The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I’ve practiced at home way longer than I wanted to.

    I found local blues jams and went

    I went onstage and none of the good ideas I have at home came to me

    I recorded myself and it’s about as….. unpolished as I expected.

    Now, aside from continuing to show up and work it out onstage, what can I do at home to get ideas on stage.

    I was thinking about learning a few cliche licks to start myself off. Usually by the end of my solo I have an idea, but then the singer starts and it’s gone by the next shot.

    I also highly recommended everyone find a jam and go. If there’s no jazz jam in your area find a blues jam, it’s a hundred times better than no jam. You can always call Stormy Monday if you need more chords.

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  3. #2

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    I presume this was with an audience? See if any of the others present with whom you feel some kind of connection would be interested in coming over to your place, or meet up somewhere else to jam without the added stress of having an audience.

    I often have a similar effect when I'm about to start playing for a teacher; almost all the progress I thought I made is gone all of a sudden. What helps is to imagine being in the stressful situation when you practise. Normally don't wear shoes at home, but the day of my lesson I put on the pair I'll be going out with to practise. I also lower my stool (the day before, in fact!) because the school where I take my lessons never thought of adults when they ordered their furniture
    Maybe there's something in these thoughts that'll help you?

  4. #3

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    I like that, since it’s a blues jam I’m standing to play which isn’t something I ever do at home.

    It would be great to find a horn player who wants to jam. Wouldn’t help my single lines, but I feel like I’ve always been better with comping/rhythm guitar.

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by AllanAllen
    I like that, since it’s a blues jam I’m standing to play which isn’t something I ever do at home.
    That's exactly why the chair height problem is so new and cumbersome for me ... as a violinist I always practised and took my lessons standing. And even when I did have to sit on a bad chair all it didn't change the position of my instrument (as to the bow, you have an avoidance problem with your right leg on just about any chair). With the guitar I find myself playing unexpected strings if I'm not on a familiar chair...

  6. #5

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    Force yourself to make lines at home. Realize it isn't as ethereal as you make it out to be. All lines are is rhythms put to a set of notes, the scale, box, tonality or whatever. String together motifs. You should mix short motifs and long motifs. If you listen to jazz players it's both. It isn't one or the other. Only long motifs is incoherent. Only short motifs sounds like a noob. But it's part of the language to use some short motifs like 3-8 notes. Then some longer lines. Again, force yourself to put rhythms to your note set. Not that ridiculous of a challenge. If it sounds bad, analyze why it sounded bad. Was the note choice bad? Or the rhythm bad or both? Break it down to a simple challenge and eliminate the idea that everything has to be all creative or nothing.

  7. #6

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    Don’t be discouraged! Playing out is usually much more difficult than playing at home. So many distractions make it hard to get in the zone.
    Recording your gig is one of the best things you can do. I learn every time I do it, and I’ve played thousands of gigs.
    Keep at it. It’s normal for it to take a while to nail stuff at a gig that you can do easily at home.

  8. #7

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    It’s think technical stuff like hitting the wrong string or getting lost on the fretboard. Then it’s this lost at sea feeling with an “Oh yeah, they key is G, just go there.”

    That’s why I was thinking about a signature lick to pull myself out.

    The endless dilemma of wanting to be more better right now.

  9. #8

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    When you mentioned practicing, have you been playing along with recordings of blues musicians you like? I found that to be very helpful; I would just put an Albert King album or a Stevie Ray Vaughan album or a B.B. King album on the stereo and jam with it. I might try to pick up a line or lick that they played or I might not.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by AllanAllen
    It’s think technical stuff like hitting the wrong string or getting lost on the fretboard. Then it’s this lost at sea feeling with an “Oh yeah, they key is G, just go there.”

    That’s why I was thinking about a signature lick to pull myself out.

    The endless dilemma of wanting to be more better right now.
    Yeah, it's technical stuff. Listening to your music, you have the creativity. Don't degrade yourself by thinking you have to instantly hear great music and have it come out of your instrument. Learn the actual mechanics of making lines. Say to yourself I'm going to play some 8th notes, then I'm going to phrase. I'm going to run scale and arp ideas across the neck. I'm going to use a lick, I'm going to make up my own licks. I'm going to use another device I've been working on. Did that swing? Are my rhythms good? Why did that sound bad? There's a reason. Poor rhythm or poor note choices. The mechanics of it and the art of it go hand in hand. Once your technical skills get better, you'll be able to express your creativity better.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith
    All lines are is rhythms put to a set of notes, the scale, box, tonality or whatever. String together motifs. You should mix short motifs and long motifs.
    I'm reminded of something Doug Macleod says about licks in his "101 Blues Essentials" course. I'll let him say it himself

  12. #11

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    It's just lack of experience and knowledge. Also you may not be a natural performing musician. Or you may be.

    Basically you have to be able to do it without thinking. Someone hits a three-chord trick, you have to know exactly where you are and how to do it and you churn it out, no problem. That's all.

    Ideas that you've practised at home will probably vanish when you're on a stage, hence empty brain. But if you have the basics down, which gives you the underlying confidence in what you're doing, then you'll adjust to the stage mentality. Then you'll be able to think of other stuff while you're playing.

    You need to know the songs, the chords, and the basics without any problem. And it helps if you have to do more than one song at a time otherwise you won't have time to relax into the stage-mind.

    But, like I say, you may not be a natural on-stage performer. Some creative people are, some aren't. Not many artists would choose to paint or sculpt while they were being watched. And writers would never be able to do it. You have to find out whether you are or not.

    Get a simple blues backing track on a long loop, maybe 10 minutes. Plug in your guitar. Walk into the room, pick up the guitar, start the track and just PLAY. Don't stop, don't hesitate, don't get distracted, carry on. If you make a mistake, recover and continue. Keep going and see what happens. Don't record it.

    Do it a lot. Do it in different keys. You'll soon get used to the idea. Then, when you go to the jam, you'll know where you are. Simple.

  13. #12

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    And, by the way...

    If you're going to play standing up on the stage, practice standing up too. Get used to it.

    Keep it simple and clear. Work within your limitations. Don't try to impress anybody. It's an amateur jam, you're not expected to sound like BB King, or Albert King, or whoever you like. Just get round it.

    Like I said, it helps if they don't just give you one paltry solo, let them give you a workout. You'll be amazed at what comes out.

  14. #13

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    Lots of good advice here. I think you are doing all the right things, and just need to keep doing them.

    It is pretty commonly accepted that only about 30 percent of what you have in the practice room will show up on stage. As Gilpy mentioned, there are a ton of distractions on stage that are not present at home. The only way around that is to keep playing on stage.

    Memorizing some licks is a good idea. When playing covers, you have to "over-memorize" the song so well that you are SICK of playing it in order to keep it together when someone else in the band gets lost, or an obnoxious drunk in the crowd is distracting, or your attention wanders ... and this is just when playing something you have worked out well in advance. Improvising on stage is yet another skill, and it requires even more work: You memorize the tune, some landmarks on the fretboard, some licks that could provide starting points or disaster-recovery, and presumably enough ear training and theory to hear and understand what is going on in real time, so that you can react to it creatively and musically. It's a big task that requires you to put together multiple skills on the fly; again, doing it a lot will make it easier.

    Getting lost on the fretboard or hitting a wrong string is completely unrelated to the other problems, but very distracting! Again these skills will improve with practice.

    Learn to hear and play song form; both skills will help you avoid getting lost. You need to actually be able to "feel" where you are in the tune, instead of thinking chord-to-chord. Practice this with other people outside of the jam. Make a point of NOT getting lost while soloing rather than trying to play great solos. Everyone in the band has the job of playing form, not getting lost, and getting others back on track when they do get lost, whether on stage or in the practice room. In the practice room, anyone can yell out "No we are at the second A section" or "No this is the bridge" to each other as necessary to keep the ensemble on track. It is VERY common for beginning improvisers to lose the form - you're so busy thinking of chords and lines that you lose the big picture. So make a point of practicing form with others outside of the jam. At the jam, you may see the leader or the soloist use hand signals like pointing to their head to cue others to go to the head or making an arc through the air at waist level to cue others to go to the bridge. This is generally used to transition between open sections, rather than to help someone who is lost. For example, when playing Night In Tunisia, it is common to solo over the main form and then play the interlude to transition to the next soloist; you might indicate to others that you are wrapping up your solo by making the "bridge" sign in the air.

    Keep it up - and have fun!

    HTH

    SJ

  15. #14

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    I went onstage and none of the good ideas I have at home came to me
    So you want to sound good, but you think you didn't sound good enough?

    Well, check out Kenny Werner and his book "Effortless Mastery". Should give you some insight....

    BTW: Playing alone at home vs. playing in front of people has nothing to do with each other... You can't practice the latter doing the first.


    PS. You don't have to get the book though it's a nice read. There are lots of Y Tubes of him giving clinics and teaching his theory
    PPS. Licks won't help.
    PPPS. As soon as you stand and play in front of people you're doing a show! Jazz musicians tend to forget that sometimes. Smile, look at the crowd not the fingerboard, have fun, entertain!

  16. #15

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    OK, so... reading this thread as it has continued, I might have something to add... or at least... a perspective...

    From the time I started to learn to play at 16, to the time I stopped gigging (about 26 years old), I never had a problem performing/improvising on stage. At that time in my life, I was IMMERSED in it. It's all I thought about, it's all I did.

    Then when I realized I wasn't going to make music my living, I stopped gigging... for about 24 years. I kept playing- for myself- at home. But no gigs.

    Now (3 years ago), I'm in a band. We haven't gigged alot due to covid, but we practice one a week, as often as we can, which in reality probably equal about 30 practices a year. We have played several gigs. And I find myself in the same "empty head" conundrum, not just at gigs, but at practice too.

    I think alot of this is simply frequency/repetition. The songs we have rehearsed for 3 years, I can do blindfolded and buzzed. The newer songs, not so much. It's not a confidence thing for me (altho I think confidence can have ALOT to do with this equation: actually, it can be MOST of the equation), but it's simply "how many times have I played this song, and is it enough times to know it stone cold." Because THAT is what BREEDS confidence.

  17. #16

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    Some great insights and advice here!!! Thank you.

  18. #17

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    I love this thread title.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by RJVB
    I'm reminded of something Doug Macleod says about licks in his "101 Blues Essentials" course. I'll let him say it himself
    Yeah pretty cool. It's a really underrepresented topic in the pedagogy - that creating the language is only sequencing motifs. Pretty simple concept, but it isn't taught very well or unanimously. I'm going on playing jazz 20 years and I had to get my damn act together and make myself figure out the science of what lines are.

  20. #19

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    Keep the first few bars simple, just to get the groove, then go for it with everything you've got. No remorse for screw ups, just go for it!

  21. #20

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    It's been a couple months and things go better now. Every once in a while I think "Hey this sounds pretty good" which pulls me out of it and I hit a few wonky notes. All part of the process, hope everyone has a stage they can get on.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by RJVB
    That's exactly why the chair height problem is so new and cumbersome for me ... as a violinist I always practised and took my lessons standing. And even when I did have to sit on a bad chair all it didn't change the position of my instrument (as to the bow, you have an avoidance problem with your right leg on just about any chair). With the guitar I find myself playing unexpected strings if I'm not on a familiar chair...
    My solution is to use a guitar strap, adjusted so it is the same (or close) whether I am sitting or standing. I did this only because I got sick of fiddling with chair heights in different places, and those annoying little guitar foot stools, trying to get it comfortable.