Beginning theory/technique/reading/everything - overwhelmed!

[Buster Loaf]

Thanks for all the responses, I'm getting from you guys that I really need to start learning some songs. I'll try and work on that.

I'm not sure if I can just put a CD in and do it by ear, I can't even tune my guitar by ear.

Is there a more structured self study approach I can take to all this?

OK, OK. If some one really has to hold your hand....start here, take care of this:"I can't even tune my guitar by ear". THiS is a MAJOR issue that needs attention.

[a_small_coyote]

OK, OK. If some one really has to hold your hand....start here, take care of this:"I can't even tune my guitar by ear". THiS is a MAJOR issue that needs attention.

Yeah and actually you can start by not responding to my posts anymore with your unhelpful garbage. Thanks.

[a_small_coyote]

a) Go back to roots. Jazz was originally built on straightforward folk/pop music (the popular music of the time), so requirement #1 for a jazz musician was to be able to play that straightforward folk/pop music. That may mean things that don't appeal to you like When the Saints or Just A Closer Walk With Thee, but you really should be able to do those three or four chord bashes and not just do them, but do them with your eyes shut, on automatic pilot. I'm not saying don't do more complicated things if you feel up to them, but first things first.
b) Find someone to play with, if only occasionally. There are dozens of reasons for this, beginning with the fact that jazz is in essence a collective music.

I actually like the sound of these suggestions from you and monk regarding learning old standards. I wouldn't mind being able to play a large amount of music.

I maybe was exaggerating a little bit when I said I couldn't play an entire song, I do have very few songs I can play all the way through, and have a few more that are at about 90% for me.

Either way, it sounds nice to be able to play a bunch of different tunes and have a good foundation of a library to build on. Plus the thought of twisting up some classics in my own way sounds really cool too

monk: I'm thinking I'll go ahead and pick up the book you suggested and a chord encyclopedia, feels like the Real Book has more complex tunes I should build up to and seems like the GAS would be a good place to begin learning songs. It takes me like 5 minutes to figure out what a Bb7#9 is and apply it to the fretboard lol

[ten left thumbs]

Well that's the thing, I've had lessons when I was younger, and my technical level is pretty high. So while I can play a lot of different passages and runs really well, I just never put together an entire song.

I've got metronome practice and sight reading practice to get me up to snuff on the stuff I glossed over when I was younger. Kinda filling in the cracks of the foundation. So if I got a teacher, I would like a jazz teacher for sure.

No skype connection, I just surf the internet at work, dont have internet at home.

OK, I get a clearer picture now. If you must self-teach, then you do that - self-teach. MM is a good strategy for learning guitar. Following the suggestions here will help. But what you need to do is very much what a teacher would have you do: focus on a couple of things, then move on. Your dangers are getting bogged down in something too difficult, not moving on, getting overwhelmed. You need to steer a middle course between moving on and getting things right.

I hope this is helpful.

[henryrobinett]

And the good news is you end up teaching yourself anyway. You just have to be good at selecting the proper material and KNOW how to practice.

[coolvinny]

That's a good question.

I work strange hours so I don't have a lot of time to schedule lessons with, I stay really busy on my offdays doing things with a necessary higher priority than my guitar playing, so guitar playing and practice gets cordoned off to late at night when I get off work.

Also can't really afford to drop 50 bucks a week just yet, and feel like I've got some materials that can really get me somewhere with self study. I'm not closed off to the idea of getting a good teacher, and there's a well known jazz guitarist in my area apparently that does lessons. Just not something that's too feasible for me right now.

In other news, I did write a pretty nice few measures last night. Not jazz at all but sounds great either way

Hmmm....I am not persuaded. Most jazz guitar players have pretty flexible schedules, so you should be able to find a time of day (or night) to take a lesson. And you don't have to take weekly lessons...I only take lessons every 2 weeks or so, sometimes 3 weeks. Of course, you need an "independent" teacher for this (as opposed to through a music school/store). If necessary, take just one lesson per month. You will still get a lot out just one lesson a month, and obviously it's much cheaper than going every week.

Also, practicing at night may not be productive if you are mentally fried by then. Try to do a bit earlier in the day.

[henryrobinett]

Some teachers still might not do it. I'm a real stickler. I have to be convinced that the student will work it for an every two week lesson. I generally don't allow this. Sometimes we take it on a trial basis. One week is too short and two weeks is too long. I like the pressure one week brings. And I don't do private lessons in association with any store or school.

[ecj]

Coyote, not sure how much time you have to practice. If you're really training for triathlons, that's gonna eat up a chunk of time. Here's what I'd do if I had, say, 2 hrs a day to practice and was serious about learning quickly.

For the next 6 months:
- Listen to jazz for at least an hour a day outside of your practice time. Do you have a smartphone? Cue up the Pandora "Vocal Jazz Standards" or "Bebop Combo" stations and listen on your headphones at work, during your commute, etc. This will give you an appreciation for how to sound like you want to sound.

1) Keep spending 30 mins a day working through the Leavitt book. It'll start to apply in time.
2) Buy the Mickey Baker jazz guitar books and spend another 30 mins a day working through those.
3) Spend 30 mins a day learning your chords. You'll need these together to play the tunes. I'd spend 90% of your time right now on learning to play the standards as a rhythm player and wait to start really shedding the solo stuff. You're getting plenty of foundation in single line stuff through Leavitt anyway. Here's what I'd do:
- Learn to play your major, minor, diminished and augmented triads on all string groups (EAD, ADG, DGB, GBE) in all inversions. Pick a key, say C, and try to play all four of those triads in all positions. You will learn the fretboard extremely quickly if you do this, and you will start to understand how chord construction works. This means for C maj you need to find all the places you can finger CEG on the neck. Then EGC for 1st inversion. Then GCE for second. Let the theory stuff you already know guide you.
- Learn to put those triads over bass notes to make 4-note chord voicings. Learn maj, min, maj 7, min 7, dom 7, min 7b5, and dim7 voicings first. Can you finger your 2nd inversion C min triad on the top three strings and find a C note below it? In the same key that you did your triad work, do all the four note chords.
- Pick a different key every day until you feel like you are kicking ass at this.
4) Spend your last 30 mins a day playing songs out of your Real Book. Pick an easy tune like "Autumn Leaves". Listen to a bunch of different versions of it on YouTube. Learn to sing the melody. Learn to play the chords while you sing the melody (even if you are not a good singer this will help you TONS). See if you can do it in a different key. See if you can do it in all 12 keys. Rinse and repeat.

Once you get up to speed comfortably playing standards with good groove, go find some other musicians and jam. Then start working on your soloing. Learn some new chords. You should already know loads from Leavitt and Baker that you'll start figuring out how to apply by this point.

Just my 2 cents.

[a_small_coyote]

Hey guys, just wanted to check in and say your replies are much appreciated. Its my weekend right now and since im not at work I don't have internet and am browsing with my smartphone. This thing is terrible for this so I will get back to this when I return to work. Thanks again!

[eston]

Hello jazz community? Its a pleasure being accepted as one of your members. Thank you

[ten left thumbs]

Welcome, eston!