'Essential' Technical Exercises for Jazz Guitar

[jamiehenderson1993]

Obviously, some may feel that Technical exercises aren't useful at all! However, I'm curious to see what other Jazzers would view as essential exercises to improve (let's say) technical proficiency as well as maybe vocab/phrasing?

I'd suggest as a start:

• Major Scale (just play it!)
• Major Scale is sequences (3s and 4s)
• Major Scale in various intervals (3rds, 4ths etc)

• Triads through a Scale Pattern (1-3-5, 2-4-6 etc) - as well as adding a chromatic note below the 'root' & adding 7th above too
• Same exercise but playing 3-9 Arpeggio
• Running inversions of triads up a string set as well as diatonically
• Running ii-V-I in shells as well as developing some ii-V-I lines

• And most importantly - applying these to tunes/progressions and following your ear!

Anything else you'd include?

[AllanAllen]

The same thing but flatting just the 3rd.

The other minors are included in the major scale 2nd and 6th position.

But also 60/40 split chords vs single notes. The gig is mostly comping, so play the chords along to a metronome. Or some albums by The Three Sounds, Moods, Blue Hour, they play slow enough to make it challenging.

That’s what I do anyway. Maybe I’ll get good one day.

[pamosmusic]

But also 60/40 split chords vs single notes. The gig is mostly comping, so play the chords along to a metronome. Or some albums by The Three Sounds, Moods, Blue Hour, they play slow enough to make it challenging.

That’s what I do anyway. Maybe I’ll get good one day.

I take exception on this one. It’s a thing people say, but its probably more true in a big market.

Most gigs are trio or quartet with one horn.

So in a trio, you’re probably one part melody, two parts soloing, one part comping.

In a quartet … one part melody (because it helps to know the song and to solo even when you’re not playing it), one and half soloing, one and a half comping.

So …

4/16 melody, 7/16 soloing, 5/16 comping.

HOPE THATS HELPFUL

Obviously it’s not but I do think it can be a little bit misleading to say that comping is the bigger part of the gig. It really depends on the environment and the kind of gigs around and that you’re taking. If there’s a piano involved, you might comp very little.

In music school it’s probably true because you’re in combos where there are multiple horns, and a big band where you might get one or two written solis and one improvisation in a whole concert.

In the real world it’s maybe more nuanced.

In practice, I do 1/3 on tunes, which I split between the melody and improvisation stuff, depending on how comfortable I am with the tune. I do 1/3 technique, which I split between bebop heads and transcribed lines, then I do 1/3 comping, which is universally simple voicings and more working on things like rhythmic patterns and sideslipping and that kind of thing.

In the evening I work on stuff that sounds more like the OP if I still have time.

As for the list in the OP it seems good. I have spent loads of time on that stuff. I would also say a lot of technique should come from transcriptions and hard tunes. You can use the knowledge you have from running that stuff through scales to start moving licks through different parts of the key and stuff, but there’s some idiomatic stuff that’s hard to play and that doesn’t come from the diatonic patterns.

I would also say that if you’re running those patterns, they can be easy to zoom through and not actually help the technique. You should be focused on things like picking patterns, articulation, etc. Fretboard knowledge isn’t the same thing as technique

[GuyBoden]

Essential Exercise: Practice playing only the 3rds and 7ths chord tones on beats 1 and 3 in each bar of a song. Then add more notes by ear.
(It's more difficult than it seems.)

[pamosmusic]

Essential Exercise: Practice playing only the 3rds and 7ths chord tones on beats 1 and 3 in each bar of a song. Then add more notes by ear.
(It's more difficult than it seems.)

Good exercise but not really technique

[AllanAllen]

I take exception on this one. It’s a thing people say, but its probably more true in a big market.

Most gigs are trio or quartet with one horn.

So in a trio, you’re probably one part melody, two parts soloing, one part comping.

In a quartet … one part melody (because it helps to know the song and to solo even when you’re not playing it), one and half soloing, one and a half comping.

So …

4/16 melody, 7/16 soloing, 5/16 comping.

HOPE THATS HELPFUL

Obviously it’s not but I do think it can be a little bit misleading to say that comping is the bigger part of the gig. It really depends on the environment and the kind of gigs around and that you’re taking. If there’s a piano involved, you might comp very little.

In music school it’s probably true because you’re in combos where there are multiple horns, and a big band where you might get one or two written solis and one improvisation in a whole concert.

In the real world it’s maybe more nuanced.

In practice, I do 1/3 on tunes, which I split between the melody and improvisation stuff, depending on how comfortable I am with the tune. I do 1/3 technique, which I split between bebop heads and transcribed lines, then I do 1/3 comping, which is universally simple voicings and more working on things like rhythmic patterns and sideslipping and that kind of thing.

In the evening I work on stuff that sounds more like the OP if I still have time.

As for the list in the OP it seems good. I have spent loads of time on that stuff. I would also say a lot of technique should come from transcriptions and hard tunes. You can use the knowledge you have from running that stuff through scales to start moving licks through different parts of the key and stuff, but there’s some idiomatic stuff that’s hard to play and that doesn’t come from the diatonic patterns.

I would also say that if you’re running those patterns, they can be easy to zoom through and not actually help the technique. You should be focused on things like picking patterns, articulation, etc. Fretboard knowledge isn’t the same thing as technique

Trio of horn guitar and bass.

head, led by horn (comping)
Horn solo (comping)
guitar solo (lead notes)
bass solo (comping)
Out head (comping)

it’s more comping than lead.

[pamosmusic]

Trio of horn guitar and bass.

head, led by horn (comping)
Horn solo (comping)
guitar solo (lead notes)
bass solo (comping)
Out head (comping)

it’s more comping than lead.

Okay. Is the bass solo as long as the guitar solo?

Also:

Trio of guitar bass and drums:

head in — lead
solo — lead
Bass solo — comping
Trade fours — lead
head out — lead

So assuming everything is one chorus, that’s about 80/20 soloing, no?

Longer solos it’ll be less, but the bass solo wont generally be as long as the guitar solo.

For what it’s worth, people don’t work on comping enough. But the “it’s 60% of what a guitarist does” is very much situational.

[AllanAllen]

Okay. Is the bass solo as long as the guitar solo?

Also:

Trio of guitar bass and drums:

head in — lead
solo — lead
Bass solo — comping
Trade fours — lead
head out — lead

So assuming everything is one chorus, that’s about 80/20 soloing, no?

Longer solos it’ll be less, but the bass solo wont generally be as long as the guitar solo.

For what it’s worth, people don’t work on comping enough. But the “it’s 60% of what a guitarist does” is very much situational.

Ahh, that’s my least favorite trio to play in. Drums are loud and unless the bass starts off a tune most of the melody would be on me. And I don’t have that much to say, musically speaking.

[jamiehenderson1993]

I would also say a lot of technique should come from transcriptions and hard tunes. You can use the knowledge you have from running that stuff through scales to start moving licks through different parts of the key and stuff, but there’s some idiomatic stuff that’s hard to play and that doesn’t come from the diatonic patterns.

I would also say that if you’re running those patterns, they can be easy to zoom through and not actually help the technique. You should be focused on things like picking patterns, articulation, etc. Fretboard knowledge isn’t the same thing as technique

As someone who is just starting to get out to jams/gigs, this is a really useful discussion!

When you say the above, specifically the part on transcription, do you mean transcribing a line from a record, getting it under your fingers and then applying it / changing keys / adapting it etc?

[jamiehenderson1993]

Ahh, that’s my least favorite trio to play in. Drums are loud and unless the bass starts off a tune most of the melody would be on me. And I don’t have that much to say, musically speaking.

Out of interest, why don't you like taking the melody? It's something I really enjoy!

[pamosmusic]

Ahh, that’s my least favorite trio to play in. Drums are loud and unless the bass starts off a tune most of the melody would be on me. And I don’t have that much to say, musically speaking.

Well …. Maybe if you spent more time practicing that melody BOOM GOT HIM!

Just kidding — but that’s sort of the point. It’s only recently that I made any real effort to balance my chord practice and my other practice, and people generally don’t focus on chords at all. So it’s good advice. But beyond a good balance, and making folks aware that they will tend to let chords fall out of focus if they don’t work not to, the specific mix is going to depend on the individual and what they want/like to do.

[pamosmusic]

As someone who is just starting to get out to jams/gigs, this is a really useful discussion!

When you say the above, specifically the part on transcription, do you mean transcribing a line from a record, getting it under your fingers and then applying it / changing keys / adapting it etc?

Yeah I’m working on some specific sequenced steps for how I do this stuff, in this case using a Wes solo I love. But generally … find a good fingering, focus on the right hand picking, then focus on the articulation, then play it in every key, then move it to another string set and repeat.

But generally there are a lot of technical things that come up in real vocabulary (double enclosure? Specific rhythm things, etc) that don’t come up in the diatonic exercises.

Thats not to say you shouldn’t do the stuff you mentioned. I love that stuff, and it’s super important.

Allan evangelizes that stuff all the time, and for good reason. It’s a decent chunk of Barry Harris’s “ABCs”, so that’s a heavy endorsement right there.

I just think of it as a mix between sort of basic technique and fretboard knowledge stuff. But you need to be careful to work on it in a way that is conducive to technique. If you’re doing that, then it’s going to make all the licks and tunes and stuff much easier to navigate and understand.

[jamiehenderson1993]

Yeah I’m working on some specific sequenced steps for how I do this stuff, in this case using a Wes solo I love. But generally … find a good fingering, focus on the right hand picking, then focus on the articulation, then play it in every key, then move it to another string set and repeat.

But generally there are a lot of technical things that come up in real vocabulary (double enclosure? Specific rhythm things, etc) that don’t come up in the diatonic exercises.

Thats not to say you shouldn’t do the stuff you mentioned. I love that stuff, and it’s super important.

Allan evangelizes that stuff all the time, and for good reason. It’s a decent chunk of Barry Harris’s “ABCs”, so that’s a heavy endorsement right there.

I just think of it as a mix between sort of basic technique and fretboard knowledge stuff. But you need to be careful to work on it in a way that is conducive to technique. If you’re doing that, then it’s going to make all the licks and tunes and stuff much easier to navigate and understand.

I'm actually delighted to hear you say that! Your Bop Heads sheet has been a total eye opener - I am working through them and will give some feedback - I've been super swamped with life & Technique tends to be my default fallback when I can only squeeze in short practice session. I really should reframe that!

But yeah, I've recently been doing lots of enclosure work and trying to combine that with my above exercises e.g. play a line that encloses the 3rd of the chord then go straight into a melodic sequence (maybe ascending 3rds) - it's been really great. The Ted Greene Soloing book has loads of great patterns that I've tried to incorporate too.

Thanks as always for the advice.

[AllanAllen]

Out of interest, why don't you like taking the melody? It's something I really enjoy!

Because I like to hear the trumpet do it. I don’t call anything I don’t know the melody to, you never know when things will fall apart and you need to end the tune. I think it’s easier to recall the melody than improvise an ending when chaos comes along.

I’ll also say, I agree with every point Peter is making. Diatonic stuff can only get you so far, but luckily it’ll get you to the point you can play some Parker heads like Billie’s Bounce and Ornithology.