STOP Using iReal Pro For Jazz!

[John A.]

He’s talking about using it as a backing track — which is what I was talking about

No, really? Golly gee how could I have missed that?

[pamosmusic]

No, really? Golly gee how could I have missed that?

Noted

[pamosmusic]

I actually think it also means just jamming with the record

Yeah I used to do this all the time when I was first learning guitar and I never worried about like … stepping on BB Kings toes or anything.

Then I started learning jazz and the local music store had two books of Hal Leonard backing tracks and I bought them and it stopped occurring to me to play along with jazz stuff the way I did with basically everything else.

kind of weird

[Hep To The Jive]

I played along with tons of rock and blues records and it felt fine. Rock and blues 99% has a singer on it, and you can improvise around the voice and not feel like stepping on anyone shoes. Also you can play the rhythm guitar as is because it well structured and repetitious.

The jazz records mostly instrumental music . Someone is always soloing and the comping is all over the place. It does feel like you are stepping on everyone shoes when you try to play along improvising. But as Patrick said, some people still do it anyway. Good for them.

[mr. beaumont]

There you go! A solution to the problem! (that never really existed to begin with but tsssss....) Now we can breath- we're not gonna lose our swing feel and ruin our lives.

I tried what dude did in the video, it works, I guess.

I've long been a proponent of turning the piano player OFF.

In the end, if someone's swing feel sucks, iReal had nothing to do with it.

[omphalopsychos]

I saw that Phil Wilkinson was mentioned in the YT chapters. Phil is an incredible musician and his tracks are fantastic.

For practicing, I still think you get the most out of just playing with the metronome to force yourself to hear/indicate the changes on your own. But (good) tracks are cool to (1) practice playing off a grooving band that varies in intensity (something ireal does not do) (2) have something useful to play with if you want to put something on the internet.

Every teacher I've had, however, agrees you're gonna get more out of a looper and recording your own tracks. They just might not be as fun to listen to since guitar comping for guitar is less cool than organ + drums comping for guitar.

[omphalopsychos]

Also I randomly stumbled on this and we might have a new contestant for best backing track. TLDR this app dissects tracks and splits out the various instruments, so you can isolate and selectively delete instruments. What could be a better backing track than the isolated rhythm section of original record?!?!?!

The player in the video just talks about the isolating component so you can learn guitar parts more easily, but both things apply.

[omphalopsychos]

Ah here you go.

[John A.]

I think it's probably worth noting that if you're a relative beginner with little or no experience playing with others (or even with a teacher) using backing tracks and iReal can probably lead to some bad habits, and maybe a stilted sense of swingtime. But if you're already experienced and these are only two tools among many you use to learn and practice you probably don't have to worry about that.

[ewall]

I think it's important to note that the two YT videos posted above are both promotional- meaning the creators got paid for their production. At the end of the day, whatever works for you, works.

[2bornot2bop]

I’ve used Jamey Aebersold’s books and rhythm section cd’s for 35 years. I met Jamey when I began piano during an instruction session when he came through Seattle. Really nice guy, who’s fluent on sax, piano, drums, and bass.

I swear by his recordings, and have benefited from them greatly. The cd’s basically are like playing with a real jazz rhythm section, so I don’t understand the beef with that. But to each their own.

I’ve not invested in ireal Pro, but I’m a member of open studio, and it’s increased my learning by participating with professional jazz musicians. There’s no replacement for playing with a professional.

[Little Jay]

Bit of a late reaction, but last week on the jamsession pianist called Yesterdays, which is not on my repertoire. Normally I step off when they call a tune I don't know, but they wanted me to stay. Thanks to iReal I could squeeze out this solo (filmed by my wife, haha):

[JazzPadd]

I put likes on several of these posts, but never got around to replying. I think as several have said, if you are already playing with others and know what it feels like, using these tracks is more fun than using a metronome. Lately I started using Quartet, which sounds better than IRP, but not as many tunes nor as flexible. If I'm learning a tune for sessions to jam with others, I use the books that are commonly used in the community. In Japan, it's the two volume Jazz Standard Bible, which has about 500 tunes, more than I've ever needed. Some one took the time to make IRP charts for the most of the 500 tunes, so if I want to get JSB tunes up tempo and become familiar with the head and changes as it may be expected at a jam locally, I use that. If the tunes are in Quartet, I use that, too.