Learn Jazz Standards Podcast Folgen

Welcome to episode 229 of the LJS Podcast where today I have on special guest Brett Pontecorvo to teach us how to properly use scales to build great solos. Scales are useful tools, but if applied in an un-musical way, can be problematic. Brett walks us through some solid tips for taking vanilla scales and developing them into melodic masterpieces.Scales are a classic way to get started with improvising over a jazz standard and they can be quite useful. However, in the wrong hands and used the wrong way, they just end up sounding like scales. Very unmusical, very vanilla, and it just sort of sounds like you are playing notes overtop of jazz standards.And that's not really what we want. We want to play actual music, actual melodies. So the real big question here is how do we make scales musical? How do we take something that is a linear pattern and turn it into something that actually has great melodic value, yet still helps you identify notes and get ideas and sounds in your head that you can use in your jazz improv?Well, on today's show, I have a very special guest Brett Pontecorvo, who is my music production manager at Learn Jazz Standards, a phenomenal pianist and educator. He is going to teach us exactly how to take scales and make them musical so that you can play killer jazz solos with them.In this episode:1. How to choose which scales to play over chords 2. Mapping scales to connect them together 3. Using rhythms as a starting point 4. Intervals and leaps to begin developing melody 5. How chromaticism can help emphasize important scale tonesImportant Links:1. LJS Inner Circle Membership2. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way3. Brett's LiveKeyboardist.com https://livekeyboardist.com/Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 228 of the LJS Podcast where today I teach you a few principles and techniques that will help you play "outside" of the changes without it sounding avante garde or playing wrong notes. I use a lick from an etude in our Inner Circle membership as an example.Have you ever listened to a jazz recording and suddenly the soloist that you're listening to starts going outside of the changes like it sounds dissonant, it doesn't sound completely stable, feels unstable, and feels a little shaky. But then all of a sudden they brilliantly resolve it back into the key center again and everything sounds like it came home and it sounds great and they end up sounding like a genius, right? You're like, wow, how do they do that? And sometimes we might want to start going outside of the "changes" so that we can create some different colors, some different sounds, and then resolve back to where we want to be in the diatonic changes.So, in today's episode, I'm going to be going over some ways to do that by looking at a particular lick that goes through this exact idea of playing outside the changes and then resolving back into the harmony again and see what lessons we can learn from that and take away from it.In this episode:1. When going out, remember that you need to come back in 2. Use repeated patterns 3. Use melodic direction toward resolutions Important Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart WayLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 227 of the LJS Podcast where today we cover 3 practice habits for retaining musical material. It can be frustrating when you learn a jazz standard, solo, or lick, only to forget it later. In this episode, I introduce some practice habits that can be helpful for long-term retention and set you up for success.It can be tough when we are learning a new jazz language, new jazz standards, to retain all of the information that we are learning. I mean, there is so much out there that we are learning. We're learning licks. We're learning jazz standards. We're learning melodies. We're learning chord changes to multiple different things. And eventually, we could possibly forget all of those things and it would feel like a lot of hard work has been wasted. But we don't want any of that to happen. So, what are some of the best practices that we can put into place in order to retain the information that we are learning so that we can get out there and play the best music we possibly can?Well, that's exactly what we are going to talk about in today's episode. Three different practice habits that I want you to adapt in order to be able to retain information better. In this episode:1. Consistency (different from repetition) 2. Limiting Material (not overloading) 3. Breaks (to allow your subconscious to absorb information) Important Links:1. LJS Inner Circle Membership2. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way3. LJS 181: I'm Taking a Break from JazzLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!