The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    If you have a checklist have a place to mark where to stopped on a topic, so you can pickup from that point the next day. Too many people create lists and start at the beginning of everything every day, that means stuff towards the end doesn't get hit and creates boredom. Practice needs to be creative to challenge the creative juices everyday. Working on a tune every find a different way to work on it, create different limitations to use playing it, keep changing things up. That way you keep seeing the music in different ways for a bigger picture and new challenges.

    Think about areas to practice more than specifics so practice keep seeing same things from different points of view.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    I got a lot of mileage out of this idea. Lots of little practice exercises interleaved over the course of a session.

    Why the Progress You Make in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear Overnight - Bulletproof Musician

    It is actually completely draining mentally to practice this way for more than a couple of hours. I think this is probably a sign that it is doing something...

    As for the content of your practice, I have no idea beyond the general areas indicated by, say, Jordan.

    Professional advice will target the areas most urgently in need of attention. It can be humbling in the extreme, but it is a reliable way to improve. (Later, you will learn to humble yourself :-))

    PS: my professional opinion is that the Mark Levine Theory Book is not a great book if you want to learn to play jazz. If you already play jazz functionally and want to expand your knowledge then it is a good sourcebook.
    Last edited by christianm77; 08-28-2017 at 01:28 PM.

  4. #28

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    My practice routine is divided into 3 groupings.
    1. Repertoire
    2. Technical
    3. Study Groups

    1. Repertoire- I play professionally and I have my songs divided into sets. All in all I have about 20 sets of 15 or so songs. I look at my upcoming gigs, decide which sets would suit the gig, and I practice or run through the songs. This is a sort of rehearsal for the upcoming gig. I play the melodies, solos, chords etc as if I were performing. I will sometimes modify the sets as I do this. Each week I focus on the sets needed for that particular week.

    This guides my . . . . .

    2. Technical - currently I have come up with a few studies for myself. In going through my repertoire, I noticed that my solos featured scaler passages (straight up, straight down) and/or arpeggio based passages. They also lacked rhythmic variation. I also tended to rely a few trusty phrases for 2-5-1 progressions.So I designed a couple of exercises to correct this (with the help of publications by Corey Christiansen and Jody Fisher). One is going up and down various scales in thirds and fourths. The other is playing playing phrases with more interesting rhythmic variation. And the third features altered chord tone phrases over 2-5-1 progressions. Each week I focus on one of these.

    Since these are both self regulated forms of study, I feel that I need more accountability, which is why I am a part of several study groups on this forum.

    3. Study groups - this is to play a specific piece of music, often with a transcribed solo. The definitive time lines are helpful and the prescribed work leads to learn things outside of my own repertoire. The Jimmy Raney group plays music in a style that stretches my speed limitations and bebop stylings, the Frank Vignola group and the Robert Conti group help with melodic and Rhythmic phrasing, the Randy Vincent group helps with interesting ways to tackle scales and progressions and the tune of the month club adds to my repertoire.

    Having said all this my practice routine will likely change to some degree after 6 to 12 months. I will reevaluate my needs and change the routine accordingly. The repertoire section will always be driving force that determines which technical I choose but there will always be a technical component to my practice. The study groups will also likely always be a part of my practice routine because I feel that I need that outward accountability however, which groups I join will be determined by what my needs are at that time.

    I keep track of my routine on a monthly chart, which helps me to ensure that I devoting a good amount of time to each section. I also look back and evaluate my progress and whether or not I need to make changes.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  5. #29

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    I use what I call a "Song Based Approach". That way, I'm always working on music and practicing technique and new vocabulary at the same time. It keeps things fresh..and musical. Everything I do is to a backing track of a tune in my repertoire. I work on one technique/concept [right now it's arpeggios], and 3 or 4 phrases that I want to get locked-in to my brain. After a while, concentrating hard on that stuff, the song is right there, so i can play the tune and work on melodic development for a while. This system works great for me.

  6. #30

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    No perfect answer, but I think a good routine will cover the following: scales (major, harmonic minor and melodic) all over the fretboard and in intervals; arpeggiating through changes to tunes (in time with metronome); reviewing tunes; some picking accuracy/speed (5 minutes or so); comping through some tunes; learning new tunes (or reviewing new-ish tunes); practicing some vocabulary; some reading; some "ear training" thought that can be built into all the other activities to some degree. And maybe practicing some ways to end a tune, since that is a very useful skill.


    Don't forget to listen to jazz!

  7. #31

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    Some of the things I´d been practicing never showed up in my playing, so I started to practice combining things. For a 15 minute practice routine to improve my skills on the B section of Blue Bossa I would play Db major up and down the neck on single strings (in 3rds, 4th, w/ bendings, etc.) with or without playback for 5 minutes. Then another 5 minutes using 1 octave arpeggios up and down the neck in the same key. The rest of the time I switch between improvising on single string and playing arpeggios in the position where I rest my melody/improv.
    When I get to a new topic, like minor b5 pentatonic, I try to use that on every chord in a tune, so in the A section of Blue Bossa I´d play A-7b5 on C-, D-7b5 on F- and F-7b5 on G7 for 5 minutes (chord by chord or whole progression) then 5 minutes with 4note drop 2 voicings of the same -7b5 scales and after that 5 minutes combining drop 2´s with b5 pentatonic in all positions. When I need variation to that routine I substitute the diatonic scale to a mode of melodic or harmonic minor.
    My favorite 5 minute practice routine at the moment is to improvise melodies on a single string - trying to harmonize every longer duration note with a simple major/minor triad by ear without looking at the neck. (melody can be high-, middle- or low note)
    Application is the key;-)
    Dirk

  8. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by generalduke
    Application is the key;-)
    Dirk
    Absolutely. It can feel contrived and maybe frustrating in the beginning. But what else could be more important in acquiring new skills etc.? The application part is really kind of its own skill. When you figure it out at kind of a holistic level, everything going forward -with individual skills, is exponentially easier.

    If you can't apply something, you lose it pretty quickly (and why do you need it in the first place?). If you can apply it pretty well , you mostly have it forever, or at least can easily maintain...
    Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 10-30-2017 at 10:51 AM.

  9. #33

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    The things I'd want to emphasize so they don't get glossed over are:

    1. Ear training. I'd suggest a formal course. The more the better. When you can play in a group and know what chords the pianist is playing, even when they're wrong, you're getting there.

    2. Combo playing. As soon as you can. You can't learn to be a combo musician by playing alone. Unless your goal is solo guitar, then you don't need combo practice, although it won't hurt.

    3. Comping through tunes with great voice leading, in 12 keys. Arguably more, since it helps to know enharmonic equivalents without having to think, "oh, C#? That's Db"

    4. Soloing to tunes using the scales, modes, arps etc that you're learning. I suggest IRealPro, and play everything in 12 keys.

    5. Learn to read. Again, this depends on your goal, but if you want to be an all around player, start reading early, and get up to speed on reading syncopated material accurately at full tempo.

    6. Transcribe stuff you like and learn to play it with the same feel. Not just solos. Chords too.

  10. #34

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    Learn how to comp.... really. Everything else will follow

  11. #35

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    Wes said something like

    "I don't practice anything that I wouldn't play in a song"

    My practice routine

    Check the calendar for next show (which band)
    Pull set lists for that band's shows
    Play the songs, discovering things, exploring and evaluating them for inclusion in songs

  12. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by pauln
    Wes said something like

    "I don't practice anything that I wouldn't play in a song"

    My practice routine

    Check the calendar for next show (which band)
    Pull set lists for that band's shows
    Play the songs, discovering things, exploring and evaluating them for inclusion in songs
    If I don't have a gig, I try to book gigs.

    Then when I have a gig I have a focus for my practice... :-)

  13. #37

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  14. #38

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    Other players can only give general guidelines as to how to practice. It is up to you to find what works for you.

    My advice: get a routine that compliments where you are at in your musical journey and interest, stay with it until you get it, then move on to other routines that challenges you. And don't worry too much about what other people are doing. My 2cents.