09.19.08
Awareness test
09.07.08
Transcribing (for musicians)
One of the best ways to improve your jazz playing is learning other people’s solos or songs. Different people have different ideas about this. Some people think that you must learn them by ear and memorize them as you go. Others say it is okay to write them down as you go. Try starting off writing them down and as it becomes easier, do it exclusively by ear and memorize as you go. Eventually, you may not even need an instrument!
There are many benefits to transcribing. First, it is a great way to improve your ear. Second, you have a chance to learn directly from a master or someone you really enjoy listening to. You can find out exactly what they would do over a certain chord, type of harmony or over the tune you are learning.
Don’t feel obligated to start off learning an entire solo. Start off with just one chorus, a 4 or 8 bar section, the melody to a tune or even just a lick.
How to transcribe:
1. Pick a solo or melody that you really like, preferably a song with a familiar chord progression or one you have been meaning to learn. This is important so that you understand the soloist’s note choices in relation to the chords and you are able to recreate those sounds yourself on your own solos. I recommend starting with a blues or rhythm changes tune since they are so common. At first, pick and learn solos played on your instrument. As transcribing becomes easier for you, try learning solos by other instruments.
2. Listen to your selection over and over again until you are really familiar with it. The more you get it in your head, the easier it will be to figure out the notes.
3. Learn it one section or phrase at a time, just as you would a classical piece. Depending on the difficulty of the solo, this may be four measures, one measure, or even two notes.
4. Write it down. If you are learning the solo by memory, take the time later to write down the solo for reference and analysis. Sometimes, this helps you figure out something you may not have heard or noticed as you were playing it by memory.
5. Try to incorporate these ideas into your own solos or playing. If you hear a particular idea or lick that you really like, learn it in all 12 keys.
Be careful to imitate exactly what the soloist is playing. Listen for inflection, articulation, timing and tone quality. The idea is to be able to sound exactly like the soloist and be able to play the solo along with the recording convincingly.
A few recommended solos (for saxophonists) to transcribe:
Illinois Jacquet, Flyin’ Home
Ben Webster, Cotton Tail (rhythm changes)
Lester Young, I’ve Got Rhythm and Lester Leaps In
Sonny Rollins, Blue 7 and St. Thomas
Benny Goodman, Honeysuckle Rose
Almost anything by Dexter Gordon, earlier Hank Mobley, and Stan Getz are great because there is so much jazz vocabulary, they are fairly easy to hear and understand, and they play a ton of standards. I would avoid Wayne Shorter and later Coltrane for a while (as much as I love that stuff!).
Happy practicing!
David
09.06.08
John Ellis: playing originals vs. standards
John Ellis from New Orleans is one of the great saxophonists around right now. He is soulful, creative and melodic. I love what he has to say about playing his original music in an interview from “All About Jazz” by Jason Crane…
“All About Jazz: You’ve spent so much time playing either your own original music or someone else’s original music, as opposed to mining the standard repertoire. Has that been an intentional choice?
John Ellis: It has been for a variety of reasons. I guess I feel the most at home when I’m playing music either written by me or by friends of mine that we’re interpreting for the first time. I think there’s such a weight of tradition and a burden of tradition in jazz. I love the tradition so much, and I’ve listened to it so much, that to do a half-assed version of it—or like “Look at me, I can play like so-and-so”—has never been something that I was motivated to do. And in many ways, I don’t think I was ready to make a strong statement on the standard material. I still have an ambition to do that in the future, but I feel like the more I can spend time trying to cultivate a perspective and nurture the music I’m interested in, then maybe I’ll have a hope of playing some of that standard material with a personal spin.“