Why Your Jazz Improv Sucks (And How to Fix It)

[@lorenreedsmith]

Really great advice. I saw huge changes in my playing when I stopped practicing random things and instead focused on learning one/two standards per month. Also, the chunking and looping of challenging chord passages (e.g. the B section of Stella by Starlight) really lets you get your mind around them. Thanks for the great content!

[@klimen638]

I love tip 9 soo much. Thank you very much.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Glad it was helpful!

[@benkatof5852]

This strikes me as a pretty thorough and effective list/diagnosis - well done! Personally, time management and getting hung up on composing the perfect lines or getting attached to certain ideas are my biggest stumbling blocks.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Thanks so much. Just keep going. You'll get there!

[@matth6932]

Learn Heads! We have been able to build our repertoire 'ten fold' in a short amount of time. About two standards a week. We have a lot more fun when we do that. Thanks Brent.

[@Chum-e51]

Besttt advice on jazz till now🙏🏻😭

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Thank you!

[@ronangray1878]

Dude I really love your videos. You have the answers to every question I’ve ever had about jazz.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

So glad to hear that Ronan!

[@dorienvandewouwer1725]

Great advice, thank you!!

[@Learnjazzstandards]

You are so welcome!

[@insidejazzguitar8112]

Great advice!

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Thank you so much!

[@eshaylord3950]

YEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH THIS IS EPIC!!!!!!!!!

[@tony3313]

Very good suggestions.

[@Learnjazzstandards]

Glad you think so. Thanks

[@EvanWiederandersMusic]

I have developed a good ear, but I can barely read sheet music. Should I practice learning jazz standards from sheet music to get better at that?

[@gavdobs]

you read my mind

[@jeromeking6001]

So helpful man

[@alainvosselman9960]

I've been learning to play covers as played by the artists themselves. There's a fantastic man on youtube who transcribes pieces played by all legendary and less known guitarists. I memorize them and it has helped me generate a little bit of vocabulary. But i haven't been playing real book standards. Could you tell me what you think of that ? There's about 20 pieces i memorized at the moment. I've been doing about 3 a year for the past 6yrs after having learned all major scales and their modes and chords and understanding/ playing fine chords, with extensions and alternations. I've been improvising on chords, progressions which i create myself. I love trying to make my own pieces. Got some interesting stuff i created but i haven't made a piece that has a solo part in it. Thought i'd wait until i get better at it.

[@hughmanatee7433]

Guitar players please read music with a metronome an hour a day! This is what we suck the most at. Sight reading in time will give you a lot more control of all of the elements of your playing other than the improvisation. You can get over a lot of stuff like looking at your hands, fumbling rhythms, fumbling fingerings etc. Use the metronome at a slow tempo, say 80 bpm and really work out those Parker lines and those bossa nova rhythms. That is where the language is. In a month your mastery will surprise you and you will solo stronger. We didn’t start out by reading on the saxophone in the third grade we played by ear and we missed a lot of stuff that the horn players learned early. Oh yeah, and do everything thing he said too!

[@jddorland]

Great stuff

[@nononouh]

No 8?

[@MattDiamondMDE]

Good content. However, I'd suggest you take it easy on the smash zooms, they are jarring and hard to watch when used so much as much as this. A suggestion to up the production value is to add another camera at 45 degrees and cut to that now and then.

[@paulmullen2620]

I've never understood why people do that 45 degree thing. I find it distracting and weird, like they're talking to someone other than me for a moment. What's the reason for it?

[@MattDiamondMDE]

@@paulmullen2620 it's to help generate visual interest, much like the smash zooms used above. Unfortunately, due to the content creators usually being the subject and videographer, once you have a set-up, it's easy to overdo it

[@J3unG]

You wanna get unstuck? Quit playing fucking standards, yo. Learn how to write new music and express yourself fully. Simple.

[@laithhart4013]

Many people find ways to express themselves on top of standards. Lots of musicians find themselves playing with others and standards are a great way to get an idea of how to approach chord changes.

[@benkatof5852]

One can do both, and I've written plenty in the past. Gotta say, I would have never discovered a fraction of what I learned, especially harmonically, from standards by just writing my own tunes based of what I knew.

[@lifelemonswhenlifegivesule9209]

That's why they're called JAZZ STANDARDS. Think.