Jazz Guitar Education - Scales & Arpeggios vs Language

[@DenisChangMusic]

Intro song is called "Deep Purple" by Peter DeRose. Featuring my buddies Larry Chen from Taiwan on bass, and Daniel Garlitsky from Russia via Paris on violin

[@landonskalsky735]

Oh yeah! Nice diablo reference 😎

[@DenisChangMusic]

we have a winner!!!

[@giovammo9738]

Spot on Denis!

[@mattdowie92]

Beautiful playing by all of you during the intro. Denis, that solo was delicious 😊

[@vincentchen5341]

Teaching modes and tell students they can improvise by knowing modes is completely BS. I started to learn Jazz by doing the same things. It wastes so much time, coz people have this misconception that if you run through the scale then it will makes you sound like you’re playing Jazz. So after practicing two years of running scales and modes I find out damn, no one is really doing that coz it sound so random and boring. Then I find out it’s just melody. 2-5-1 exist everywhere, the vocabulary for playing melody is already there. Listen to all the pop songs then I start to play 4-1 progressions. People should learn triads rather than 21 modes for 12 keys unless they want to sound like robots.

[@kostas9216]

hi dennis.cecil alexander has a loto of theory in his playing i mean chord scale relationshio and his playing is all calculating but still ver intiguing.how you could explain that?he has the best lines i have ever heard especially double time jazz lines.thx a lot for your videos and your online school

[@DenisChangMusic]

i don't think his playing is that very "calculated" in that sense. He says so himself in my videos on DC Music School. But knowing and using theory doesn't prevent one from using one's ears either. The ears and instinct are the foundation. Just like a child doesn't use grmmar in the beginning but later on , once they know how to speak a language naturally, learning grammar and certain things like that could potentially expand one's skills. Another great example is John Coltrane, who is known to be extremely studious in his later years, but in the beginning, he acquired the same basic important skills. The point here is to know where to put the priority not to say 100% no to one thing or another

[@zakmartel3022]

On coquette dyou play A Mixolydian or E Dorian?

[@DenisChangMusic]

@@zakmartel3022 i just play the changes to Joseph Joseph in Fm and hope for the best, brah

[@Guitarvision1]

Bro just ignored everything Denis said 😂

[@Pete_B_773]

"Copy and paste" licks are what most gypsy jazz players play, especially the Dutch ones.

[@jakemf1]

The focus should always be on language! Scales and so on have their place but the style of jazz and all of the off shoot is an aural art form and should be learned like speaking

[@BensJazzGuitarHangOutJoint]

Hi Denis, thanks for all the great educational videos. I'm currently studying at a 'jazz school' having played guitar for a couple of years, so i had to practice alot to be able to get in. Before going i spent my thursday nights at a local jazz clubs jam nights, at first i had no idea how to play jazz despite having learnt loads of songs by ear on piano and clarinet as a kid, so i had a selection of phrases i knew, but the best lessons ive ever learnt came from asking the bass player something between songs, or listening to how the saxophonist warmed up, or going up to someone after a gig and asking a couple questions. Honestly, while i value the environment the school provides in terms of being surrounded by talented musicians, i can honestly say there is nothing provided by the course content that has made me a better player than just listening to music at home with a guitar in my hands or playing with friends as much as possible. There is valuable academic information which has given me greater understanding, but understanding jazz doesnt mean you can play it. Anyway, thanks so much for all the great content, people like you, Jimmy Bruno, Jens Larsen, Frank Vignola etc provide great educational resources

[@BensJazzGuitarHangOutJoint]

Oh, and shout out to another brilliant educator on youtube, Akio Sasajima, he plays beautifully too, unfortunately I struggle to understand sometimes as my japanese is very basic.

[@JonasA]

I simply love your videos, Denis. But I think it is mainly due to you and I thinking very much alike as for how we approach music, how we learn music. Learning by listening and doing rather than the academic approach and learn by reading, learning from books. Music is like the everyday language spoken 'on the streets'. There are phrases and nuances, that can identify what town you're living in and even what block in that town. Things you can't learn from books. Phrases and nuances that will make you sound like a 'local' rather than academic student. Music is a language and languages are best learnt communicating with everyday people speaking the language, rather than learning things in a classroom. Keep up the good mission, Denis! ❤

[@cankutbayhan]

problem is , guitar sounds way too unrelated to that climb that violin melts down rising right at 2.12, if i can't hear it underneath it , i cant make it ring insidiously if you know what i mean...it is like the gal extending her lips and the lad asking for one more beer to the bartender...that is and was all the time the image that have always made me struggle about this non-intactness if i may say so...guitar sucks at this genre and simply fails the orchestration of the lyricism just because of its intervalic way of construction...so i cant ask for one that i could not provide for. it was enlightening and truly appreciated, cheers? would you?

[@faisletoismeme]

Merci Denis pour l'effort que tu met à nous faire comprendre des choses basées sur ton expérience. Merci de partager ton expérience.

[@bigtaiho]

Nice!

[@Alan-zi2rs]

im pretty sure that Martin Taylor said he played diatonic all the sinple stuff. you gotta play with heart it's the only way to get that true sound as always Denis great video 💯🇬🇧👍

[@DavidRamos-nz4bh]

This is all so true! I intuitively thought what you are saying is the only way. Dudes sitting around their caravans were flying by the seats of their pants. Played a few wrong notes until they got it. Fantastic lesson!

[@jfar3340]

If you just want to play for fun, don't worry about anything, just worry about the gear

[@dangfd551]

Love this, people are always searching for a one lesson teaches all solution. A system, method, or secret. And yet every great musician I’ve ever heard has failed to deliver anything of the sort? Obviously they don’t have it, don’t need it, or don’t want it.

[@minaees]

Great video 👍 I'd be interested to know how and why the chord/scale approach became so dominant. Guessing it might have something to do with getting university accreditation and offering courses to people playing different instruments. I can imagine administrators being more sympathetic to a maths-like system that you can teach to anyone. But that's a total guess.

[@mattdowie92]

I think it comes from Modal Jazz