Jazz is not only fun to play, it is also the pinnacle of musical expression and freedom. Learning how to play jazz can be intimidating so here are some time tested tips to make your efforts less daunting and pay off faster.
Prerequisites:
If you aren’t already listening to Jazz, start immediately! Find a playlist on your streaming platform of choice and familiarize yourself with different styles like, ragtime, bebop, cool, progressive. See what you like and find some inspiration!
Next, get a copy of the Real Book 5th edition. The Real Book is the Jazz Bible, containing a collection of lead sheets (melody and chords) for the most common and popular Jazz Tunes. Somebody told me you might even be able to find a free .pdf copy online if you look around a bit.
Method:
Playing Jazz requires focusing on 3 main skills; playing the melody, playing the accompaniment (aka comping), soloing. When playing Jazz in an ensemble, it’s common for the musicians to play one chorus of the melody and then go around the room, allowing one instrument to solo for an entire chorus while the rest of the musicians “comp” or play an accompaniment based on the chords.
Ok so let’s get started! Open the real book a pick a song that doesn’t look to scary. Song for My Father, Autumn Leaves, Summertime are great starter songs to get you playing. Now, sight-read the melody. If you’re not sure how it sounds, listen to a version on a streaming platform. Once you think you’ve got it, it’s time to move on to comping!
Comping doesn’t have to be complicated to start, commit to learning a few movable 7th chords. For the time being ignore all the 6s, 9s, 11s, 13s, etc… Focus on the most common tonalities Major 7th, Minor 7th, Dominant, and Half-diminished Chords and learn 2 ways to play each. As you’re proficiency with comping grows, you will start to learn how to substitute in chords not listed to make your comping more interesting.
Finally and perhaps the most scary part of playing Jazz you’ll need to practice taking a solo. As a beginner you shouldn’t try to overthink this part; It’s handy to know a few scales you can play over chords. For instance, you can always play a Dorian scale over a minor chord, a Mixolydian scale over a dominant chord, and a Major scale over a Major Chord. Also, pick-up a book of transcribed jazz solos, learn them one at a time and play them until you can do it without looking at the page.
Add-ons:
No one has access to an ensemble of players all the time. The iReal Pro App is about $20 has nearly every songs imaginable online and is like playing with a small group anytime.
Final Thoughts
Learning Jazz is like learning a new language; you weren’t born with the ability to speak but with regular practice and trial and error we are able to converse in a variety of situations while understanding the subtleties and nuances of conversation.
While this article only scratches the surface of playing Jazz, it is meant to give the aspiring musician some direction to further their studies. I hope you’ve found it useful and if you’d like me to write in more detail on any of these topics, drop me a line!
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