tbh all ive ever heard him play is endless streams of 8th or 16 th notes lol

Good stuff

Best jazz education resource on the internet

Someone's been listening to Motion. 😊

I bought book and it said the meditations for the book are on his website, but I can't find them anywhere

Sounds good

Heard him with DeJohnette back in the 80s at Blues Alley. Thanked him for a great set, and he was a total asshole. Instead of “thanks”, I got berated for being the FRIEND of someone who owed him money. I hope he grew a pair, grew up, and learned a modicum of etiquette.

Thank you for sharing this information. Something I can easily understand and utilize. 😅

This man's a genius

❤

아리랑으로 들리지 않는 😅 물레방아 다듬이 딸꾹질 같은 🤔 훌륭한 연주지만

👌

too much talk, no info.

Just played with folks who just play what you describe. Our music is deeper then what schools teach!

broo just learn all 60 scales first bro its not even hard

true wisdom

yeah yeah yeah....but listen to people who don't sound rooted in tradition and it just sucks. sry, Sam...pushing the edge farther and farther is why jazz has been dead since the 70s. The only new improvisational music that is interesting is influenced by world and popular music far outside the scope of jazz.

man that makes SO much sense and such a simple concept ! I'm so excited to integrate this into my playing, thanks so much

Woooooooaaaaah this is incredible! Why doesn’t anyone know this channel exists?

Great advice ❤

Good advice. As far as I'm concerned everyone copies the stuff they love in order to create their own personal language (e.g. Bach did this, and all the jazz greats), and you do that by using the licks/phrases you transcribe to build/form your own ideas i.e. use them as a motif to build/improvise stuff that you can use flexibly in real time that will be organic to you. One thing you don't hear too many people talk about is the transposition of licks or ideas onto each of the seven scale steps of a regular scale. This, and using the lick as a theme to develop related ideas are two ways of taking material and making it a natural part of your playing.

jazz is still a language with vocabulary.

this is only good advice after you've been playing/shedding for years and have your thing together. everyone learns fist by copying the great players and then slowly developing their own sound. playing a line you learned on a gig when you are starting out helps you feel it. Wes Montgomery's first gig was just playing Charlie Christian solos note for note.

BS

Actually real improvisation is easy! Learn to play what u hear in your head and when a line from Rollins comes along, ride it and hear what comes next. Its all about being in the zone. There are no rules. Let the magic happen!

At no point does he even start to explain how to become a “individual“. Jazz musicians are so obsessed with being novel. When all that matters is profundity. Do you mean what you play? It is impossible to play something new. It’s all been played. Obsessing over it is harmful for everyone. And this is the whole point of the music, which is a lineage. A tradition.I’m so sick of this bullshit.

I love Sam’s playing. But this was garbage.

I hate this. Just play what you like. This idea that everything has to be new is a cancer.

This problem makes me want to pick up a Lumatone. ❤😂

The way to mastery is the nuance; that is what I tell my students and other players. Dig into the nuance, of the nuance! Take a chance and and own it.

Is that a Hammond C3? Or B?

But doesn’t playing high level licks and applying them to songs help improve things like ear training, technique, and rhythm? Then when you perform you throw that lick away and only play things that come naturally, but at least you’ll be able to navigate the changes better and here certain intervals, rhythms etc.

Terrible advice, how are you supposed to learn? Everything anyone has played has already been played before.

This is the way it works for me. Getting information I can understand that comes naturally when I play. Working on stuff in 12 keys an applying it to all kinds of situations is not something that I like doing, and also it doesn't come out naturally when I work this way. I know I could work on it for months and it will happen eventually, but some stuff comes so easy and stays with me all my life, maybe this is enough.

If you are interested in studying *privately* with Sam: www.samyahel.com/teaching

Great content!

I see your teacher's point about disrupting your own flow. However, to make it a rule that one should never quote another player seems a bit dogmatic just for the sake of it. Your philosophy on this, combined with the analogy of Nietzsche and the blind date, would seem to imply that you should also never quote an author or any other work of literature during conversation. Which would be absurd. Making reference to the thoughts of others and quoting people is a completely organic part of culture and language. Of course ramrodding a random quote into conversation with absolutely no context doesn't work, but if applied properly it could have great effect. Music is a language and it would follow that it can be done organically with improvising as well. I'd say it's good to be cautious about quoting, but I wouldn't say people need to swear off it.

If a lick comes out naturally because you "hear it" while improvising, I think that is fine. You will never play it exactly the same, as the rhythm will be slightly altered, and the starting/end points could be altered.

another great lesson, thanks for these clips

If you are interested in studying *privately* with Sam: www.samyahel.com/teaching

First of all, let me say you are one of my favorite jazz pianists/organists on the jazz scene today. The way you play is highly unique and creative and anything I see on the internet that you are on I check out. I absolutely love your video on contrapuntal playing - it's brilliant. I do however disagree with a lot of your thesis. For one thing, there has never been one journey to becoming a high level jazz musician or any level for that matter.. We all take different paths. I can name several great pianists that you would personally know that did exactly what you are saying you're against. These players are highly unique and original now. These are top level cats. Some great players even say they are against transcribing and others are adamant about it. A close friend of mine who toured and recorded with Bobby Hutcherson in his later years did exactly what you are suggesting not to do. He once told me he would improvise over a tune and only sound good when he could play that one killer ii-V-I lick. I personally see nothing wrong with inserting phrases, licks, ideas whatever as a learning tool. Of course you don't want to continue down that path and it is an unnatural way to play. I find what happens eventually is those ideas and lines morph into your own lines if you are seriously listening and practicing. That lick you inserted starts to become something else. Every jazz musician I listen to today plays lines that you can identify as coming from the past. Most jazz musicians don't start out sounding very good and being able to insert a line or even entire solos is a great learning tool. It's a way for a young player to play something that sounds like jazz - it's satisfying. I get that it is unnatural and I agree. But noodling around on a scale trying to make up a line that is steeped in jazz language is usually fruitless for young players. Perhaps players like Brad Mehldau took a different path because they have so much raw talent. One last thing - your analogy about being on a date a quoting a famous author out of the blue with no context is not the same as inserting a line in a tune. There is at least some relationship to the tune because it fits in the context of the changes. It might not be the most artful or musical way to improvise, but it can work for a beginner. But I do get your point. Anyway, no disrespect intended - just a different opinion. As I said, I love your playing and thoughts on jazz education and I always look forward to hearing more. I'm a pretty seasoned pianist and I always wanted to study with you so there you go!

If you are interested in studying *privately* with Sam: www.samyahel.com/teaching

That was soooooooooooo informative

I'm so happy to hear someone finally say this. The true originals of jazz who had their own sound didn't play other people's licks. You either have something to say or you don't.

this is great advice thank you

観に行きたいなあ

😁

This is like. Really funny

Thank you Larry just sent to my band

Amen! Too much shredding. Ahmad Jamal is a king of space. Same with Miles. On drums Jimmy Cobb and Ed Thigpen to mind 😊