VLOG: Play-alongs are hurting you | Ep 24

[@StantawnKendrick]

Same could be said about transcriptions. Learn them from the record never from a book. Also don't write them down until the very end for filing away or analyzing.

[@bobreynolds]

+Stantawn Kendrick yup

[@LarryLenau]

Stantawn Kendrick What's wrong with writing the solo as you transcribe it?

[@lewissallows]

I personally just find it harder to commit to memory and internalise if when I write it down as I go along.

[@nickvanamburg]

not to mention writing it out from memory afterwards is a good exercise in itself

[@johndaniel9352]

Bob is great He played back in the day religiously on play alongs All I got out of this is definitely do play alongs haha

[@bobreynolds]

Yup! Play-along are great I just wish I’d been a little less lazy with how I used them ☺️

[@zaqintosh]

Fun story, when I first got back into guitar around 2014, I was using a game/app called "Rocksmith" that would basically use a backing band along with an animation to prompt you what to play on guitar. It was an awesome way for me to get back up to speed "technically" on an instrument I hadn't touched in years. Once I had confidence I told my buddy I was back into guitar, and using Rocksmith. I had learned (even perfected!) about 8 or so songs. He asked me to play one cold, and I was surprised I couldn't. It took that experience to show me that all of this time my brain was taking a "lazy short cut" in storing the information and was not capable of recalling anything without all of the visual prompts (or backing band audio prompts). From that point on I forced myself to memorize without any aid, or if I used an aid it was to get a basic sense of the song and harmony, and quickly abandon the aid and memorize it with me and the instrument. I'm very grateful to Rocksmith for getting me back into it, but you have to put it down quick or it will make you dumb :)

[@kabeersingh8411]

Oi oI Oi when the drums kick in...mhhmm. Brilliant stuff Bob!

[@bcmsax]

This video is the reassurance Iv been seeking...time to go cold turkey from the backing tracks/iReal pro for a while me thinks. Thanks as always Bob

[@maryorji1956]

i wish you could come back to Berklee and teach PI because you’re an excellent teacher ! I would love to have lessons with you!

[@MisterstereoOso]

Well your opinion definitely counts !! You talk so much sense !! Thanks again for the insight.

[@paulgibby6932]

Glad I found your channel. Good advice that agrees with what I've heard from guitarist Jimmy Bruno.

[@isaacbuick3575]

Very informative. I use playalongs specifically hal leonard ones but I always try to use my own chord voicings and try and mix it up. I wish I had reliable people I could play with at the moment but I don't so Im stuck with playalongs that can limit creativity as you can never change parts of the tempo or progression in the same way you could with real musicians.

[@hijauinternational]

Thank you Thank you Thank you.

[@xasma]

yeah I've been using iReal pro on my phone for play alongs and although it's fun and has good time/rhythm I do sort of feel as if I'm learning very little. Thanks for this. I will adjust my routine

[@will955000]

Love these vlogs!!! Keep up the amazing work!

[@bobreynolds]

+William Wang thanks! Doing my best to keep going.

[@operationblackout1095]

so if we improvise on a standard using a metronome, we have to hear the changes by ourselves? and at the same time improvise lines?

[@mitchell5016]

+Bob Reynolds Hey Bob, what's your opinion of leaning tunes from a lead sheet vs learning them from a recording?

[@gerbenwasser]

what about drum genius?

[@moevaom]

Yeah, I can admit I'm abusing and misusing those backing tracks. Thanks Bob for the cold hard truth!

[@mikehawk2148]

Awwwwww man, Hudson's a sweet name

[@lucasnettomusic4396]

agreed!!

[@matthewlima66]

What kind of microphone do you use recording these vlogs?

[@johngoldberg5589]

Using a play along, I'm always like "shit! The piano player keeps stepping on my toes!"

[@footrane]

Great lesson, master!!

[@joelpierson2628]

Improvising without the harmony sounds near impossible to me! How would I get started? Play the chord tones while keeping track of the bars ? And doing that in all keys?

[@zugrath16]

Just go through the chord changes enough times that you can hear them in your head. Bob has another good video on that called "learning a standard" or something like that. Start by just memorizing the root of each chord in the song, you could learn them like a melody if that helps. The key is not to just learn it "intellectually" but also musically, so you don't have to think about it. The goal is to just know it, the same way you know twinkle twinkle little star. Then add the rest of the notes, the 3rd, 5th, 7th etc. Play around with them along with a metronome. After that, it shouldn't be too difficult to hear the changes in your head when you improvise :)

[@bernarddaigle2830]

Another drawback to play alongs is that you're basically playing with a band that doesn't hear you, so there's no interaction and you don't develop your ability to change how you play in reaction to what is going on in the rhythm section.

[@alondra086]

Just subscribed :D

[@hetane]

I enjoy your vlogs so much more then Casey Naistat's (Yes, I know it's a different thing, but still it's a regular youtube content that I look forward to watching)

[@bobreynolds]

+hetane that's very kind of you. He's an inspiration.

[@wmetz1707]

There is annother Problem with Play-alongs: Often the rhythmsection played with a soloist to make the playback more vivid. When you play with this Play-along, you are confrontated with the reaction of the rhythm section to the soloist. Though you have to play with the enegetic concept of this "hidden soloist". A very artificial and confusing setup....

[@bobreynolds]

+W Metz totally.

[@timeWaster76]

The only ones worth working with are the aebersolds. Fro me they are indispensable because finding a rhythm section to rehears four ours a day .... impossible. Unless you are fa fancy pants LA player... LOL They way I approch them is a totally aural. l Get your site reading in big band. On the first time through a new track I always play it as it I am preforming on the band stand. and no matter what do stop and d back up or stop I just play through ad use my ear to make it sound the way I want or expect it to sound. You just might be shocked how close to the tune you can get after working this way for a few years. (No it does not happen over night and no you are not train or Parker get over your self.) It is likely well sound like shit at first. If you keep the blowing going keeping you sound together that is key. To get the form of the song down play to the base and drums channel of the aebersold tracks down and do not look at the chart don't look at the name of the tune name if you can help it You need to find the tune for yourself Once you think you have it down make some notes then check the charts. Then try both tracks for the melodies make up your own to them and or try and hear the tune. But if you really want to play jazz Don't count

[@tooter1able]

All that stuff = ear .... not Hear training....solfeggio using moveable do. No body wants to bust Blz to "do" (pronounced 'Dough' as in $) it.

[@richardjohnson9218]

That is the popular dogma of today. Playalongs are bad but scales are not? Transcribe everybody else but never create your own melodies. Learn the magic scale but not how to target chord tones. The Jazz establishment education has corrupted Jazz.

[@CaptainSunFlare]

You learn others melodies and riffs to learn from them and make elements of them your own.

[@michaelgreenberg3764]

Bob, BiaB use real tracks not computerized

[@MalikEmmanuel]

I think playalongs teach people to not listen.

[@HaHaHaHope]

Well, when you live in an area where there are no players especially if you want to play jazz play alongs are all you have. Not everyone is fortunate to be able to play with session players.

[@bobreynolds]

Play-alongs are a wonderful tool. That's all I had for many years. But they can be a crutch if you don't really learn the songs in and out (that was my mistake for years)