Is this a good workflow?

bart1986 · #1 06-26-2010, 07:32 AM

I recently bought the Mickey Baker book and the Jazz Bible by Mark Levine. I'm planning to really work through the Levine book from beginning to end, making up my own exercizes and i'm using the Mickey Baker book for the chord shapes etc, also i use a book called Play in A day by Bert Weedon.

Will this Levine book, and the way i use it (together with the other 2 books for chords etc) build me a solid base on jazz?

Or would u recommend me some other book to start with?

I do have a pretty good knowlegde on theory already, i'm playing piano for quite some time.

fep · #2 06-26-2010, 08:14 AM

I'd think you have plenty to work on with those books.

Band in a Box ("BIAB") is a great tool and would be very useful for you practicing your excercises. You can quickly set up backing tracks and record your own guitar playing/excercises onto the backing tracks in BIAB for self evaluation. It's also really good for learning to play in time/groove.

Reg · #3 06-26-2010, 08:25 AM

Is your theory Jazz or traditional music theory... if it's traditional, Levine's book will help, but you'll still need something from Berklee or version of, especially about modal interchange. The Baker books are great starter... but are a little dated and as I said are just starter books... Still plenty of material to start... you don't need everything to get going... getting into a schedule and motivation along with what you have should work well, you can add as you go along...Best Reg

bart1986 · #4 06-26-2010, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fep

I'd think you have plenty to work on with those books.

Band in a Box ("BIAB") is a great tool and would be very useful for you practicing your excercises. You can quickly set up backing tracks and record your own guitar playing/excercises onto the backing tracks in BIAB for self evaluation. It's also really good for learning to play in time/groove.

Tried using it, but the quality of my speakers is so bad, it sounds very bad. Think i'll make some backing tracks in the studio myself

FatJeff · #5 06-26-2010, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bart1986

Tried using it, but the quality of my speakers is so bad, it sounds very bad. Think i'll make some backing tracks in the studio myself

You can pick up a very good pair of speakers these days for $40.00 or less. Can you afford that?

franamico · #6 07-09-2010, 10:19 AM

Hey,
Both books are great man!
I studied M. Levine from cover to cover. Just be patient and practice the examples he provides in the book.
Practice with Band in a box but more importantly, play with people!
I am sure you can check your local forum to find other musicians at your level...