Important unanswered beginners issue

[jeppelavsen]

Hey everybody!

First I must thank you all for being so helpful on we beginners' questions, and what a load of information you find here!

Well. Like most of the other beginners to jazz, i have the problem with "what to practice". And searching through these threads have giving me alot of fantastic answers.
But now i would like an answer that would REALLY halp me and hopefully a lot of other beginner players.
(I should say that i'm not a beginning guitarist i have played rock for many years and im only new to jazz. I also got a fine hang on the theory):

Can you make a list specific of tunes and solos to learn?
Many have said "listen to Joe Pass" "Listen to Wes Montgomery", but can you tell me some of the solos they have made that a really worth transcribing? It could also be horn players or piano players? Please help me! (:

[derek]

Okay, I will bite. As far as solos and tunes to get going with, there isn't a much better place to start than Miles' Kind of Blue (So What & All Blues). Great playing, easy to pick up on, not too complicated, but swings like crazy and gets you into some vocab. Horns obviously, but translates well to guitar.

From there, I would check out Grant Green's Green Street (Alone Together & Round Midnight) and Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (Midnight Blue & Chitlins Con Carne). I love Joe Pass and Wes, but I don't think they are necessarily good places for beginners to jazz to start. I am sure others may disagree. Good luck

[FatJeff]

For a first transcription, I'd suggest a slow blues. Try Lester Young's "Back To The Land": YouTube - Back To The Land - Lester Young. Or, Wes Montgomery's "The Thumb" (you don't necessarily need to do the octaves like Wes does, just single-notes).

Almost any Miles Davis solo is good (like Derek said). He doesn't play all that fast, most of the time. And his phrasing is excellent. Stay away from most other trumpet players at the beginning, though (like Woody Shaw or Clifford Brown) - they like to do super fast chromatic runs and it's really hard to hear unless you use a "slower downer".

You might want to look into Hank Mobley. Great saxophonist and very melodic - you won't have to spend a lot of time figuring out wacky extensions/alterations. JJ Johnson is also a good one to check out. He's a great bop trombonist.

[bass2man]

Great Question! For me, it is getting a handle on playing ii-V-I's which is the basis for 90% of jazz tunes.
I spent a bunch of time on the related scales of that progression...and it sounded like playing scales, so I changed tactics and have spent the last few months playing/learning licks over two basic forms - jazz blues and Rhythm Changes. It has really helped playing over jazz standards as those progressions have a lot of ii-V's in them.

Some tunes to play over are: jazz blues - Billies Bounce, minor jazz blues- Mr. P.C. and Birk's works, Bird Blues Changes - Blues for Alice, Rhythm Changes - Oleo.

You can find solos tabbed out on the web..

I use Band in the box and start at about 80 Bpm....hope this helps.