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Five Jazz Guitar Mastery Secrets
Five Jazz Guitar Mastery Secrets
Secret #1 : Change the Way You Hear Secret #2 : Learn from the Masters Secret #3 : Study Repertoire Secret #4 : Learn from Others Secret #5 : Find Your Way
Next, chose a different bass note (preferably on the sixth string). Play your two selected notes against this new bass. You now have a different perspective on the interval. Keep going and you'll find more and more personalities in the two selected notes. Another example: Play any scale in time and then play the same scale but start on a different beat. Count yourself in (1-2-3-4) and play the first note on beat 4. The scale will be reborn. Your ears are most likely very familiar with the scale starting on good old beat 1. As you can now see (and hear) the musical material hasn't changed at all but your perception of it is now broader. Keep in mind, these are only basic starting points from which you can create countless exercises. This new way of thinking will lead you to greater rhythmic and melodic freedom. This is changing the way you hear. Keep your ears wide open at all times. The tactile, emotional and visual aspects of playing (and learning) jazz on the guitar should be secondary most of the time. Prioritize the aural perception. Finally, reconsider your own practice material with the ears in mind : listen more and noodle less. Relying purely on technique can be a waste of time (... I'll learn X amount of scales so that they come out when I improvise...) Learn the fingerings (indeed!) but do not let your fingers guide the music. Those two floppy things on the side of your head are the musician's best friends!
What to Learn from the Masters Specifically, I strongly suggest you learn and imitate your favorite recorded solos. Please refer to this transcription article for a practical guide. Other aspects of jazz recordings can be studied such as : Repertoire (melody, chords and form of tunes) Song Interpretation (how the melody is played) Comping (listen to pianists and guitarists) Arranging (intro, ending, overall big picture structure) Orchestration (what instrument plays what) Rhythms (singing / clapping just the rhythms)
To summarize, the wealth of information available on jazz recordings is yours to explore and learn from. It is also a very personal quest : two similar musicians will, more often than not, explore different aspects of the very same track. The beauty of the process is that it really is yours to discover! Tremendous growth comes from the whole transcription process. Schedule private lessons with your guitar heroes today for free! If you admire those guys, why not learn from them directly!?
To study a tune also means to improvise quite a lot, both playing with the melody and blowing over the chord changes. Embellish the melody creatively. Improvise on the chords and attempt to outline the changes effectively while creating meaningful musical statements. To conclude, playing jazz is playing the tunes! Every aspiring jazz musician should build a decent list of memorized tunes and study repertoire on a regular basis. Practicing technique (scales, chords, arpeggios, etc.) is useless by itself; we need at least a few good tunes to play and improvise on. Write down your repertoire list right now!
In summary, no approach is good for everything and everyone. Vary your entry points when dealing with musical material and situations. Discover the approaches that work for you.