Jazz Tips for a new kid

[Jazzkidal]

Hi this site is pretty cool. I've just turned 16, been playing the guitar for 6 years and have just discovered the wonders of jazz! Currently I'm learning "Girl from Epinema" and am wondering how to improvising over the complicated chord structure. Any hints/tips would be smashing!

[shawn]

Hey!!! Great to see another youngn' here. I'm 15, a little close and also started around 10 years old. Improvising is a kick in the ass to many people, especially me when you first start. First learn theory behind soloing and such. There are many great things at www.wholenote.com which are pretty worthwhile joining and looking at (It's free). Learning the theory behind music (Chords, Scales, Modes, all that gruesome stuff) is definetly 110% worth it. I don't care what others say.

[nickmatty]

I am guitarist/instructor from the Philadelphia area. Go to my website at www.nickmatty.com and click on my free lessons banner. There are a lot of lessons there to get you started. Take care, Nick Matty

[arp]

Learn to play the melody before you start working on a solo. Keep in mind that Jazz soloing is less adlib and more prepared beforehand.
Use the degrees of 3rds and 7ths for your connecting tones bar to bar. Arpegiate the entire tune and develop your solo from there. DONT learn transcribed solos by other players. In my view, take it or leave it, that will get you nowhere. I have found it too time consuming and uninspiring. You are stuck with it. Its limiting.
Work on developing your own style.
Its better to play one tune really well than to play lots mediocre. There is no place for mediocrity in anything, particularly jazz.

[Lumpy]

I agree with arp. Learn the melody first. Then as you want something to "jazz it up" play notes that are within the chord you're in. Example, the I chord is typically FMaj7 for Ipanema. So when the song is on that I chord, play any of F A C E and you'll likely have notes that are harmonious with the current chord.

When you want to stray outside the comfortable envelope of harmonious notes, pick other notes within the F major scale but not necessarily the 1-3-5-7 notes. But always try and keep your solo coming back to the notes within the chord.

[mahayana]

Hi, Lumpy. Nice to see you here.

Another thing that works for me is to free-associate melodies that are related. Like for "Girl From Ipanema", the song "Killing Me Softly" (which Prof is doing a chord-melody for) has similar phrases. You don't want to quote enough so it's obvious, but one of the joys of jazz is mixing in different things.

One famous example of what I'm talking about was where Eric Clapton used "Blue Moon" in the solo in "Sunshine Of Your Love."

[Professor1]

mahayana said:

One famous example of what I'm talking about was where Eric Clapton used "Blue Moon" in the solo in "Sunshine Of Your Love."

I'd be willing to bet money that that was a total coincidence, and the farthest thing from his mind at the time.

Keep in mind that music creates music theory, not the other way around. Things can be "read into" music after the fact that never existed in the mind of the composer.

[mahayana]

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that one. Not even a jazz example, and Cream was overly analyzed, for sure.

But back to creative soloing- I like medleys and get enjoyment out of noticing songs that sound like other songs. You know, "In A Mellow Tone" and "Someone To Watch Over Me", that kind of thing.

And I'm a ballad man, so a favorite form that I use is to play around with things, keep people guessing through a long intro, before laying down the easilly recognized melody, maybe singing the song.

Wonder if EC will ever do a jazz album; I think Jimi would have by now, had he lived. Ever hear his version of "Over The Rainbow"? Nice.

[JamaicanJazz]

I think Jimi would have by now, had he lived. Ever hear his version of "Over The Rainbow"? Nice.

I believe when Hendrix died, he was planning on doing a recording with Miles... that would have been so amazing

[Professor1]

mahayana said:

Wonder if EC will ever do a jazz album; I think Jimi would have by now, had he lived. Ever hear his version of "Over The Rainbow"? Nice.

When I saw Joe Pass play a solo concert not long before he died, he opened with that tune...it was amazing.

[oldtimer3739]

I don't what your level of guitar education is but You should learn the melody first and then play around with the melody using arpeggios and scales from the chords (progressions) written for the tune.

[rachard1583]

Jazz sometimes uses modal or quartal harmony, or even note clusters that are difficult to define precisely in terms of functional harmony. But we are going to focus on the principal harmonic foundation: tertial harmony. Tertial harmony is chords build on thirds: 1,3,5,7,9,11,13.

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