The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #51

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    Quote Originally Posted by pingu
    i think it’s valuable to do a chord-melody arrangement
    of the tune you’re working on too

    don’t take on too much at once tho
    learning one tune helps with learning another ...
    Thats a very good point. I can't forget about building a chord melody arrangement as well. I guess I could attempt to do that for 30 minutes after I finish learning the melody and chords seperatedly. And its not like I'm going to do this in all one sitting necesarily so, as long as I have 6 (or 9) hours under my belt for the day I'm good to go

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #52

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    Lets see

    Tune 1 (1 hour)
    15 Minutes Melody
    15 Minutes Chords
    10 Minutes 7th Chord Arps
    10 Minutes Transcribe a short lick and experiment it
    10 Minutes Improvise over chord changes

    Tune 2 (1 hour)
    Tune 3 (1 hour)
    Tune 4 (1 hour)
    Tune 5 (1 hour)

    The last hour would be just be a hybrid of reviewing tunes and then selecting a tune making a chord melody arrangement. Maybe 30 minutes reviewing tunes and 30 minutes for chord melodies

  4. #53

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    If you wanna play with others then chances are that you can call some tunes yourself. So besides "just in case practice everything", choose some that you can do something "special" with them. Maybe 10ish favorites that you spend more time with both - some smart comping and more refined solo. Well, just a special treatment.

  5. #54

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    I don't recommend a clock watching, egg timer, stop watch approach to playing the guitar, nor attempting to practice for 6 hours and then play for 3 hours , ever, much less daily. Being in a hurry to learn the guitar is like being impatient for a plant to grow.

    You should not be practicing more than two hours, twice a day. Neither your hands nor your ears are going to get any further benefit from marathon sessions; both need time to internalize and integrate what they experience.

    Here is a more realistic and productive approach you might try:

    - clocks are for making gigs on time; for practicing, forget what time it is and don't time them

    - start off by just playing gently, doesn't matter what because it takes a while for your hands and the guitar (and amp) to warm up and start sounding right. If your guitar was in tune when you finished your last practice, it will be cold and sharp when you begin a new practice. Don't tune the guitar, just play for a while and as the strings warm up they will increase in length and flatten back down into warm tune. The time it takes for this to happen is about the same time it takes for your hands to warm up and for your mind to completely put away extraneous cares and distractions... probably about 15 minutes (don't check the time, just wait to feel everything open up).

    - just like a business meeting, you start with old business first. This means reviewing recent new things you have learned, discovered, invented... you don't want to forget them before you even have a chance to subject them to development and testing, and integrate them into existing structures, or internalize them into your technique.

    - for the middle part, I would suggest forgetting exercises and just work on songs. Everything you want to learn how to do is in the songs you want to be able to play. It's perfectly fine to just work on just one song.

    - for the last part I recommend winding down for a while with exploration, investigation, basically searching for hidden paths and dimensions while your mind is still musically warmed up. Try to grow the habit of finding one new thing at the end of each practice.

    - as you are shutting things off and putting things away, go over the new things in you mind enough to help remember them for the next practice (and don't check the time); a perfectly good practice will probably span anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours, but let the practice tell you when it's done; don't try to keep going against it's will.

  6. #55

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    You might want to check out ‘interleaved practice’ - google it

  7. #56

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    I'd say learn the melody by listening to the tune, with a singer if there are lyrics, repeatedly while you do something else. Get to the point where the melody is burned into your mind.

    Then, put it on the guitar. If you can't play it pretty accurately immediately, then you've got some work to do just practicing thinking of a line or a tune and being able to find the notes without many errors.

    Then, figure out the chords and play them in all 12 keys, around the cycle of fourths. This is more for the ear training.

    IMO you don't memorize the chord names for hundreds of tunes. Rather, you train your ear to the point where you can play the tune simply by being familiar with the way it sounds. I suspect that some people are more gifted with this than others, but ear training does work.

  8. #57

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    I think Bill Evans concentrated on one tune a day. For 10 hours.

  9. #58

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    The point of any practice is to secure things in memory. It could be tunes (melody and chords) or improvisational skills.

    There are no short cuts. This is unfortunate because most of us can't devote hours and hours per day. Consequently most peoples' practice consists of years of experience. Maybe the most effective way is to do both, some playing with others, some time by oneself.

    Then there's the question of priorities. If one has to do a gig with a set list then obviously one has to know those tunes. That's simple.

    If one is expected to improvise, and that is a weakness, then:

    1) One has to know the chord sequence completely and without effort.
    2) One does not have to sound like the most famous players to be effective.
    3) Keep it simple and as diatonic as possible, only putting in altered or outside sounds where the tune demands it.
    4) Bear in mind more people have failed through trying to be flash than for any other reason.

    Here endeth the lesson

  10. #59

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pycroft
    That looks like an awful lot to take in in one session . Are you sure that's sustainable ?

    As far as practice goes generally , I would advise to start with what you know and expand a bit from there . I think of learning music as being a bit like moving to a new city that you don't know and learning to find your way around . You start off with the simple neccessities ( home , work , shops , pub/church ) and as you repeat those daily , start to discover new areas and how they connect . If you just start walking the streets at random you end up lost .

    I find it useful to make a distinction between , and keep seperate , the different types or functions of practicing -

    1-Cognition/theory
    2-Drilling/muscle memory
    3-Praxis/playing music

    Yep, that's good. But the first is not instrumental practice. It can be done with one's instrument 1000 miles away. Kind of like - no - exactly like taking your Berklee online music theory class while on your beach vacation.

  11. #60

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    Quote Originally Posted by jazznylon
    Lets see

    Tune 1 (1 hour)
    15 Minutes Melody
    15 Minutes Chords
    10 Minutes 7th Chord Arps
    10 Minutes Transcribe a short lick and experiment it
    10 Minutes Improvise over chord changes

    Tune 2 (1 hour)
    Tune 3 (1 hour)
    Tune 4 (1 hour)
    Tune 5 (1 hour)

    The last hour would be just be a hybrid of reviewing tunes and then selecting a tune making a chord melody arrangement. Maybe 30 minutes reviewing tunes and 30 minutes for chord melodies
    If your goal is improvisation skill in my opinion something is missing here, or at least under-emphasized. And that is - the jazz language.

    1. Imitate (Imitate - Assimilate - Innovate). So many master solos have been transcribed by now it's not even funny. Do you hear a new lick that you really love? Then transcribe it - for sure! But, the old "jazz can't be taught, learn it from the records and figure it out yourself with talent, taste and hard work" advice is so old it has turned to vinegar. A transcription IS learning from the record, and there is a lifetime of solos already transcribed. It's beyond one's ability to absorb - so go leverage it!

    2. Assimilate - When it comes to the Assimilation process a lot of research has also been published. In particular, Bert Ligon's books with chord outlines and other jazz language patterns along with transcription examples from many of the household name masters is a prime example. The simple truth is that the probability that an average, or even above average musician will recognize melodic patterns and variations from Bach to Bartok to Bird to Brecker as efficiently and effectively as they would by cracking open those books - approaches zero. So, get these outlines and patterns in your hands in at least 4 keys and a wide instrument range, get them in your ears/mind, get them into your reflexes. As you do, improvise in kind, however feebly, as as you learn each new small set of material. I emphasize this last point because if it's not done, we'll be learning the jazz language much as we do classical music. It'll just be memorized, not improvised.

    Now, such learning can be a bit dry but all hard work is to a certain degree. If you want to learn the straight-ahead bebop language another excellent example is the Joe Pass thread here that is using his books. Joe's books cover the jazz language with patterns and lines, tailored to the guitar (obviously), and also have some theoretical explanations (though nothing compared to Ligon's works). There are priceless etudes included. Observing and codifying what a master did is one thing, these studies came directly FROM a master.

    When it comes to learning jazz improv a lot of educational evolution has occurred, since the 70's in particular.
    Efficiency is possible now, not just effectiveness. We live in a fast world, and when it comes to learning jazz we can go faster than we used to.
    Last edited by Jazzstdnt; 02-02-2019 at 01:19 PM.

  12. #61

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    Some would say yes but I believe in technique, just not doing it all day. The better you can play scales and arpeggios the easier jazz language will feel (to a point at least).

    That said, check out how "scales and arpeggios" are practiced with Joseph Viola's Technique Of The Saxophone books. Much more supportive of jazz language than rote scales an arpeggios.

    If bebop is your goal I would go with Joe Pass' books, then see what's interesting after that. Nothing against Baker, I have his books too.

  13. #62

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    Want to learn bop?

    Learn 50 bop heads - that's David Baker's advice...

    - By ear, off the record
    - Transpose to all 12 keys.
    - Analyse in relation to chords.
    - Learn the basic swing/trad tunes those heads are based on - there's MUCH fewer than 50 of those, and blues and rhythm tunes are quick wins.
    - Play along with records 50%, 75% and eventually full speed.

    This will teach
    1) repetoire
    2) phrasing
    3) ear training
    4) technique
    5) vocabulary and language
    6) harmony
    7) fretboard knowledge
    8) time/feel

    If you do this, you may find yourself reaching for Barry Harris, Baker, Joe Pass or something... but this is the way it happened for me, ear work first, theory and books second.

    Not sure if I got to 50 (I reckon maybe 35-40), and I wouldn't like to say I could play you Confirmation in Bb, or Little Willie Leaps in any key at the drop of a hat, but it was one hell of learning experience.

  14. #63

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    9 hours is fantastic in theory. Even when I was in music school I couldn't practice more than 4 a day. best of luck to you!

  15. #64

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    Dear Jazznylon,


    I like your your post. It shows your enthusiasm and passion for music, which is of great value. IMHO you put way too much weight onto your shoulders. With a schedule like you suggested, you will most likely get the opposite of what you are aiming for, which is frustration instead of success. Correct me if I am wrong, but the real question of your post is actually "How do I practice?" instead of "What do I need to practice?". If I am correct, you should first do some research on practicing and creating routines.



    Start with 5 minutes of really deep practicing per day (no more), and gradually expand that period of time as you will grow. Make sure you enjoy every minute of it en you will be hooked for the rest of your life. If you are under heavy pressure, you can't absorb anything well, which makes your practicing a waste of time.


    Playing music should be as simple and natural as drawing a breath, yet most musicians are hindered by self-consciousness, apprehension, self-doubt, and stress. Before we can truly express our inner self, we must first learn to be at peace and overcome the distractions that can make performance difficult.
    The quote above is part of the abstract from Kenny Werners book "Effortless Mastery". You should really check it out. It might not be the Holy grail, but it is definitely an eye-opener.



    Anyway, good-luck with your practicing!

  16. #65

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    once you've learned a dozen tunes, it becomes very easy to learn hundreds of them. one of the keys is learning the lyrics so that you always know where you are whether you're soloing or comping. 50 bebop heads will improve your bebop technique, but who plays old bebop any more? David Baker's recommendations were made many years ago, as well. Practicing an hour on a song may or may not be productive, I've never done that, but spending 90 minutes in three separate sections working on specific technical problems can be very productive, then you're warmed up and can work on songs. Listening to tunes is a better way to learn them then reading them, but listening while reading is even better! There are also "levels" of difficulty: Autumn Leave is quite easy, while Wayne Shorter tunes are very difficult, so try to start with songs you can play through and understand quickly at first; technique and theory are accumulative, every song will develop your overall chops and knowledge.

  17. #66

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    Thought I should drop by since the thread is revived! Okay so what happened was the whole '5 tunes a day thing' was too much to take in since there is a lot to do on one tune and its hard to remember exactly what I did on the past tunes. So I just kept working on one tune until I learned the melody, chords, and sound good soloing over it.

    Some days I would do 9ish hours of practice playing by myself with a few days jamming with others. Some days I wouldn't touch my guitar. I had a couple of false starts and consistently it was sloppy since I was looking to do this everyday. But I did improve a lot this past month so thats something! I was working on only one tune... Donna Lee. I got the chords down and the soloing but the head was ridiculous! The only thing missing is playing the head cleanly at a high tempo (250 bpm).

    Other than that yeah I'll start again soon. My Updated Schedule (for one hour)

    Melody 10 minutes
    Comp 10 minutes
    Triads with enclosures and approach notes 5 minutes
    Voice-leading 4 note arppegios through progression 5 minutes
    Scales though progression 5 minutes
    Composing Lines 5 minutes
    Experiment a lick 5 minutes
    Improv using only arppegios 5 minutes
    Improv Basing it on voice-leading Guide Tones 5 minutes
    Improv (anything goes) 5 minutes

    In this case for Donna Lee I'll just focus on the head for an hour breaking the trouble parts into smaller pieces. Get it up to speed then working on playing the whole head cleanly. Then finally moving on to a easier tune lol