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yet another from the maestro - an older one
cheers
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05-02-2016 08:50 PM
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Live at Birdland and Burnin arrived this evening. Lots of great Jimmy Bruno to listen to!
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Out of curiosity, how many people on this thread are former, current, or future students of Jimmy's?
I've spent several months there and learned a lot.
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Once my wife and I move in a couple of months I'll be signing up. I have several of his books and a DVD and his methodology seems to suite me well.
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I was on the site for a significant amount of time, but have also been away from the site for a long time. I still use the "5-shapes' as a home reference, though I have developed other references as well. When I just stuck to those fingerings in a rigid way, I felt boxed in. So I have been focusing on ways up the fingerboard that are more left-to-right/horizontal. And I like to find different pathways of moving through the fingerboard. But the 5-fingerings are what keep me from getting lost.
I also spent some time targeting certain notes. That was very helpful as well. If I hadn't participated in the lesson site, I likely would not be continuing with jazz improv. There was no one in
my area to jam with, and I wasn't making much progress on my own. The community at the time was a magic ingredient for me. After a time however, I no longer felt like I fit in.
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Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
I did it for awhile until the original site closed. I was a bit frustrated and started to do the second site, but like another said the Jimmy Bruno minions got to be very annoying. Then Jimmy had two sets of lessons with guest instructors Howard Alden and Sheryl Bailey and I was get more out of those lessons than Jimmy's material so I left. Teachers are all about if you click with them and their style of teaching and I never completely clicked with Jimmy.
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I was a member at both the JBGI and the JBGW. I didn't apply myself as much as I should have, and didn't progress past the 2-5-1 improv lessons. I regret that I didn't make much of the opportunity.
As far as Jimmy's recordings go, it's probably a safe bet that they're all good. "Sleight of Hand" is a must-have, in my opinion.
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I did it for a year. Honey moon phase was terrific learnt plenty but I did not find it very artistic, too rigid re fingerings, guys would play some nice lines and be sent back to the wood shed the next would play boring dribble and be commended because the fingerings were correct nor very positive or creative.
I would be very interested to hear someone that progressed from a jazz beginner to gigging. I watched every video on there and could not hear anyone progress, those that were good were already good.
It has good qualities for sure re structure and the disciplined approach which definitely assisted me from no idea to playing over ii v i with half an idea. If people are seriously advancing I want to know and would like to hear.
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I like Jimmy's playing and admire his technical skills. But I really enjoy his confidence and personality. Sometimes it's reassuring to have a teacher who paints a world for you that is filled simply with right and wrong or good and not so good. The argument against that approach is that you'll eventually outgrow it. I believe that is also the argument for it.
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My wife is going to hate me. I also ordered Sleight of Hand and Midnight Blue. I listened to Burnin on the way into work and it's really great. As posted earlier, his version of Giant Steps is great. I haven't heard a version other than Coltrane's that I thought was any good, but I would rate Jimmy's version right up there.
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A solo performance by Jimmy Bruno of "Darn That Dream".
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I studied with the JBGW for two years, and I feel gave me a good, sensible firm grounding in jazz.
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Originally Posted by JSanta
Not to detract from you opinion, because JB is a phenomenal player, but I was reminded only yesterday
of Doug Raney's rendition of Giant Steps, very different to JB's , and very melodic ,but I guess that you
already know that.
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I hadn't listened to Doug Raney's version before, and wow, quite different than JBs but a killer take on that song. Originally Posted by silverfoxx
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Transcription from 30 minute interview from his live DVD
Jimmy Bruno on music, jazz and the guitar (transcription of 30 minute interview)
"1. Mastering the fingerboard takes a really long time; and if there's a secret to it, it's to visualize it, be able to see it in your mind without the instrument. And to eliminate the 9000 fingerings for the C-major scale; I only have a few. And to instantly know the name of the notes without thinking.
2. Learning tunes was hard. In the beginning I would try and memorize it, once you're able to hear the basic chord progressions, The basic 10 to 20 that you hear over and over again, that solves a lot of the memorization. And lyrics help me remember melodies. And the more you do it, the more tunes you learn, the easier it gets.
3. They really aren't any good standard tunes being written today, there's nobody writing tunes like "lush life" and all the Tinpan Alley tunes I like to play.
4. Nowadays, there's too much information, and we went from zero to almost having too much. The problem is music is a very personal thing, so people should study from somebody whose music they like.
5. A young guitarist must be ready to do tons and tons of practice and make a really big commitment of your time.
6. Any guitar can sound good around the middle, when you play higher up the neck, a bad guitar can sound thin. And a good guitar has to be comfortable to play, which can vary from individual to individual.
7. Some people are so naturally gifted, they don't need to read, but most people nowadays should learn to play by ear and read unless you're one of those exceptional individuals who can just hear something and play it back instantly.
8. A good teacher motivates and does not impose their style or aesthetics. A Good student has a really strong desire. A lot of students think they are better than they are and think this is easier than it is and are surprised to find how hard it is and how much discipline it requires. The worst thing a student can do is to lose focus and get scattered and embrace 10 different approaches to play the guitar. Some guys go from teacher to teacher to teacher. That's not gonna work.
9. The trick to improving one's ability to improvise is to not think about the rules, not think about playing G mixolydian over G7, when you go to play you have to make some connection between your ear and your hands; once you get a concept that it's a language, you just speak it and play and make that connection between what's inside yourself and what you want to say musically.
10. Charlie Parker said 'if you can play a blues rhythm changes, you can play almost anything' and I agree.
11. Students are making a mistake not studying the styles and approaches of the past jazz guitar masters.-I think they're getting into the shallow low-end of music. There really aren't any new trends in jazz guitar that I'm excited about these days. I don't see anything that is all that new and all that innovative. I think is plenty to be said in the traditional language of jazz . I see a lot of things that are different for the sake of being different but not good.
12. In terms of comping and chords and chord solos, don't get hung up on D13b9, etc. Learn to hear if it's major, minor or dominant and be able to hear the root progression. And comping is more of a rhythmic function than a harmonic function, especially for a guitar. Propelling the rhythm along is more important than to play exotic chords which will just take away from the soloist. I think good comping is mostly both feel and the ability to play simply. Don't over complicate it, especially when playing with pianists. The feel is the most important thing about music. It's better to have a good feel than to play big giant chords that are meaningless.
13. Don't be negative and shoot off your mouth, focus on the fact that you have to play so good they have to not not notice you.
14. There's too much emphasis on learning tunes from the Real Book and theory and not enough emphasis on teaching people how to hear, on feel and on sound and on making melodies. Somewhere there should be a middle ground between non-Theoretical Street learning and academic orientations. "
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All these points have been said in pieces elsewhere, but IMO this is one of the very best summaries I've ever seen of a balanced and effective "approach" to this craft. I'm going to print it out and save it to keep on the path.
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I haven't watched this yet, but the click-bait is irresistible. Maybe the best YouTube title of the year.
(Doesn't look like it loaded. Go to you tube and search for "jimmy bruno how to pick with your balls"Last edited by JazzinNY; 04-17-2018 at 05:18 PM.
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He has been doing these videos almost everyday since recovering from his injury. Its become my morning routine to watch the new video while having my coffee. Lots of good lessons hidden between the outrageous comments lol
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He's hilarious and they worth watching just for that, but I have gotten at least one thing that is very useful for my playing (a simple progression that makes a very flexible tag)
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jimmy b recently got a tele and lp as gifts from viewers!!..(uke and acoustics too!)....he sounds pretty nice with tele...he immediately mentioned ted greene when he started playing it!! then started playing clarence white/james burton type bends on it!!!
here's most recent tele heavy vid
cheers
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I had been enjoying his Boxcar Willie look, was hoping he was gonna take it to the Gandalf level...
Last edited by cosmic gumbo; 04-20-2018 at 02:48 AM.
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nah..thats jimmy pre stroke...he was at deaths door, in coma for weeks after that..miracle that he recovered and is back playin....(he didn't think he would, a few months ago)..but he's back..strong and belligerent as ever..gods bless
powerful guitar force...o.s. philly style
always watch his vids as he posts them...treasures
cheers
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I enjoy his short videos and watch one or two of them every other day just for kicks and grins (and for picking up some great tips on playing / practicing).
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"Why are there so many Italian guitar players?"
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Jimmy plays the first two etudes from the Wohlfahrt book and then looks at how the Real Book gives chords to "Cry Me A River."
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