“I never have any trouble playing anything I can think of. The trouble is thinking of what to play.” – Stan Getz If you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a hundred times. If you want to play on this … Continue reading
No matter what you play or how well you do it, the one thing that unites all musicians is the necessity of practice. Whether you’re a four year old taking Suzuki lessons or a grizzled professional (or any kind of … Continue reading
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of people insisting that you can’t become a good jazz musician without following whatever methods or rules they happen to favor. As with so many other endeavors, there are many valid paths … Continue reading
Innovate – n. To begin or introduce something new; be creative (American Heritage Dictionary) So we come to the third and final piece of Clark Terry’s jazz education paradigm: innovation. Improvisation, by it’s very nature, implies innovation. If you are … Continue reading
Years ago I overheard jazz vocalist Betty Carter admonishing her young bass player to “get your three together!” as he was having some difficulty locking into the jazz waltz groove her trio was trying to get going. Having your act … Continue reading
We must be doing some things right here at PlayJazzNow. Lately I’ve discovered a few jazz ed websites that are, um, emulating some of the concepts and strategies we’ve been pioneering over the last few years. All in all, I … Continue reading
Many people, musicians and civilians alike, have a tendency to get “lost” when listening to jazz. I’m talking about standard song form jazz here, not the more complicated, through-composed or “free” types of jazz. Once the melody of the song … Continue reading
It may seem obvious, but one of the most “educational” things you can do to become a better musician is to listen to the kind of music you want to master. I’m not talking about having some music on while … Continue reading
