The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Hi, been a while! Hope all is well. At 41 I'm researching ways to construct a rehearsal routine to push my playing in everything from picking accuracy, chord comping, soloing over different changes ect (whole picture so to speak without writing 18 paragraphs). I'm about to purchase the Jazz Theory Book/Bible by Levine to "back up and punt" on my current knowledge/abilities. Here's my question.

    What's your favorite routines that you feel you get the most out of? Also, are there any routines that maybe famous (you may be or I hope you are or about to be! ) players have talked about that have propelled them into the next stage of playing?

    I know this question has answers as wide as the ocean but thats my point. To get all and condense into something my simple brain can follow! lol

    Thanks for any thoughts friends!

    Dustin

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Hey there!
    How much time are you able to realistically devote to the instrument on a daily and weekly basis. And all other things aside, is it possible to find another player for you to get together and work seriously with on a regular basis?

    What are you comfortable with already? You know your major and minor scales all over the fingerboard yet? This would have a lot to do with just what is recommended. Don't get ahead of yourself until your basics are down, in your ear, in your mind, in your ability to hear and know what you're doing. There are lots of routines and honestly, a lot of it depends on your being honest with where you're working from. Steve Vai's 30 hour mega workout isn't going to do you any good if you can't find the note C all over the fingerboard or be able to pass from one chord to another with an awareness of what you're doing.

    Tell us a little bit about what you've been doing and what's holding you back at this point.

    It'd help you from wasting your time too. A routine that's too far beyond your abilities can actually be counter productive. Good practice comes from a smooth transition from level to level.

    Or so I believe anyway

    David

  4. #3

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    Interested in what the answers people post are. Over the years I've asked that question of many guitar teachers and it one 99% won't answer. Many just ignore it, others say you know what your need figure it out, some might give an extremely generic list of topics and no details. I would say the more experienced musicians it boils down to "warmup" time things to keep the hands and ear in shape, then creative work, activities like improv and composition. study.

    For me personally detailed practice schedules have never worked might last a day. What doe work is keeping a practice journal that why I can see if I've been neglecting anything, if spending too much time on one thing, and some metronome or other milestones to remind myself I am making progress no matter how slow it seems.

  5. #4

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    I have a good understanding on theory major/minor but not much outside playing (some). I can handle connecting solo passages and finding notes.Chord comping in a Jazz context I'd say is just above beginner maybe. Add on enough jazz licks to get in trouble. I've been a working musician for many years in bands that have done Blues, old Country, 80's, Rock (Blues, hard) and now even a Skynyrd tribute (yeah I don't like it any more than you but I have to eat once a month). Now don't let that chase you off from my question! lol I'm an actual music fan (Wes Montgomery , Brent Mason, George Benson, Chet Atkins, Allmans are my heroes). I have an original band that pulls from my heroes influence as well so I do have outlet for creativity.

    I would say I have at least 14 hours a week if not more to give to routine practice. Learning Jazz tunes and other favorites to gain extra licks are outside of that time frame I'd say. I've done well with the styles I've been hired to do but they've been basic to me for a long time now. My writing is more colorful in my original project no doubt but I'm really I'm in a rut and need to design a plan to breakthrough to a next level of playing and ability. A routine plan that rotates out "older stock" to keep fresh as it moves from week to week is what I'm thinking. Then other time set aside for writing and gig prep depending on band.

    In a nut shell. Start over correctly to gain the agility to tackle more serious music I love. Would be great to be gigging in Jazz clubs too! Alright I've rambled long enough and probably have you laughing out the door. You said tell the truth !lol

    Thanks fellow pickers! Feel free to have your fun !
    D

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dustin1976
    I have a good understanding on theory major/minor but not much outside playing (some). I can handle connecting solo passages and finding notes.Chord comping in a Jazz context I'd say is just above beginner maybe. Add on enough jazz licks to get in trouble. I've been a working musician for many years in bands that have done Blues, old Country, 80's, Rock (Blues, hard) and now even a Skynyrd tribute (yeah I don't like it any more than you but I have to eat once a month). Now don't let that chase you off from my question! lol I'm an actual music fan (Wes Montgomery , Brent Mason, George Benson, Chet Atkins, Allmans are my heroes). I have an original band that pulls from my heroes influence as well so I do have outlet for creativity.

    I would say I have at least 14 hours a week if not more to give to routine practice. Learning Jazz tunes and other favorites to gain extra licks are outside of that time frame I'd say. I've done well with the styles I've been hired to do but they've been basic to me for a long time now. My writing is more colorful in my original project no doubt but I'm really I'm in a rut and need to design a plan to breakthrough to a next level of playing and ability. A routine plan that rotates out "older stock" to keep fresh as it moves from week to week is what I'm thinking. Then other time set aside for writing and gig prep depending on band.

    In a nut shell. Start over correctly to gain the agility to tackle more serious music I love. Would be great to be gigging in Jazz clubs too! Alright I've rambled long enough and probably have you laughing out the door. You said tell the truth !lol

    Thanks fellow pickers! Feel free to have your fun !
    D

    Scott Henderson in one of the GuitarWank podcast talked about his practicing and quantity of practice. He was prepping for his recent European tour and was practicing 10-12 hours a day. When talking about practice in general he said what drives he practicing is having something to practice for a tour, a gig, a session, new project. He looks for or creates a project that will become the target of his practice.

    Sounds like you have things you could turn into projects with practice for, if not create one. A open jam session, play at a party, throw a party if you need to, create something with a date to shoot for then prep for it.

  7. #6

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    I've never had any routine but the statement- "Don't practice what you already know" has stuck in my mind lately. Now I'm looking to develop some kind of routine at least in the short term. Maybe several months.
    Some new things for me;

    Writing contrafacts
    New scales(having fun with the Japanese and alt scale among others. Also 3 octave Segovia scales)
    Wes style chord inversions
    Joe Pass country blues turnarounds
    Some chord melody
    Making lists of things to work on

    Writing contrafacts has been a big help. It's just writing melodies to existing chord changes but it goes beyond that. It becomes part of technique and improv.
    Last but not least- learning to use Musescore. I thought it would be a clunky program but it's not at all. It's user friendly.

  8. #7

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    I just jam for hours... goal is to learn to improvise all by ear and it takes loads of time. 10000 hours per tune.
    Well, before that when I'm not lazy, I try to keep my lil' skillets alive. Bundle them together and do 3-10 minutes each. Reading, ear training, scales,arps,chords etc. But usually I'm too lazy or restless for doing it for even 1 hour.

    edit to say something so important: when it's all set -the aims and means- after a year or two practicing like that, you may stumble to something that you missed and go "why the hell didn't I start practicing THIS also". I've had quite few of those moments.

    So, always keep looking for new ways to practice. Different ways, different things. If settling with one strict routine, you may miss out something important that may require looong time to get well enough to be usable.
    Last edited by emanresu; 08-20-2017 at 11:59 PM.

  9. #8

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    The way I progress (to whatever extent I do) is typically I hear a recording that moves me, and try to steal something from it. If it is really compelling I try to understand it a bit more systematically. Try to abstract the concept a bit and apply it to tunes.

    I go through different concepts in practice, usually for a few months at a time, then I abandon when the next thing grabs my attention. Most of what I work out gets forgotten, but a little sticks, and over the years the little that sticks becomes part of my sound.
    Last edited by pkirk; 08-26-2017 at 09:20 AM.

  10. #9

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    Fundamentally:

    Technique
    Repertoire
    Improv
    Reading

    Develop several routines, and vary them.

    Plus - Ensemble work

  11. #10

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    The thing that separates you from the herd is your practice routines. It's a hard question to answer because we all need different things at different times. In the beginning, I practiced scales of all types, exercises with them, arpeggios and exercises with them. Jamming on tunes by myself without backing. And it's forever been variations of the above. I no longer practice scales and arpeggios but that's ONLY because I did it so long I've ingested them. They form the backbone. I HAD to do them first. I'd still be practicing them if I didn't learn them like I did.

    I have a very specific practice routine and always have had very specific routines. But it wouldn't help you at this point. And of course, it depends on what you're practicing for.

  12. #11

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    Well put, Henryrobinett.

    It depends so much on what you want to achieve.

    There was a graph that one of our teacher draw on a whiteboard. A big circle and a little circle inside in it. The little one he said was what we think we should learn on any given time. The big one referred to all what was available to obtain. Both of those expand in time. Unless we satisfy with minor pentatonics and 8-bar pop solos. A bit esoteric but now, much later, it seems so true.

    I've thought about what I should practice and what was out of reach, as we all do. I figured we have 4 active memory types for the "jazz package". The messages should travel both ways between each of those. That makes total 8 two-way pipelines. Imo, jazz asks for more than any other type of musical.. specialization. +those mystical things that the aliens injected behind our ears.

  13. #12

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    Reading replies reminds me of one of Howard Roberts talks at early GIT on goal setting. Students would get frustrated with their progress feeling they aren't getting anywhere towards their goal of studio musician, or Jazz guitarist, etc. HR said it's because you're only focusing on the long term goal of studio musician, that's a long process to get to. HR called the long term achievement goal The Big A. HR said you need to break up that Big A into all is tiny subcomponents he called the Little A's. Now you have goals that you can see progress in a short amount of time. This was another reason for keeping a practice journal, if you track this stuff they when you do get frustrated with your progress you can looks at the journal and see you've complete many of these small goals and how these completed small goals were chipping away at your Big A long term goal.

    HR also pointed out to students the further along you get the smaller the accomplishments and longer they take to achieve. That when first starting to play you are accomplishing a lot and quickly and you become used to those big leaps coming fast. Then once you have a foundation the speed and size of accomplishments starts shrinking.

    HR had studied what he called "learning cycles" and had a long to data on how long to study a topic, how to improve learning, how long to learn new physical task or learn mental topic. How to separate the physical from the mental and work on each separately then put together so you aren't trying to learn two things at once without realizing it. When to stop trying to learn something and give brain a chance to take it in and catalog it. HR was a Dirty Guitar Player and a deep thinker.

  14. #13

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    My take,

    You have to know the basic building block sounds of all western music

    Is.
    Major scale in a few positions (CAGED maybe)
    Diatonic chords / arps etc
    That's the 'In' stuff

    + a very small amount of theory of 'out' stuff ...
    Melodic minor sound (alt scale)
    harmonic minor (5th mode Gypsy scale)
    Bit of Dim theory maybe

    BUT , get into playing actual tunes ASAP !
    I wish I'd got seriously into playing tunes way earlier

    The tunes are IT !
    They contain everything else , so , in always playing tunes
    You are practicing everything you need ...

    Tunes man

  15. #14

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    I read The Talent Code not too long ago and it really influenced my practicing a lot, and re-inforced some things I had recently experienced. About 3.5 years ago I switched to upright bass as my main instrument, and over that time I've made a remarkable amount of progress. My playing on guitar previously had gotten to a pretty good level but I hadn't been improving. In retrospect, it's clear to me that I was practicing things I already knew and was pretty good at, vs really working on my weak spots.

    Nowadays, I'm able to get a lot more out of my practice time, because I know what it feels like when I hit a weak spot: it's almost painful in a way, and certainly mentally taxing to work it out.

    I also enjoy and spend time playing just for fun and recreation, but I always try to be clear with myself about my goals: if I'm just playing some tunes for fun, it's very different for me than working on something specific.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by pcsanwald

    Nowadays, I'm able to get a lot more out of my practice time, because I know what it feels like when I hit a weak spot: it's almost painful in a way, and certainly mentally taxing to work it out.
    Now you know why all the legends drank heavily.

  17. #16

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    This:
    Attached Images Attached Images Practice Routine construction-thrasher-learning-jpg Practice Routine construction-thrasher-about-music-jpg 

  18. #17

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    Hi:

    I use Open Office Excel (I think they call it Calc) to keep track of my practice routine. It's sort of like a music budget where Ideally I would practice four hours a day but I typically practice one hour day, never reaching that time but aspiring for it.

    Here is my practice routine ideally:

    Ear Master 6 30mn (improving my ears)
    Berklee Modern Method 60 mn (improving my reading)
    Tonal Harmony 30 mn (learning theory concretely and properly)

    All Time Jazz Standards 30 mn (learning standards, breaking music down, improving reading)
    Latin Jazz Standards 30 mn
    Berklee Jazz Standards 30 mn

    Scales 30 mn (hearing how different keys sound, better note awareness on the fret board)

    That's the music budget. Remember that's what I would ideally do. Typically what I do is Earmaster 6, All Time Jazz Standards, Berklee Modern Method. When I am done with Ear Master, which will take at least a year but it is worth it, I will also add, "learning music from ear."

    I hope this offers some guidance.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by docbop
    Reading replies reminds me of one of Howard Roberts talks at early GIT on goal setting. Students would get frustrated with their progress feeling they aren't getting anywhere towards their goal of studio musician, or Jazz guitarist, etc. HR said it's because you're only focusing on the long term goal of studio musician, that's a long process to get to. HR called the long term achievement goal The Big A. HR said you need to break up that Big A into all is tiny subcomponents he called the Little A's. Now you have goals that you can see progress in a short amount of time. This was another reason for keeping a practice journal, if you track this stuff they when you do get frustrated with your progress you can looks at the journal and see you've complete many of these small goals and how these completed small goals were chipping away at your Big A long term goal.

    HR also pointed out to students the further along you get the smaller the accomplishments and longer they take to achieve. That when first starting to play you are accomplishing a lot and quickly and you become used to those big leaps coming fast. Then once you have a foundation the speed and size of accomplishments starts shrinking.

    HR had studied what he called "learning cycles" and had a long to data on how long to study a topic, how to improve learning, how long to learn new physical task or learn mental topic. How to separate the physical from the mental and work on each separately then put together so you aren't trying to learn two things at once without realizing it. When to stop trying to learn something and give brain a chance to take it in and catalog it. HR was a Dirty Guitar Player and a deep thinker.
    I can't find the quote but Howard Roberts once said statements like "I'm going to be a great jazz guitarist in two years time" meant that you were consigning yourself to mediocrity in the interim period. In HR's opinion, short term, task-oriented specific goals were more useful. At the same time, as docbop advises, if practice schedules become too specific, there's a risk of boredom and the possibility that we'll shut ourselves off from the lucky accidents that arise in the process of self-discovery.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dustin1976
    Hi, been a while! Hope all is well. At 41 I'm researching ways to construct a rehearsal routine to push my playing in everything from picking accuracy, chord comping, soloing over different changes ect (whole picture so to speak without writing 18 paragraphs). I'm about to purchase the Jazz Theory Book/Bible by Levine to "back up and punt" on my current knowledge/abilities. Here's my question.

    What's your favorite routines that you feel you get the most out of? Also, are there any routines that maybe famous (you may be or I hope you are or about to be! ) players have talked about that have propelled them into the next stage of playing?

    I know this question has answers as wide as the ocean but thats my point. To get all and condense into something my simple brain can follow! lol

    Thanks for any thoughts friends!

    Dustin
    You live in Raleigh? No way. I grew up in CLT and went to Chapel Hill. The best advice I can offer is to link up with Scott Sawyer, if you don't already know him. Monster player and right in your neck of the woods. I studied with him on and off for a couple years maybe 10-15 years back. He's tremendous. The last couple time John Abercrombie performed in that area he's used Scott (and a few other friends) as his band.

    If you're just looking to keep it here on online and learn what others are working on...

    My priorities are
    1) Listening
    2) Groove/swing
    3) Basic shell voicings
    4) Triads

    Everything else is just an extension of that. I suppose I'd fall into the category of one who lives by the quote ^^^ about not aiming for way off in the future and accepting that we'll be bad until we get there. It's good to be humble and know what we suck at... but my feeling is, let's work on those things and do it in a musical way so that we see immediate results in terms of making music rather than just shedding years worth of muscle memory.

    Since I don't really need to work on listening and groove all that much anymore, I mainly focus on triads. I essentially work on tunes (which involves shell voicings, triads (sometimes upper structure, sometimes not), voice leading, melodic structures - made from, you guessed it, triads)...
    Or I work on "tonalities". I define that to mean when you stack a particular triad over a particular harmonic structure. In other words, if you sit at the piano and play a shell voicing in the left hand and then some type of triad in the right hand... I would refer to that as a tonality. The coming together of a melodic structure and a harmonic structure. I like to delve really deep into the implications and applications of that... deriving melodic structures, pentatonic scales, hexatonic scales, chromatic passing tones, leaps, dyads, 3 4 5 and 6 note voicings, etc.

    Both of these (tunes and tonalities) pretty much utilize the same approach... the only real difference is in whether I'm applying it directly into a form with a chord progression and a pre-determined melody, or am I simply applying it to a static chord to give my mind, ear, and fingers a chance to really explore it so that I can then utilize all of that info within tunes and compositions at some other point.

    Either way, the goal is to get to the music quickly and directly. Which is why I agree with the quote above. Sometimes our own self-limiting beliefs can be our biggest stumbling block to playing music.

  21. #20

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    Yeah lived in Raleigh for about 7 years. From Wilson, NC. I know of Scott and have spoken to him before on this and he's definitely the go to person for quality teaching. Little out of my realm of affordability over long term even though it would worth every penny! So, here I'll stay taking in the great advise from you folks and putting it to work. Thanks and cheers!
    D

  22. #21

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    Thanks for all the info people! Just to clear up, I'm not leaning on practicing (scales ect) more than tunes. The former is just to work on the weak right hand technique for a few before getting started on the rest of whatever the routine is going to be. Also constant rotation of all on a weekly basis (fundamentals) and of course tunes as completed. I guess there is no right answer. Plenty here to know what I knew all along though............................................ ..to kick myself in the ass and get to work!


    Cheers !

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dustin1976
    Thanks for all the info people! Just to clear up, I'm not leaning on practicing (scales ect) more than tunes. The former is just to work on the weak right hand technique for a few before getting started on the rest of whatever the routine is going to be. Also constant rotation of all on a weekly basis (fundamentals) and of course tunes as completed. I guess there is no right answer. Plenty here to know what I knew all along though............................................ ..to kick myself in the ass and get to work!
    Cheers !
    One book that I've gotten a LOT of technical mileage out of over the years is Barry Galbraith's book on the Bach Two Part Inventions. I practice them with a looping pedal. They're a great, very musical way of working on technique. I prefer them to any kind of rote scale/arpeggio work which is (for me) somewhat boring, and not always applicable to real musical situations.

    The two part nature of them will make it immediately clear where your sense of time is off or not happening (you'll notice as soon as you play the second part!). They are great for the right hand because they are actual lines and you can practice articulation, fingering in all sorts of different ways.

    It's a short book that only contains the music, so you'll get out of it what you put into it.

  24. #23

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    I think it depends on what your goal is and how far along you are towards achieving it.

    At this stage, I generally focus on remediating weaknesses. Not that I'm recommending that. Maybe I'd be better off starting over from the beginning with a structured program.

    But you asked what people do, so here's my response.

    1. I play with other people as often as I possibly can. And, I try to play, as much as possible, with better players than myself. That's really important. I think it makes you find a way to improve as fast as you can.

    2. At home I practice tunes with IRealPro backing tracks. I set it for 13 repeats and to change key by a fourth every chorus. As I do this, I drill myself on arps for each chord in 5 positions. I also try to connect them smoothly, so I start each new arp on a note near where I left off the previous arp. I don't do this in a strict order. I also will do this for scales sometimes, but I'm trying to get more space in my lines, so arps are more helpful to me than running scales -- unless I discipline myself not to play the notes of the scale in order.

    3. I work on tunes, often focusing on groove issues. So, that includes listening to original recordings and trying to cop the comping patterns and feel.

    4. I work on picking, generally by playing scales, but also some challenging tunes. I wish I had a more effective practice regime for that, since I never seem to progress much.

    5. I learn chord voicings best from tunes rather than in the abstract, but I do work some on moving grips through scales. I have found that particularly helpful with melodic minor harmony.

  25. #24

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    Hi OP! I have literally no idea what to suggest as EVERY STUDENT IS DIFFERENT. I have no idea what your strengths, weaknesses, interests or personality.

    In general though, most students who come to me need to learn to noodle less and play with more intention and accuracy.

    That means concentrate on what you are trying to play before you play it. If you are trying to play some music by ear for instance, make sure you really listen to and can sing perfectly the melodic line before you play it.

    The other thing guitarists need to do less is talk about theory on the internet ;-) (*looks shifty and guilty*)

  26. #25

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    Useful things here fellas, Thanks ! Keep em rolling in. Will help me design the plan.

    D