-
Originally Posted by coolvinny
It's true vocalists of the Golden Age have sophisticated swing phrasing (that's a good thing, no?)... But many sing the actual melodies pretty straight pitch wise - Ella and Frank being the classic examples. I would advise against learning melodies from Billie Holiday for example.
I also feel it's an important thing just to listen to stuff over and over again and not get too caught up. One day you catch yourself singing along with Sinatra, and then you know the song. Then it's time to put it on the guitar.
-
10-26-2016 01:38 PM
-
Nice thread... there are many levels of performance. Basic musicianship helps, but I've performed with many somewhat one style, feel etc. players, and it's still fun and audiences still seem to enjoy the music.
The only thing I would change is the sight reading thing... years ago changes and kicks were enough... but in the last 20 years... you need to read well, or your not going to have the chance to perform with that many great performers, maybe your friends or if your funding the project or performance.
When one begins the working musician thing... time is generally most important, the groove, feel etc... but as one gets better... time become natural, instinctive etc... then what you actually play moves out front., then you get to the point of being able to play what you want... and the music and performance of all involved becomes the focus. My goal... always is to help bring out the music and make the performers sound their best. (their best, not what I think is their best).
The next step is to break down the skills and how to develop them.
-
I'm not a great jazz player, but like the original poster I'm a professional (semi-retired) guitarist. Also a teacher. I'm going to add the following to his advice. If I could get every student to practice this way...
1) Always break stuff down into the smallest possible challenge. Don't learn the third chord until you can play the first two perfectly without fail every single time! The amateur practices till he gets it right, the pro until he can't get it wrong.
2) Never ever play anything faster than you can play it flawlessly. If you are making mistakes you are practicing too fast. Period; end of sentence. Remember, if you make mistakes while practicing you are practicing mistakes!
3) Learning an instrument is one of the few things in life where you MUST be a perfectionist if you want to get any good. See the above two points.
4) Always always always practice with a metronome.
-
Originally Posted by 2handband
I disagree with 4. Vary it. Over reliance on a click can weaken your sense of pulse.
-
Originally Posted by christianm77
-
Originally Posted by 2handband
My approach with technique is to never make a mistake and always practice as slow as required for the passage to be effortless. I then practice it at that very slow speed a few times. Little and often....
Mostly the purpose of the metronome is to tell you how slow slow is.Last edited by christianm77; 11-08-2016 at 08:56 PM.
-
Originally Posted by 2handband
But this very common "never" rule is somewhat contentious as well. There's belief among a great number of technique gurus that intermittent variations in speed "comfort levels" is almost a requirement for breaking through certain tempo barriers. All motion isn't scalable, or some such...
I've experimented with this more recently, and it does help. I've always been slower....
There was a good lesson posted on this here recently. Can't remember where it was.Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 11-08-2016 at 09:02 PM.
-
Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher
For example, when I was a relative beginner I wanted to play the solo to Over the Mountain by Ozzy Osbourne (funny, I hate the song now). It was obviously very beyond my reach, but I asked myself: can I play the first four notes up to tempo if I practice them over and over four hours a day for two weeks? The answer was no... it took me about three. But then the next four notes came much more quickly.
Now I don't recommend this approach to everyone. The basic methodology, yes, but I usually advise people to use it on a challenge a bit closer to his/her actual level. I am not always very good at judging how long it will take me to master something, but my persistence will generally overcome my lack of judgement so it doesn't kill me if I go over a bit on my self-imposed deadline. Most people are not as pigheaded as I am and will get discouraged if they don't make it within the stated timeframe, so I usually recommend that most be a bit more conservative with their choices than I am.
-
Great topic Christian.
Two years ago when I decided to play and focus on Swing and Traditional Jazz I just "stopped" to listen any other style that is not Swing and Trad (I know this is a bit radical, but I grew up in Brazil listen to a lot of samba, mbp, pop and rock).
Today I mostly listen to those styles only, of course that I go to see gigs from all kind of style and I like them, but my "Spotify" listening is Swing and Trad 95% of the time. This is the way that I found to try to absorbe the language and understand the music.
I'm enjoying and have a lot of fun with all this stuff, so I think this is the "right" path to me.
1979 L5 CES - Sweden ~$7k
Yesterday, 03:38 PM in For Sale