5 Things That Ruin You Jazz Solos And How To Fix It

The roadblock for most Jazz Beginners is that they practice scales and arpeggios, but turning that into something that sounds like a great Jazz Solo seems impossible. Instead of just working on technique, you need to improve at making music, as I will show you in this video.
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Content:
00:00 The Roadblock
00:18 Avoid Scale Solos
00:49 #1 Arpeggios Can Be Nice (but use them the right way)
01:21 Arpeggio Idea #1
01:34 Arpeggio Idea #2
02:24 Arpeggio Idea #3
02:55 #2 Simple, Flexible and Incredibly Powerful
04:48 #3 Breaking The Counterpoint Rules
06:07 The Practice Strategy
07:49 #4 The Curse Of Heavy Beats
08:52 #5 Technique for Dynamics
09:58 The Biggest Mistakes Learning Jazz
10:18 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page!
My name is Jens Larsen, Danish Jazz Guitarist, and Educator. The videos on this channel will help you explore and enjoy Jazz. Some of it is how to play jazz guitar, but other videos are more on Music Theory like Jazz Chords or advice on how to practice and learn Jazz, on guitar or any other instrument.
The videos are mostly jazz guitar lessons, but also music theory, analysis of songs and videos on jazz guitars.
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[@JensLarsen]

What do you think is the biggest roadblock for beginner Jazz soloists? One thing they should do is probably this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWiygGCpaJajhbc

[@paulpmanhowland7818]

The biggest roadblock for me just is composing lines. I think just need to start setting a little time aside for that each time I practice. I appreciate that you included some "recipes" here. I think that will be a big help for me. Thanks for the video!

[@tomcripps7229]

Wanting to be a great soloist first without a thorough understanding of chord voicings.

[@artivrolijkekunst990]

For me the biggest roadblock is to make simple melodies spontaneously. I can whistle al kinds of melodies on the spot, but i hardly can't do it on my guitar. Can you explain this?

[@matthewkiepert2055]

Finding a voice

[@Nameless742]

@@artivrolijkekunst990 To do this you need to train your ear. I would recommend transcribing. I started with nursery rhymes because they were simple and familiar but you could just as easily do your own melodies. Just hum the first note, find it on the guitar, hum the next note and find it. When you transcribe you train that ability to hear something and then play it. The more you do it the more you intuitively find the notes.

[@doglegsteve8363]

This guy is such a good teacher. Thank you Jens.

[@RobKandell]

On the subject of “really listening”: The purpose of performing in any art form, music being ours, is to communicate emotionally with an audience. If we have no emotional connection with the music ourselves, what do we have to offer an audience? If our only emotional connection is to display technique and “virtuosity”, what does that say of us.

[@ricklaino6385]

Always informative...... thanks Jens...!!!

[@JensLarsen]

My pleasure!

[@rubberduck8631]

Happy birthday Jens! You helped me and so many other jazz guitarist. Your video's are a blessing!

[@MarcoCastilloWorld]

Another great video Jens, thank you for your wonderful work!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jjamesmcguire6343]

That was a super awesome lesson Jens! I definitely use lots of those techniques and skills while soloing and some of them instinctually, but it's great to hear all the other parts of that reinforced and try to incorporate those as much as you can. It makes simple licks become very cool.

[@johnmarlin7269]

Looking forward to it!

[@graemeozzie2251]

So cool coming back here Jens after probably 5 years or so. Great to see your personality and humour coming out 😂 I remember your first few videos so nerdy, introverted and lo-fi, I loved those just as much but awesome to see you sticking at this and really shining as a teacher. Been asked to play in a jazz group so your channel is now my go to survival guide lol.

[@bumrecordingstudios]

I’m going to practice this aft coffee time on a song I need a solo for. I stumbled upon a good lick yesterday composing a solo and I’m going to incorporate more of what you said here into that solo. Thanks kindly you are a gem of a resource!

[@JensLarsen]

Great that you are putting it to use! 🙂

[@heimenitaia5862]

Great video ! very helpfull. Have a great day.

[@tooselfish]

Moin Jens Larsen, Thanks a lot for this video and your guitar lessons in jazz

[@dougmckenzie9475]

I really appreciated that you tied these ideas into some specific advice for practicing it. I am definitely going to be using all of this.

[@nilssmelteris7845]

This is best jazz solo lesson in youtube! Thank you master!

[@keegsmarshall6610]

I really think this is one of your best videos ever! I feel like you just opened up one side of the trench coat and said " hey, psst! You wanna get some of the real stuff? I got it here!" It felt like I was getting access to some real secret inside knowledge.

[@xoxb2]

I agree - it's a particularly helpful one.

[@nateb.4959]

I swear you have a talent of uploading the exact video I need

[@tomcripps7229]

Thanks!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it Tom!

[@olymoon2008]

Again, a very efficient video that opens branches that allows us to organize and make our learning better. I'm so impressed how you do this so clearly in 10 minutes. :0 THANK YOU from the deep of my soul. I would only had insisted more on the rhythmic placement, as 3 notes well chosen and placed can make a great impact.

[@JensLarsen]

Great that the videos are useful 🙂

[@RobKandell]

Not *really listening* to jazz. It’s one thing to listen casually and saying, “That’s great. I want to play like that.”, and actually getting under the hood and seeing how it works.

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

Especially true of jazz, but true of all genres of music.

[@BrendaBoykin-qz5dj]

Thank you,JL.😎⭐✨🌹✨⭐😎

[@JensLarsen]

You are so welcome

[@ghfdt368]

This is all great advice^ for me one the most important lead skills anyone in any genre can learn at all levels is not just focus on what you play but how MUCH you are playing. Sounds silly right? but what I mean by that is sometimes guitar players have the tendancy to play a solo or melody or line for too long or make them more complicated than they need to be. Sometimes playing just 2-3 notes and leaving much more space is a far better solo, it can make it more interesting to listen to and also opens not only yourself but the audience up to all kinds of posibilities that you now have available once you need to start playing again. Its really really hard to go in a different direction or go on a journey when you are flying through an arpeggio or scale because you have to focus on playing something difficult or very specific which closes you off to some ideas that you might come up with in the moment.

[@jafferscakes7063]

Excellent! thank you again Jens...I always remember Yngwie malmsteen when he said arpegio means broken chord and once you look at it like that I think for me it is a lot easier

[@JensLarsen]

Sure, that makes sense 🙂

[@jimmrvos2930]

This is a fantastic lesson! It’s lays out a great plan to develop jazz soloing skills. To fully follow it, I bet it’s at least a year’s worth of work. Maybe the thing for me to do is to seriously focus on the lesson for a very long time. A roadblock I certainly have to overcome is to stay focused on something like this well defined approach to soloing.

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you Jim! That sounds like a great idea! 🙂

[@buckjofiden4804]

This is a great lesson. Hey Jens how do I get back on the roadmap?

[@JensLarsen]

Get back? Just log in 🙂

[@GabrielGarcia-ft8dz]

Jens, you are a great jazz guitar online teacher! Would you know tell me who is the great jazz bass online teacher? Thanks 😊

[@waynehicks1969]

There is so much in here. I notice this with a lot of your videos. There is so much information in them it is like going to a banquet and trying to eat some of everything. I mean I could practice arpeggio up and scale down and then adding enclosures and do that for quite a while to get it to be in my fingers and not just my head withou going on to anything else. Heck that would probably be enough for a career.

[@notecrackervideos]

I haven’t even seen it yet and already feeling totally depressed, worthless and utterly useless, so nothing new here in Copenhagen. 😎✌🏽

[@fredericsan007]

Jazz no és un lloc: És un camí. Camina'l sempre que et vingui de gust. ps Sempre pots trobar alguna companyia per a les caminades.

[@JensLarsen]

Haha! Surely it can't be that bad? 😁😁

[@fredericsan007]

😊😊😊😊​@@JensLarsen

[@BrendaBoykin-qz5dj]

​@@fredericsan007 I NEEDED THAT!!!! Thank you,Frederic⭐🌹⭐

[@JustinTrudeau1971]

I save all these videos to Dropbox.

[@raywoods2071]

Under the hood of jazz - Loved the disclosure about enclosures! (just kidding, all this was very useful information)

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it!

[@voltex2437]

Hi!! whats the name of you Guitar ?? :)

[@JensLarsen]

It's an Ibanez AS2630 🙂

[@OKJazzBro]

Why are these called "minor sixth interval"s: while going from C to B, play E and while going from F to E, play A ?

[@JensLarsen]

Not sure what you are asking, but if you give me a time in the video then maybe I can explain?

[@OKJazzBro]

@@JensLarsen This is at 5:35. I see text on the screen like "Descending b6th" and "Adding the minor 6th interval". In that example lick, while going from C to B, you played E and while going from F to E, you played A. I'm not sure how the minor sixths come into the picture here 🤔

[@JensLarsen]

@@OKJazzBro C to E is a Descending minor 6th.

[@joeknipes9567]

I feel like "rules" and music theory in general are used to explain or provide a framework for understanding music, rather than a set of ingredients to be combined to create music.

[@joeknipes9567]

Starting with the jazz language as played by the masters (Parker, Powell, Stitt, etc.) and only using theory to understand it or break it down as needed seems to be the way to go. Agree? Ear training, rhythmic training, voice leading, counterpoint can all be used to ingrain the language. Thoughts?

[@kevindonnelly761]

I know of about fifteen schools of Music Theory (I'm not kidding). I've studied most of them at Uni many years ago. If you don't like one type, try another. Usually with Jazz, we use Berklee Theory and / or Barry Harris. Many people think the only theory that exists is Classical Theory. That's what leads to confusion. Music Theories have evolved from Naturally occurring phenomena - such as dividing a vibrating string or column of air into simple ratios (1:1, Unison 1:2, Octave, 2:3, Perfect 5th, 3:4, Perfect 4th - and so on). Use of our three (Primary) triads started with Pythagoras. There is a lot more, but this is where it begins. These same ratios have been found in Art, Architecture, Mathematics and even Astronomy in the Pre Copernican Geocentric Universe. Whether people are aware of it or not, they have grown up with these patterns in their environment and tend to like them because they are used to them. A lot of people must think Theory of Music was invented by a bunch of guys who wanted people to think this is how things 'should be' rather than a Parallel evolution of Natural Phenomena / Philosophy and its expression in Art and / or Mathematics. Ear training et al. is important too and is certainly covered in Music Courses. Joe Satriani says: 'Music Theory is a codification of what works.' 🙂

[@joeknipes9567]

I like that last line, Satriani knows what's up.

[@JohnAmatulli]

As a guitarist and teacher with 45 years under my strap I would add ‘transcribing’ or ‘songs & solos’. Every serious practice session should start with a warmup of exercises, preferably with a metronome that speeds up incrementally every 4 to 8 bars over a range. Then some combination of: Work on a piece you are learning, i.e. songs & solos. Composition based on previous exercises and song/solo where you expand and explore. After one of those or both: Jamming, free playing, have fun (very important)

[@JohnAmatulli]

And you definitely talk about this in other videos.

[@JensLarsen]

Certainly!

[@matthiasscheffler548]

The 'enclosure' thing is reminiscent to 'For Elise' by Beethoven, isn't it?

[@Strat.1]

I don’t do tabs so I can’t follow with your notes on my pad

[@JensLarsen]

Then read the notes?

[@ingeronnabakk6844]

"Pissing on the flame"-titled Video.

[@erichleten843]

Im in my sixties...too late to learn jazz?

[@JensLarsen]

No, just go for it 🙂

[@WVNicholson]

Big spoiler here. Number 1 in the video is jazz improv motivated by a list of bullet points. That saved you the trouble of watching the video. Only kidding - easily refuted by clicking on "...more"...

[@L5man]

Jens I’m gonna stop watching your videos if you keep doing this premier stuff. I want to watch this but I can’t. So I’ll go watch some other videos.

[@JensLarsen]

It is usually a lot of fun to hang out in the chat at the premiere. You should drop by sometime

[@kevindonnelly761]

@@JensLarsen That's right ! Some of the guys are really cheeky !

[@marciamakesmusic]

you know it gets uploaded after it premieres and you can watch it later, right?

[@RobKandell]

⁠It does upload immediately for those who can’t make the premier. As for the premier itself, we’ll try to get @@kevindonnelly761 to behave himself. 😎

[@RobKandell]

In the chat, we'll try to get @@kevindonnelly761 to behave himself. 🙂

[@kevinparsons5564]

Come down of your high horse and try to help beginners, start from the beginning, then maybe I would subscribe ,,