The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #276

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    Quote Originally Posted by djg
    people have trouble finding the pond....
    ha, too right

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #277

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lobomov
    Time isn't really the issue actually .. I mean, I've spent more than 15 minutes here on this forum already today, if we're honest. It's the energy that is the problem.


    Being passive is fine .. You just react .. With regards to applying licks.

    The Christiaan approach is mapping a tune. Here is a lick that you can repeat in these measures then here on the dominant chords play this lick .. later you get more licks. This is fine as it can be consumed passively. I can keep the tune in my head while doing this, no need for backing tracks or anything .. just something to do while relaxing.

    But the here is a cool lick without context video is a much harder sell ... OK, so I need to find a tune, fire it up .. I play that lick, which is fine .. but then comes the next measure and what now .. suddenly you're getting stressed and shut down.

    OK that isn't entirely true ... in my case then comes the next measure and I'm suddenly playing the same bland shit I've been playing for the last 5 years and I go screw this.

    Anyway, I’m not sure I’d ever describe the likes of Jens (250K subs) as the equivalent of McDonald’s; I think he gives excellent nutrition. He strikes a good balance.

    He is highly praised .. and the number 1 recommendation whenever someone asks for jazz content, so he sure is doing something right

    However ...


    This is a talk about demographics, but you seem interested in me, so I'll gladly share.

    I hate the Jens Larsen stuff ... That is not due to anything being wrong with it .. but I am just not in his demographic in any way. He targets beginners and that is fine, but I can't stand it.

    I utterly hate that he will have a video called "How to sound good over ii-V's" and in the intro he plays some cool sounding licks (Jens has that grease that I like).

    But the actual video will be him spending 20 minutes demonstrating a basic (non-greasy) two measure ii V I lick. .. Just such a waste of my time. I can lift that lick from him just playing it. So 10 sec lick .. maybe a couple of minutes of me getting it down maybe after hitting the "-5 sec" arrow key a few time to catch this or that detail ... DONE! A total of max 2 minutes. I don't need him to tell me that he is using his index finger here .. or carefully explain that now he will go from the 3rd to the 6th of the chord .. or whatever .. Fuck it!!
    Interesting.

    His musings on music, theory and stuff suffer from the same issues. There might be something interesting there that I'm missing, but most of it is just stretched out basic stuff and I have no intention of giving him 30 minutes of my time in the hope that maybe .. just maybe something interesting will show up.
    He provides solid basic advice. I think he has zero interest in the bullshit that fixates me lol.

    That is the difference between you and him. With you I know something interesting will show up, cause your schtick is that you're Christian "Here is something that most musician miss or don't consider" Miller. So even if there have been vids where I've been thinking "oh ffs Christian get on with it" it's not an issue as I know that at some point it's going to get interesting.
    Haha thanks; but you should see the takes I don't use. But I've tried to get a better lid on it recently. TBH I also have less time to make videos now, so if I can't get usable content in about an hour (plus an hour or so for editing), it takes too much time.

    So, I think more half of the work is choosing a good topic. If you want I can send you the notes I keep on topics I think of for the videos. Most never get made because I can't see how I can turn them into a useful video. Might be useful to see what you'd find interesting from that list. But trying not to push the interesting elements out. I have a reasonable idea what people like about my nonsense. It's finding away to make it more.... useful.

    My big consideration is I think more focus going on could be better and more accessibility. I have met quite a few people IRL who say 'I watch your videos, I have not idea what you are talking about, but I watch them anyway' lol.

    Part of it is really focussing on one very specific thing, and that takes quite a lot of thought. I have the same problem with writing essays. They all end up massively over the word limit and I open far too many cans of worms, so when they get marked I get comments like 'could have explored this more', and I think - yes, I did in the first draft, but as my essay editted is still twice the word limit, are you fucking nuts?

    I see no reason in general why videos should be longer than 20m, and these days I'm trying to get them down to under 10m for single point videos. Again, I did just now a Q&A video which if I was a REAL YouTuber I would have strung out as content for a few weeks. That was 25m long...

    Btw your "All Blues" video was a memorable one. No dumbing down, just licks and music with a clear punch line (and an important one at that too) .. Very nice work!
    Cool! I thought that was a good one. Was that the one from 2016 or the more recent one I did? (I've done a few low key remakes, they get shorter)

    So to sum up .. The reason I'm giving Christiaan my money is that he actually as one of the very few online instructors actually spot on targets my demographic. It's on point. There is little time wasting as he just assumes everyone can play what he is demonstrating and that is it. Also it can be enjoyed passively if need be (and usually it needs be).

    I doubt that Christiaan ever will hit 100.000 subscriber tho as my demographic is probably quite small.


    And yeah .. my way of approaching this is far from optional, but lately I've been getting quite a good bit under my fingers and it's starting to show up the few times I actually attempt to play on my own, so that's nice .. Beats doing nothing, eh?

    Also the "No theory" stuff that this thread is about is just spice and has nothing to do with why I like Christiaan

    But back to you .. You have a good active thing to do for those 15 minutes, since you're asking?
    You have to decide what you want to get better at. A teacher can help you decide this. Choose one thing.

    Set your timer and do the thing. And don't noodle, don't improvise. Work on specific, measurable stuff. TBH in 15m, you could do three 5m exercises, but see what works for you. I remember Lage Lund saying at any point he has one thing he practices for 15m a day (he has kids too you know); but his 15 minutes are not like most people's 15 minutes. (To paraphrase Segovia who I think only practiced for a couple of hours a day.)

    For most students who have a decent command of their instrument (know basic major and minor scale positions, arpeggios, basic jazz chord voicings etc), I would recommend learning some music by ear. Any style, any genre is fine, but jazz will presumably be a focus.) Over the course of a week you could learn a tune, or a chorus of a solo. I would prioritise tunes actually, as Bruce Forman suggests. Tunes have licks in BTW - a lot of people seem to miss this. And not just bop heads.

    Besides if you can't pick up a melody like My Shining Hour or My Secret Love quickly by ear, why the hell would you try to get started on bebop jazz solo? One thing I think gets missed is the important of fluency. We are, as aspiring improvisors presumably aiming to be fluent and conversant. It is necessary to choose simple things to keep it fluent. It's exactly the same as not picking classical pieces that are too hard... you don't want to get stuck.

    The important thing is to set your timer, and leave off wherever you are but come back to it. Little and often mounts up a lot better over time than isolated heavy sessions. Pick realistic targets. For instance, you might be able to learn the melody of simple standard, but not be quite ready to try a bop head or solo. You might be OK with single notes, but might struggle to recognise chords quickly. So choose goals that align with your level of ability but push it just enough. Again, this is what teachers are for, but you can get a feel for this yourself after a while.

    For me it's rhythmic exercises. That's pretty much the only routine practice I do ATM. I do my Konnakol exercises I get set, which are invariably horrendous and need a week or more to master, and I do my own rhythmic independence 16th syncopation exercises.

    I also try to learn at least tune a week, preferably by ear, and record it by Sunday. There's a Facebook group I'm a member of that picks tunes. This week I recorded someones original which was fun.

    Any extra time I spend 'shadowing' jazz recordings - listen/play listen/play. But that's if I get an hour or more.
    Last edited by christianm77; 12-05-2020 at 07:56 PM.

  4. #278

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Part of it is really focussing on one very specific thing, and that takes quite a lot of thought. I have the same problem with writing essays. They all end up massively over the word limit and I open far too many cans of worms, so when they get marked I get comments like 'could have explored this more', and I think - yes, I did in the first draft, but as my essay editted is still twice the word limit, are you fucking nuts?
    LOL .. That has always been one of my biggest downfalls too .. I really is shite as you lose control of the situation and open your self up to having to defend stuff you never intended to get into. Been very conscious about avoiding just that for quite a while

    My girlfriend asked why do you have to be so "støvet". Støvet translates to dusty, but in context the meaning is that of water dust? A picture for illustration to help with the translating




    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I see no reason in general why videos should be longer than 20m, and these days I'm trying to get them down to under 10m for single point videos.
    Agreed to the 20 min and the 10 min stuff is probably a very good approach.

    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Cool! I thought that was a good one. Was that the one from 2016 or the more recent one I did? (I've done a few low key remakes, they get shorter)
    2016 is too long ago .. It was the "Don't play altered on All Blues" one .. definately not older than 2019 .. About playing melodic on dominants.

    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    You have to decide what you want to get better at. A teacher can help you decide this. Choose one thing.
    Oh God .. LOL .. Don't ask that question .. The thing is I don't really know .. I tried joining a small Jazz Trio a few years back (Guitar/guitar/bass) and for a couple of months I had tunes to look at .. But couldn't really swing something like that with my work and my kids. They've gotten bigger now with the youngest being 10, so maybe in a couple of years

    But that is the f..... problem

    Tho to be honest .. Currently I'm pretty content with the CvH stuff. Apart from the transcribed solo's his current offer is the van Hemert System. Which basically is here is a lot of of fundamental shapes. So you got different versions of a maj7th runs, min6th runs, diminished run .. etc etc .. split up into ascending and descending versions.

    Then there is talk about how those shapes fit over diffent types of chords (tonic, dominant etc) .. like a min6h works fine over a dominant and depending on which note in the dominant you choose as your starting note it will give different amounts of tension or "alteredness"

    Once you're done with the shapes then they are used to create ii-Vs and other phrases. It's structured .. easy to approach and so far still fun. Not rocket science, but hoping it will give me standard phrases that my ear can recognize like it can in blues and rock, a bit of mechanical skill and who knows?

    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    And don't noodle.
    I used that word, but it really isn't true. I'll just run thru the Donna Lee theme while watching TV or similar .. whatever the CvH video I'm at currently. The Donna Lee theme took me about a month to get up to speed.


    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I would recommend learning some music by ear.
    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    You might be OK with single notes, but might struggle to recognise chords quickly.
    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Any extra time I spend 'shadowing' jazz recordings - listen/play listen/play. But that's if I get an hour or more.

    I used to do tons of that in my youth, but jazz came late .. maybe too late. Should give it a swing. But most pop/rock I can pick up on the fly. My youngest plays a wee bit of bass and will sometimes ask me to "translate" this or that currently popular song to bass and expect an on the fly thing .. Sure, here you go sweetheart

    But .. I listen far too little to jazz with my guitar in my hands. Rumor has it that is pretty common .. That people want to play jazz without actually listening to it actively

    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I also try to learn at least tune a week, preferably by ear, and record it by Sunday. There's a Facebook group I'm a member of that picks tunes. This week I recorded someones original which was fun.
    Jam of the week? .. I'm actually a member, tho the level there is insanely high

    But if nothing else I could do the current monthly standard here before the months is over .. I've actually practiced "All of me" before

    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    If you want I can send you the notes I keep on topics I think of for the videos. Most never get made because I can't see how I can turn them into a useful video. Might be useful to see what you'd find interesting from that list.
    Sure .. Shoot me a PM .. and if it doesn't fit a PM, then no problem .. I'll give you my mail or whatever is most convenient
    Last edited by Lobomov; 12-05-2020 at 09:08 PM.

  5. #279

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    I don’t do Jam of the Week much although I am a member. I do a different private Facebook group.
    of local musicians.

    The level on JOW is ridiculous. I just don’t have enough time to throw at it to do it justice (I think you have to have a TAKE on the tune not just play it on that forum.)

    Mark K and Jeff always post great stuff on there...

  6. #280

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    For me, personally, proficiency on the instrument feels like the biggest barrier. I started out late on Guitar, but I do have some background in music, saxophone in h.s., vocal choruses here and there and I picked up some piano when my daughter started.

    I started and stopped a few times on the guitar but never got very far in terms of chops. Unfortunately, with my musical knowledge most beginning to intermediate methods are incredibly boring to me. So for me the biggest obstacle is how to build technique while learning and playing stuff I like.

  7. #281
    Dutchbopper Guest
    What many people here seem to have missed is that Christiaan is actually a theory expert. I checked some of his vids that prove that fact and besides, his job requires it. He teaches at a university and that means his students will be music teachers too so theory is obligatory in the curriculum. The main point I get from his videos is that he perceives knowing theory and playing well as SEPARATE skills. There is little to no connection between the two. So you can have people with lots of theory knowledge not being able to play well and great players knowing nothing about what they are actually playing (Bireli, Stochelo, Jimmy etc. etc.) And of course, the ones that can do both. Even in the case of a good player knowing his stuff, he still sees the two as separate skills that are not connected by the way!!!!! What he says IMHO is that you have to develop the skill you are after. You are not a teacher and want to play well? Start playing the sounds and do not waste too much time on theory but focus on the language rather than the grammar.

    Anyway, I will be publishing an interview with him soon so we can read a bit more about this guy.

    DB.

  8. #282

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    Never let the facts get in the way of a perfectly good strawman.