Fastest Way to Improve Your Jazz Solos

[@Learnjazzstandards]

What do you think is the fastest way to improve your jazz solos? Let me know!

[@jduncan1000]

One thing that helps me integrate more new sounds into my playing is when I hear some phrase that I love, I figure it out and get it into my fingers, then I figure out how many different variations I can come up with of that particular tone collection, and then I really spend some time developing a clear understanding of exactly what principle is going on, e.g. Wes liked to substitute the V minor 7 of a dominant 7th; or, Parker went from the flat 3rd to the flat 9 in his phrasing and used the diminished sound to connect ideas. Once I have the sounds down, make them mine, and clearly understand how to use them in my playing, I am more able to fully integrate new material into producing my own versions of sounds have an emotional quality that I want to express in my playing.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

John, this is exactly how I would suggest using licks and applying them!

[@Harry-zc8rg]

I taught myself how to play flamenco. I had a teacher to guide me at first with the fundamentals but I picked up a lot of phrases by ear and by listening constantly and learning how to string different ideas together. It took about 15 years. I have been trying to learn jazz for the past 3 years, and for some reason, my approach has been to just learn scales, chords, arpeggios all over the fretboard, learn a bit of music theory which I was sorely lacking, and working with a real book. I once again had a great teacher to get me started. I feel like I am getting nowhere however, and I think the reason why is that (unlike what I did with flamenco) I am not learning phrases by ear, nor am I learning enough tunes and figuring out how to apply the solos and phrases in different standards. It has taken a while but I think I have realized there is no reason why my old approach would not work for jazz guitar.

[@Armando_Gutierrez]

Before watching the video, I think transcribing is a very efficient way to learn jazz quickly👌

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Absolutely Armando!

[@PaulHofreiter]

Agreed. Glad to hear you say it as many seem to be look for shortcuts but it’s all about vocabulary in the end and learning solos by the ears gives you that as well as opens up the ears. It should be proof enough that practically all of the greats learned this way. It seems slow at first but it needs to be taken in the context of the length of a lifetime - learning solos is certainly the fastest and most effective way to do it.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Yes Paul! Couldn't have said it better.

[@francisrichard5282]

I found that when taking a lick to multiple keys, it opened up a total different way of thinking: you do not just learn the notes on the keyboard but learn the intervals & relative notes positions. You start to understand that putting the 9 is giving this particular sound you like very much. Thank you Brent! One question: what is your priority list of 12 keys to go through?

[@MusicTeacherMcGorry]

I completely agree. And, if I write anything down, it’s only at the end. I used to write as I went, but that wasn’t very effective. You need to know the solo phrases inside and out to get the benefit. One thing I’d like to add: you can transcribe sections of a solo. For example, of you want more ideas for endings, you can transcribe a bunch of endings from various solos. Same with intros. I haven’t really done that too much, but I’m going to be this summer. Also, since transcribing, for me at least, always gets pushed off and then maybe I run out of practice time, I am trying doing it at the very beginning of a practice session, before technical practice and learning a new tune, etc.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Yes! Writing can be helpful for visualization and analyzing but it's not as beneficial for actually learning and internalizing the language

[@schnirzelzwirn]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Transcribing by ear helped me a lot. I should do more transcribing. I also improved by singing improvised lines over cord progressions (max. 4 bars, preferably modulations, e.g. parts from the bridge of "Have you met Mrs. Jones") without any accompanying and afterwards playing the cords to check whether the improvised line matched the progression properly. Took me a lot of concentration. Another exercise that helped me is singing the appeggios of progressions in standards without guitar and monitoring the result with the guitar afterwards. I am convinced that I have to be able to sing lines and progressios without any instrument to make sure that I fully understand what is goin on.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Thanks for sharing!

[@gggomez9764]

Ok man I lost my way and I gotta get back to doing it. Grant Green’s Miss Anne’s Tempo here I come.

[@ExecutionSommaire]

I'm just doin this for the theme and Bird's solo on Donna Lee. I had learnt it maybe 2 years ago, but never took the time to really work on it as I should. The solo is short, only two forms, so not an overwhelming task to practice in all keys. Something I've noticed: every time I do this kind of work, it seems to kill my improvisation for a while, even if I take care to also practice individual phrases mixed with my own improvised bits. My theory is that there is a phase where the brain "wants" everything I play to be at Bird's level, kinda :D I've learnt to accept it and keep practicing. Soon enough I find myself back on my feet, with my own voice and added vocabulary.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

It can feel like that sometimes! You start heading and playing jazz language at such a high level that when you go back to what you regularly improvise it can be deflating. But rest assured that stuff is sneaking into your playing and your ears!

[@ExecutionSommaire]

@@Learnjazzstandards Yup! patience is key...

[@alfredbellanti3755]

I like the idea of 2 5 1 licks and can you suggest some jazz solos here on KZbin that I can slow down to play by ear?

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Hey Alfred, sure! Here’s a video that suggests some: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5ScfpuwncqGjMU

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

It's actually not hard work learning by ear, it's just an effort to accept that it will work. There's no magic pill.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

I couldn't have said it any better!

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

@@Learnjazzstandards I'm a language teacher and a language learner and an improviser teacher and learner too. I resisted transcribing for about 20 years of my playing life and could not get my head around improvising. When I started to trust my ears, it suddenly started to work. We learn languages in the same way. Listen transcribe imitate. Once we have some command of the language we start to use it to create our own ideas. Same for music. Historically speaking the best improvisers learnt by transcribing, they didn't have hordes of scale/chord books to learn from, just some discs and a record player and to slow down a track they'd use a finger on the vinyl.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Thanks for sharing! You're completely right. This is why I say it's the fastest way. It may be hard work at first and seem slow, but the progress comes fast on the other side

[@ExecutionSommaire]

​@@TheCompleteGuitarist What do you think about the benefits of learning from others directly? I think when a fellow musician shows you a lick or some concept, it will stick like 10 times more efficiently than taking it from the record. There is an article from Hal Galper about the importance of master/apprentice relationship, I guess that's how all greats became what they became. Taking tips from the big guys, not only through records but also in real life. I guess that's a part of why human teacher will/should never be replaced by machines. Increased neural activation when interacting with other human beings, all that stuff...

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

@@ExecutionSommaire A good teacher should show the path, the student has to walk it. Teachers cannot put language (aka musical ideas) into a students head, students acquire them through exposure to good(?) models. Teachers don't teach, students acquire (learn). Watch a baby acquiring a language and you will see a baby transcribing and reproducing, in truth all language (including music) is (should be) learnt like this. Consider this, when you speak, where does the language come from, do your ideas simply appear in your head/mouth, how does this work? because a good musician will produce music in the same way. The music will magically appear. There is no time to think about scale, harmony relationship when time is passing. While we might actually evaluate an idea before speaking, we don't construct sentences one word at a time. We program our mind with exposure to patterns, language or music then they appear. No amount of monitoring makes this process better. In the book the Inner Game of Music, the author talks about the voice that guides us that ultimately stops us acting intuitively or reacting in time.

[@Brendan99349]

Henry Hudson park?! Great video and solid advice.

[@sequoyahcisneros8719]

I highly recommend Hank Mobley's solo on No Blues (Pfrancing) at Carnegie hall with Miles Davis, when first I heard that recording it introduced me to a lot of cool jazz stuff and was pivotal for my playing

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Great ones!

[@anhngocle1863]

great!!tks u so much!!!!

[@grahamokeefe9406]

For me, improvement comes the most from playing with other people (specifically people who are better than I am). It can be kind of a brutal route to improvement because when you screw up, other people will be there to witness it. And if you're unlucky enough, it'll happen at a jam session where there's some jerk who will drag you over it.

[@davinnicode]

Learning jazz solos by ear? Does that mean that I have to transcribe the solo first or just try to play along with it? The former seems to be more efficient.

[@defunct1373]

Of course, I'm pretty sure he means transcribing.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Hey there! You can transcribe if you would like (write it down), but I more mean learning it by ear. Check out my LIST process I mention in the video!

[@defunct1373]

@@Learnjazzstandards oh I confused the two terms ;p

[@alfredbellanti3755]

Learning a few bars at a time is also a great idea.

[@BrandochGarage]

I guess I have to still work on my timing... aw, kidding! I subscribed ages ago... ;)

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Glad to have you as a subscriber!

[@MingdAnvers]

Do you sing the solo without the original track playing?

[@imoleayoekundayo3254]

Cool

[@jerrodshack7610]

100 likes to 0 dislikes, that's what I'm talking about

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Ha! Thanks Jerrod. We’ll see how long it lasts

[@pickinstone]

Astoria Park?

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Not Astoria Park, but not far off...

[@mattlovesguitar12]

Well said cat.

[@patpogoallroundguitarist5814]

Practice the same licks until you get very bored with them and discover they pop up automatically in soloing...

[@CouchEconomyTX]

Pat Pogo Allround Guitarist oh no Not the lick

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Hey, it's true! Internalization is key

[@bobfridge]

@@Learnjazzstandards But when you learn licks in isolation its hard to fit them into your solo without it sounding awkward. Some licks are only good because they were previously developed by soloist

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Hey Bob agreed! That’s why internalizing licks from solos you learned is good way to go. You understand the context of that lick. That being said, I never suggest copy and pasting licks into your solos.

[@patpogoallroundguitarist5814]

Learn Jazz Standards The question is if the outcome is more effective with practicing licks without thinking about any progression, to just let it the lick sink in in the system, or to play the lick over some sort of etude or chord for example?