The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I'm sure this is posted somewhere here, but, where do I find jazz background tracks that I can practice along with? Is there a place on the forum with free background tracks? Thank you.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    You can download individual Aebersold backing tracks on iTunes. These are great - live musicians, great feel. About a buck per song.

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by lukmanohnz
    You can download individual Aebersold backing tracks on iTunes. These are great - live musicians, great feel. About a buck per song.
    I've used Aebersold tracks for years, and one thing I like is you can typically use it without the piano, just bass/drums. That's a fun way to work if you want to lay down a comping track and then solo.

    It's also good because for some reason most of the pianists on the Aebersold tracks comp really "on" the melody for the first chorus, If you are practicing specifically on playing the melody, you will be crowded and played over by the "comping" piano.

    Another great source of backing tracks is the set prepared by Hal Leonard to go with their editions of the Real Book.

  5. #4

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    Backing Tracks.

    All tracks have 4-bar intros. Chords to songs on same site.

    Apart from that, YouTube, obviously.

  6. #5

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    I have owned and analyzed the entire Aebersold catalog for many decades. The good Aebersold tracks have Ron Carter on bass. Rufus Reid is good too. I enjoy their tracks. I can't play with many of the other Aebersold bass players because they rush, don't swing so great, or are overly busy and or play out of tune.

  7. #6

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    IRealPro. Phone App.
    10 bucks last time I checked.
    A zillion songs. Backing is okay for practice. You can change tempo, key, rhythmic style and mix.
    Works great.
    Useful on gigs too -- every tune you can think of, in any key, almost instantly. Chords only though. No melody.

    Disclosure: I have nothing to do with them. I paid full price. I think it's a great dal.

  8. #7

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  9. #8

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    Youtube has plenty of it today


    I also like this guy, he plays only bass tracks and it is lively

    MrSunnybass
    - YouTube

  10. #9

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    just search on YouTube: 'title' + "backing track"

    Quality is not always great, but I like the ones from 'Learn Jazz Standards' and 'Eagleheart Jazz Channel' good enough for practising purposes.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by lukmanohnz
    You can download individual Aebersold backing tracks on iTunes. These are great - live musicians, great feel. About a buck per song.
    It is also possible to download Aebersold tracks for free from public libraries. The library must have the "Freegal" system (or something similar.) I'll allowed 5 downloads a week. I have a lot of Aebersold material that I've purchased over the years but I like the digital downloads for putting things on my phone (or iPad), which is more convenient than switching out discs in a CD player while practicing.

    Also, the same system allows for several hours of streaming per week. Since the COVID crisis and the shutting down of the local libraries, streaming is now unlimited from my library and that includes music CDs such as Aebersold play-a-longs.

  12. #11

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    The Aebersold tracks also work in Amazing Slowdowner too!

  13. #12

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    Aebersold is lovely, but a little old fashioned. Each song is unique and played by some great artists. there are some modern rhythms here and there.

    yamaha, band in a box, irealpro sound ok, but it’s easy to get bored. Most styles get different names, but are based on a limited group of bass n drum patterns... Lots of variation, but if you hear the same bass lick over tens of songs, you drop out of using it, which is too bad.

    I got so frustrated with the same old same old bass and drums and most styles being a little old fashioned. So I started tweaking styles in band in a box and realized tweaking wasn’t gonna cut it. Then made my own styles and after two years of hard work, I really think I came up with something. All the while with a modern touch and with the help of some good midi instruments.

    made me realise that bad midi styles have nothing to do with midi being limited or with technology not being able to play in a cool way: it’s just lousy and lazy programming, believe me.

    what, for me, changed my thinking was Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion. If you swap the real instruments with good sample library, you don’t need a truckload of instruments and a few hundred motorised robotic arms, fingers... and it still sounds really good.

  14. #13

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    Having tried a gazillion ways over the decades to find/create backing tracks, I've found the most consistently ideal way is to use the Digitech Trio+ ... a little tricky to master for some, but extremely worthwhile learning to exploit its capabilities.

    It's even better than Band-in-a-box (and even relies on some of BIAB's style/algorithm technology via license) with a foot controller. You can quickly create/edit drums, bass, backing rhythm, ... pretty much whatever. I've used the looping feature for everything a looper can do, and have plugged in my keyboards too for a nice change of pace.

    My fear is that, at some point, the Trio+ will become a collector's item and the prices will rise. So I'm seriously considering the idea of stocking up on several extras before that happens. It's head and shoulders above anything else I've used as a practice/teaching tool.

    EDIT: Oh, and did I mention that you can slow down/speed up the timing of your backing tracks on the Trio+ without changing the pitch? Seriously, how important is that to one's pace of learning.
    Last edited by OneWatt; 04-18-2020 at 11:30 AM. Reason: append