and just let the sounds of their music get inside your head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Espresso Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Hey guys, So I am working with my teacher to develop the jazz language. He tells me my ears are good, I got ideas, but he's not hearing thelanguage, which is understandable, cuz I have only been playing jazz recently when before that it was cats like Page, Hendrix, Angus Young, Slash and some of the more modern cats like Satch, Vai etc. So I sometimes wonder how useful it is to just play these ordinary scalar lines from a book repeatedly, when I can just transcribe jazz solos and see what's going on over each chord. Isn't the language something I'm going to get just by listening and transcribing the jazz gods? What do you guys say about this?Thanks! I agree with you, the best way to learn jazz language is to listen to and transcribe jazz music. Similar scales are used across different genres and yet the end result is quite different. Take Kenny Burrell as an example: he uses pentatonic scales extensively yet his sound is very different form rock players who use the same scale. I don't think just running scales up and down the neck, on its own, will at some stage translate into being able to improvise. You already have a teacher but I do recommend checking Jimmy Bruno's online guitar workshop out. He's not only a virtuoso but also a great teacher. He gets his students to practice making melodies from the very start. Here's the link: http://jbguitarworkshop.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gnr2391 Posted April 25, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Thanks a ton guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 I agree with your teacher to some extent. The goal is to have so much facility over your basics that your own ideas can come through. When you hear a great soloist, you'll hear them do things that amaze you not because they're difficult, because they're often not, but that they thought of them on the spot. How are you going to be able to do those things when you don't have the scales and shapes that are obvious to a seasoned player but new to you? You'll be able to learn things by copying eventually, but you have to build the basics first. And it will take time. One of the nice things about jazz is that you'll finally start hearing harmonies, scales, arpeggios, and techniques that go beyond guitar shredding and are universal across instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Gun Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Listening + transcribing is 90% of the battle IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Listening + transcribing is 90% of the battle IMO I really don't think transcribing is anywhere close to 90% of the battle. It's maybe 25% of the battle. Having absolute mastery over your basics is far more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 All of the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 If your looking to play traditional jazz, then transcribing horn solos is a great way to understand how different players approach changes. This will also help you unlock different melodic ideas on the guitar. However, when I think of jazz I don't necessarily think of a singular language but rather the broader spectrum of largely improvised music and to become a stronger improviser, you just gotta shed on the guitar and learn the fret board. Many teachers would have you drill the modes and arpeggios in circles of forths/fifths but that doesn't help improvisation IMHO. The greatest improvisers are those who can transition between melodic ideas the smoothest over the changes at hand. In my opinion, that comes from a more chordal/voice leading knowledge approach rather than drilling scales. Oh, and you gotta have at least a rudimentary ability to read music to be taken seriously among jazz players... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pewing33ny Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 i went to berklee which can be all jazz all the time if you choose. I was obsessed with theory and understood it better than pretty much everyone else I came across but when it came time for my solo I was mediocre at best. I spent a lot of time transcribing players I wanted to be like, practicing with band in a box and taking a lot of adderall in addition to 5-6 hours of class a day. You have to immerse yourself and really practice. And by practice I mean sit down with no distractions and concentrate on something you're not good at. If you want to improve you will have to spend hours feeling uncomfortable. It's not fun, but it's definitely rewarding. also calling it "the jazz language" makes you sound really white Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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