The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I read another thread where a guy got told not to talk TAB on a jazz site. I wish I read that a few years ago!

    I read music for clarinet no problem and can sight read well but the multiple notes for guitar really throws me.

    Having read the advice on the other thread I can see I need to improve. Is there a technique for reading guitar music like looking for, say, top note and bottom and then all the rest fall in between?

    Any software available to help?

    thanks

    P

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    For jazz, just make sure you can read a lead sheet--chords above, melody on the staff...

    Very rarely will you be given a chart with actual voicings written in...this is jazz--that's your job

    And yeah, no tab...jazz isn't guitar centric music, nor is it music where it's common for cats form a band and get together and rehearse for hours and "write songs"----that's why...we need to be able to communicate with other instruments more readily than say, a rock group. Songwriting in a jazz sense is usually more like--here's the melody and the chords, come up with your part...

  4. #3

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  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
    For jazz, just make sure you can read a lead sheet--chords above, melody on the staff...

    Very rarely will you be given a chart with actual voicings written in...this is jazz--that's your job

    And yeah, no tab...jazz isn't guitar centric music, nor is it music where it's common for cats form a band and get together and rehearse for hours and "write songs"----that's why...we need to be able to communicate with other instruments more readily than say, a rock group. Songwriting in a jazz sense is usually more like--here's the melody and the chords, come up with your part...
    Not always true...big band jazz charts can sometimes become somewhat challenging. Jazz covers a lot of territory. One may also need to read arrangements in a smaller group setting at times.

  6. #5

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    Good point.

  7. #6

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    I've come across a few arrangements with all notes...no chords notated...

    a challenge if this is not in your practice routine...

    the berklee method starts on this at the entry level..reading the notes..

    like some of my classical studies...keeps you on your toes for sure..

    it takes time...start slowly..if you finish 4-8 bars you could not play yesterday...you've gained some ground...

    time on the instrument...

  8. #7

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    I read well...anything and I transpose... You played clarinet... Can you really sight read or do know how to memorize notation...

    Sight reading on guitar is still the same process, you need to be able to be reading the music ahead of what your playing... The further your able to get ahead, the easier it is.

    Guitar players are able to determin positions from being ahead also... Your able to make choices.

    It's still the same... You need to be able to recognize rhythmic, melodic and harmonic patterns.... That generally comes from organized practice of all those aspects of jazz.

    While your developing these skills... And your performing... Yes, top line is always good start, generally in most jazz situations the rhythmic aspects are almost the most important.

    Your talking about what's going to be heard first... Move the mistakes to the back of the bus.

    the rhythm and top note first, then bottom and fill from there. I play all types of gigs... Very rarely do parts involve sections of notated out chordal structures.

    And when they are.... They generally suck. Most don't know how to compose or arrange guitar voicings... But that's different subject...

    It does take organized practice time.
    Reg

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Reg
    I read well...anything and I transpose... You played clarinet... Can you really sight read or do know how to memorize notation...

    Sight reading on guitar is still the same process, you need to be able to be reading the music ahead of what your playing... The further your able to get ahead, the easier it is.

    Guitar players are able to determin positions from being ahead also... Your able to make choices.

    It's still the same... You need to be able to recognize rhythmic, melodic and harmonic patterns.... That generally comes from organized practice of all those aspects of jazz.

    While your developing these skills... And your performing... Yes, top line is always good start, generally in most jazz situations the rhythmic aspects are almost the most important.

    Your talking about what's going to be heard first... Move the mistakes to the back of the bus.

    the rhythm and top note first, then bottom and fill from there. I play all types of gigs... Very rarely do parts involve sections of notated out chordal structures.

    And when they are.... They generally suck. Most don't know how to compose or arrange guitar voicings... But that's different subject...

    It does take organized practice time.
    Reg
    Reg,

    I bought "Music reading for guitar" by David Oakes, started on that. I played clarinet for a good few years and sight read like I would reading aloud, I have read several seconds ahead of what I am playing.

    Guitar, I've never looked at notation before, probably because I started out with a book of chords, for which shape and position are easy enough. I struggle with numeric TAB in that the numbers don't look like shapes and I struggle to see the changes in numbers. Melody, I can play anything I can think of in my head, I just know where my hand needs to be for the note I am thinking of but I wouldn't know what note name it is.

    I just wondered if regular CM players used a technique to pick up a new tune.

  10. #9

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    Maybe I don't understand what you mean by notation.... I think of any system to represent the music ... Some are better than others. Tab is almost useless down the line. When you say numerical or numbers, do you mean for example, Bb7#9 or actual tab?

    Typical jazz charts are usually melody, changes and rhythmic kicks. For heads or specifically desired sections with specific parts... They're notated out and generally have different section with solo changes. Pretty much traditional notational practice with jazz shorthand whenever possible.

    If I'm missing your point.... Let me know and I'll try and make more comments.
    Reg

  11. #10

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    Howard Roberts has a good sight reading book, and there's the Leavitt stuff.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by RyanM
    Howard Roberts has a good sight reading book, and there's the Leavitt stuff.
    Yep. I can "read" and puzzle out about anything, but my sight-reading is bad. I'm using Leavitt's Modern Method 1 and 2, and some Kruetzer studies (I can send you those), and some easy classical solos. Just keep mixing it up so you don't memorize - but you know that probably.

    Leavitt did some supplemental books for sight-reading: Melodic Rhythms for Guitar (a bit advanced, but not too much), Classical Studies for pick style guitar - a good one.

    Amazon has 50 Easy Flute Pieces, or something close to that, which would probably work. Use your clarinet music for sure.

    kj

  13. #12
    Another good resource that's pretty simple is sightreading the Real Book.

    Don't go for any of the bop tunes, at least not yet. Go for swing, mid tempos.

  14. #13

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    As SOTS mentioned, the real books... good to read through for learning Jazz changes, jazz rhythms, jazz melodic phrasing etc... and you'll also learn tunes.

    If you also pay attention you'll also see how tunes are organized... the basic Forms... how each section is organized, the use of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic aspects to reinforce or even become the organizational concept...
    +1000

  15. #14

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    Interesting discussion. I've spent a good portion of my musical life (still do) in the Classical Guitar world and the discussion concerning tabs vs standard notation rages over there as well, albeit with a mite more militant tone than this discussion.... I find in the Classical guitar theater the reluctance to embrace tablature, as a secondary notation with some value, a bit odd as a significant portion of their repertoire (pre ca. 1750), quite unlike the jazz repertoire, was originally written in tab, but it is what it is.

    For jazz, my impression is that tabs are of little value except maybe for the very beginner (these folks should be taught standard notation from day one anyways, IMO) or perhaps the solo guitarist who never plays with another. But as soon as a second player or singer is introduced ones ability to satisfactorily communicate with ones colleagues sharply falls off. I'm open to being wrong as I don't use tablature except for the pre 1750 Renaissance and Baroque stuff so others may have a different experience. I couldn't imagine using tabs for jazz, it's so theory-centric (if that's a word) that everyone has to be speaking and understanding the exact same language to be fully understood. But, I notice many new publications use both standard notation and tabs which seems to be causing some confusion...it's a case of trying to reach the largest number of sales so I cannot really blame the publishers, I suppose.

    To the question of how to improve sight reading...this is how I did it back in the day. In the beginning, I'd get a stack of single line music, no particular genre or instrument (well, no transposing instruments to begin with, later was OK) open on page one, start reading very slowly at the top of the page and continue without repeating to the end. Then I'd open the next edition on the pile, same thing. I remember, the first couple weeks were a real slog but I was surprised how quickly I improved to the point where I could read competently, probably better than I could play As I improved I'd add more complicated material, piano scores, orchestral score (read all the different parts), classical guitar score (J.S. Bach is amazing to improve sight reading)...

    This might not work for everyone and one can spend lots of hard earned cash on all the fancy books teaching "sight reading" but there really is no substitute for just doing it.
    Last edited by Scot Tremblay; 02-12-2014 at 07:39 PM.

  16. #15

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    I don't understand why their are books on learning to read music. As far as I'm concerned you are reading music or your not. Simple. Like most anything else the more you do it the easier it gets.

  17. #16

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    I think it is common to teach beginners to only use open strings, 1st finger on 1st fret, 2nd finger on 2nd fret , 3rd on 3rd and 4th finger on 4th fret. That is called the open position if I remember correctly.
    In the open position there is just one option to play each note (except B).

    After practising reading in the open position for a while, one can start practising reading in other fingering positions on the neck, but for each position, you have only one option for most of the notes (for some notes you can choose if you want to reach a certain note with a 1st finger stretch or a 4th finger stretch),

    Some books start with excercises that use only a limited number of notes, maybe just 2 or 3 notes in the beginning and then add one note at a time.


    Quote Originally Posted by edh
    I don't understand why their are books on learning to read music. As far as I'm concerned you are reading music or your not. Simple. Like most anything else the more you do it the easier it gets.
    The more you write, does it get easier to not confuse their and there, or your and you're?

    It is a typical example of something that can be easy to learn from a book (or website), as compared to trying to get it right by just doing it a lot.
    Last edited by orri; 02-13-2014 at 06:40 PM.

  18. #17

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    Touche.

  19. #18

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    Not to intrude, but whenever I see the question of how to learn to read music, my response would be a multifaceted approach. First, I would get the simplest Sor etudes, which are to a degree progressive in difficulty, along with a good classical instruction book or actual guitar lessons. Second, I advocate learning to play Segovia's edition of the major and minor diatonic scales in all keys. Third, if one is ambitious, learn to play keyboards as well.

    Finally, I would suggest to any serious music student to learn to use a version of notation software. Truly you can learn by doing. Creating your own transcriptions and original music is so valuable.