Learn Jazz Standards Podcast Folgen

Welcome to episode 257 where today I discuss 10 life skills I've learned from studying jazz. In the process of studying this music, I've found that a lot of the mindsets and skills I've learned have translated to a multitude of different areas in my life. Knowing this is extremely helpful, and I share some of the insights I've gained that you can share in as well.This episode is a little bit of a different one from what I normally would talk about on this show, going away from some of the jazz improv tips, tricks, practice strategies, and diving into a little bit more of life lessons that I've learned as a result of studying jazz. I don't know about you, obviously learning music, becoming a great jazz improviser, there's a lot of fulfillment within just that action. Music is its own reward. However, I like to think that everything I do has benefits that spread across other aspects of my life. And certainly, when I look back on my jazz education and how it has affected me now, I see a ton of benefits that have really made a huge impact and helped me grow in areas of my life I never thought I would develop so quickly or so strongly.So, in today's episode, I'm going to go over ten life lessons that I've learned from studying jazz, break down what they are, and I'm sure that you'll find some inspiration and help in understanding these as well.In this episode:1. Developing long-term thinking 2. Building acceptance of myself 3. Developing a growth mindset 4. Developing perseverance 5. Developing a deeper appreciation for professionalism 6. Learning how to maximize my productivity 7. Developing project managing skills 8. Learning how to "start ugly" 9. Learning how to teach better 10. Developing critical listening skills Important Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart WayLearn Jazz Live 2021 Virtual SummitLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 256 where today I walk you through some different steps for beginning to develop a great jazz solo. A common mistake I hear is beginning a jazz solo with lots of notes and a myriad of ideas, rather than using call and response and a thematic building ideas. I show you actionable steps you can take to start bringing your solos to life.Okay, what was wrong with that solo? There is something horribly wrong with that solo and what was wrong with it was, right as soon as it was my turn to solo, I came out of the gate just playing as many notes as possible, just trying to fill up as much space as possible. And guess what, it probably sounded boring. It probably didn't spell the chord changes as well as I could have. It just didn't sound that musical. It was just a lot of notes regardless of whether they are the right notes or not.So, the big question is, how do we develop really awesome jazz solos? Well, that's exactly what we're going to do today. We're not going to do what I just did. We are going to make really awesome jazz solos that sound great. In this episode:1. Start with simple rhythms using only one note per chord 2. Slowly add more rhythmic complexity and additional notes to your idea 3. Create rhythmic and melodic phrases and practice "carbon copying" them over different chords as an exercise 4. Use direction of your lines to help manipulate your motific ideas 5. Manipulate your rhythms to create more space Important Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way Learn Jazz Live 2021 Virtual SummitLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 255 where today I'm sharing a short excerpt from a recent live Q&A call I had with my LJS Inner Circle members that answers the question: why is analyzing jazz standards helpful for improvisation? I discuss two aspects that make analysis helpful for the learning process and why it's worth spending some time doing.There are many ways to go about learning jazz standards and memorizing them and also improvising over them. And one way that people like to start learning jazz standards and figuring out improvising over them better is through analysis. Analyzing the chord changes to a jazz standard, putting certain theoretical labels on things such as relative minor, parallel minor. All these things that maybe you've heard in the jazz theory world before. But why would you do it? Why is it important to do? Is it even helpful? Well, this was a question I was asked in my monthly jazz mastermind, which is a Q&A call that we do in my Inner Circle membership and I thought this was a great question so we are going to answer that in today's episode.In this episode:1. Analyzing can help you learn and memorize tunes better 2. Analyzing can help you understand the contexts of chords and chord progressions, which will influence your improv decisionsImportant Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart WayLearn Jazz Live 2021 Virtual SummitLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!