Your Beliefs Are Why You Are Not Progressing At Jazz Guitar

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Facebook: denischangmusic
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[@seckhoffable]

I'm bingewatching these in my studio and actually figuring sh*t out.

[@FlaJazzical]

Denis, I just discovered your channel. I watched four of your "philosophical" videos. You have touched me, deeply. I will buy your books. Thank you!

[@jimbo3651]

These videos really really help us , thank you Denis

[@swingmitchellg]

great video and lesson Denis. Thank you!

[@SamuelJIMarks]

This is great Denis. Routine change has been very important to me in the cyclical pursuit of learning music and various instruments. Love your work always! May see you at OzManouche

[@strings41]

Jazz is a creative endeavor. Technique is important but should be a servant to creativity.

[@anitanuthurgun984]

Diggin' the channel. I liked Malmsteen as a teen too. Life happened, stopped playing for 30 yrs, then just picked it back up. Your making me want to go dig up all my old classical sheet music.

[@Wyrdo999]

This was a very good video. I’m half way through my third year of playing Gypsy jazz. What worked for me was, I had been playing guitar for over 40 yrs when Covid arrived, I really wasn’t playing any guitar, but I promised myself when I was 30 I would learn 2 joe pass songs note for note. I picked “All the things you are,” and “Night n Day,” and did that. Then I saw Troy Grady video with Joscho Stephan and that sent me on the Gypsy jazz trail. I have found, that if you’ve mastered your technique, what worked for me was, first I learned La Gitane and Django’s waltz. These waltzes helped me get a feel for the way they played waltzes, and it helped me immensely. Then I started learning the lines different players would improvise on the standards. I would compare there improvisations to Djangos lines, cause I made it important to first learn and copy his lines, and again, that REALLY helped me understand that language. Then I started specifically learning Angelo Debarres lines on all the different versions of “ Swing Gitane.” Not only do I LOVE that song, but for a song that has only 4 chords, I was finding very difficult to improvise on that song and sound good, using my own lines, and not just the ones Angelo used. It took me a very long time for me to feel confident about playing that tune and coming up with fresh sounding diminished flowing arpeggio lines mixed with the harmonic minor and other scales/runs I would use. I feel, a player should learn the lines and see how the various players that resonate with them play over the changes. After I did this, which I’m still doing every day, things started to move at at extremely fast rate. It gets to the point, I guess eventually, where a player can improvise on almost ANY song that’s put in front of them, and this includes changes they haven’t heard before or memorized, the ability to just jump in and play along eventually will happen for a player who puts in the hours and the right practice/learning methods.

[@DenisChangMusic]

Great story! When you really find something you like, it just feels much easier and fulfilling doesn’t it?

[@Wyrdo999]

@@DenisChangMusic,yes it does but in regard to copying the lines, I literally have to force myself to do it, there was no other way for me to learn this language. In my case I have found, once a player CAN improvise on their own it becomes a burden to sit and painstakingly listen, slow down the speed, try to memorize the lines. In my case I Always wanna play my own lines. At the beginning it was easier, cause I really had no " Gypsy " Type lines. My lines were more like the Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, etc, more of the older blues infused lines, and I found Django didn't play the blues, not like those guys would do it. But this has actually helped me sound more original now, cause when I improvise I can throw in tiny amounts of blues, which I very rarely throw in, and only would do it on a song that calls for it. It took me two yrs to feel confident cause I had stopped playing guitar really, my chops were subpar, and these lines are long. You know Dennis, I have found this style to actually be more like TAP DANCING across the fret board, literally my fingers bouncing of the strings, ALL the notes swinging, all the time, with lots of long lines, triplet runs, diminished runs, arpeggios, mixed harmonic minor, melodic minor, and me, I LOVE to utilize the open strings when I incorporate these runs and lines, cause the lines can be long and when they swing hard they sound GREAT. I find the way the Music SWINGS is what makes it so great also. I wish there were more players where I live, in Toronto Canada, and I really wish someone would open a MANOUCHE Guitar store and school here in Toronto. I'm at a stage in my life where I can devote so much time to this music now. I wish Tommy Davy would open a Django Guitar store here in my city, I would even be prepared to invest in something like that, cause I LOVE this music, and at 60 yrs old, I only do or try to do what I LOVE.

[@DenisChangMusic]

@@Wyrdo999 oh Toronto! Don’t they still have that jam session going on? I forget the name of the place, it’s run by club django. I’m assuming you know Aline Homzy (Tommy’s sister in law), Debi Botos, Tak, Roberto Rosenman, Nathan Beja? There are quite a few others playing it. But it’s true that for the biggest city in Canada, there aren’t that many players… There’s also a pretty good trad jazz scene though, and it’s close to what Django was doing in the 30s

[@Wyrdo999]

@@DenisChangMusic I don’t know those people? I have heard of club Django and will have to check it out. I have heard Only Robyn Nolan’s music on the Jazz station here 91.1

[@Alan-zi2rs]

As Ray Charles said ... im forever learning music Lifetime hobby for me @ Denis 👍🎸🎶🎶🎸

[@bernardwhite4365]

Thankyou Denis 👌

[@adolphlopez2593]

Always interesting to hear your observations. After finally approaching Jazz on guitar via the most fun path-gypsy jazz (have played lots of everything else over past 40+ years), I’m running out of life in my quest. So for 7 years, while still working a day job, I pursued instruction anywhere I could find it. After retiring in conjunction with the pandemic, my study became more focused. I’ve progressed steadily and occasionally swiftly, and have been accepted by other skilled musicians as a bandmate. We challenge each other to improve and evolve, and maintain an underlying level of discomfort in that challenge. Oh, and we play for people: a whole skill set of its own. I agree with another person commenting here who indicates you have shown what NOT to do. The question is, then, how to recognize what not to do, and how to discover and focus on what/where to put energy and direction. You hint and give suggestions when you discuss your process of selecting students. And, you could argue that your other videos that are devoted to straight instruction, offer some clues. But, this video and the previous one about the role of talent, are addressing something larger: what you’ve seen that works for some people and not others, and how some are lost wasting time while others progress. So, what I’m saying is, I don’t want to waste time. To be realistic, I have less of it available to me than you do by a long shot. I’m looking for more observations about how to make the most of my time. Thanks for bringing this up and laying out some organized thoughts and observations.

[@franssu2229]

Great comment 👍😘

[@DenisChangMusic]

I cannot show what to do because once you go down that path, it becomes extremely personalized. I have taught so many people of so many different backgrounds. You can generalize up to a certain point, but past that point, it becomes so personalized. I have witnessed twins/siblings who received the same education, grew up in the same household , and end up with different strengths and weaknesses. I think this is where finding good mentor(s) comes in really handy. My videos are generally not stand alone videos either. This particular one is part of a series that I started a few weeks ago, and will continue for another week or two I believe. What I do with these videos is offer different general strategies. Sometimes I do get into specifics, but the truth is one does have to experiment a lot to see what works and doesn’t work. As I’ve said in the past, I am , for the most part, more or less self-taught, and because of that it was also very hard for me to get to the point where I could progress rapidly. By the time I reached that point, I no longer really had an interest in being a “godlike” guitarist and don’t really practice any more hahahah. I am also a victim of what I say in this video. I spent the first number of years of my guitar playing life practicing exercises and not working on repertoire… i had a certain level of dexterity, i knew all my modes, arpeggios, scales, what have you, but i couldn’t play anything in front of anyone ,because i didn’t work on playing actual music… that’s how it was for me for a number of years.. and i knew it, but i couldn’t face reality. But I think my redeeming quality is that at one point (even if it took a long time), I faced my biggest fears, and worked on addressing the most pressing issues. I still have a lot of fundamental things that I could work on, but I don’t… Maybe one day!

[@kyledriscollmusic]

been playing for 17ish years and everything you said I've found to be true. my brother would always tell me what he thought the secrets were to great picking yet he couldnt play for shit and when troy grady came on the scene i found everything my brother was saying to be false

[@kyledriscollmusic]

how many people preach playing slow to play fast can't play fast? probably 99% of them

[@geoffstockton]

Well, there goes any shot at a duo-lingo sponsorship. 😂❤

[@DavidRamos-nz4bh]

I practice at least 2 hours a day. Sometimes more, I like it, I improve and for me playing in several different styles my time is applied differently for each. Learning ( remembering) tunes takes time. Nothing worse than feeling like I’m not familiar enough to play it with feeling. Pop and rock have specific parts, you either know it or you don’t. Also. I play bass and it’s my primary instrument and yes I don’t need to “shed “ much but the gypsy thing requires practice. Great video, it just depends.

[@pauloTARSO-sb3gl]

It was a great reflection about life , goals, career, play for fun, or play for Life.. we need to figure out what are our goals.. d Make strategies, plans to acquire the knowledge, ability, skills.. whatever... Each person need to be focused on practical knowledge/experience.. but In life we see people following the group like zombies.. but, we need to be careful about we not performed like a zombies.. then we make the difference.. the ambition is good... But some times the effort don't worthy the price of hours or money spent on not practical issues

[@DenisChangMusic]

Thank you for your comment! I appreciate that you understood what I was trying to say and I agree with you. We each have to decide for ourselves what we want to do, how far we went to go, and from there we adjust our practice routines accordingly!

[@DenisChangMusic]

Though I can always improve, i ve decided that at this point in my life, it s not important to spend 8 hours a day to practice just to impress maybe 1% of the population 🤣🤣🤣

[@pauloTARSO-sb3gl]

I love wisdom and philosophy Socrates was the best ever! He was the irony King.

[@geoffstockton]

Every guitar player who has interacted with Denis in the last year is silently wondering if they’re the guy in the story.

[@DenisChangMusic]

HAHAHA actually that person is not a jazz player at all. Great guitarist though! Just wasting their time imo

[@miroslavsafin]

This hit very close to home. At some point I've given up on regimented learning and have retreated to playing the same old melodies and just noodling around. I've conveniently told myself that I've "taken it as far as my brain and fingers can go", but that's obviously not true and it's story-telling... I swear I did give it the ole' college try with different method books and countless educational videos. Still, my ear is always 3 steps ahead of what my eyes can read on the treble clef, and what my brain can calculate from the limited theory that it knows, so I go back to feeling. This has had catastrophic implications for remembering chord progressions and voicings.

[@marketherton2296]

You can have all the educational material at your disposal, but if you are not tuning in to learn it, then it is a pointless purchase. My picking technique is strong, but I still struggle learning the Gypsy picking style. I think I will have to adapt it slightly until it feels more natural. Great video Denis!

[@Pete_B_773]

Speaking of Rachel Fays, what happened to his DC Music School lessons?????

[@DenisChangMusic]

Will hopefully release before the holidays

[@RSM2042]

Hey Denis, what's the difference between recording guitar with the mic that you are using in the beginning of the video and a shotgun mic? Great video! Thanks

[@DenisChangMusic]

I use whatever gear I have access to!

[@RSM2042]

Right on! Love your videos and playing! Thanks @@DenisChangMusic

[@21Million]

I definitely don't practice efficiently. That's ok for me though because my main focus is my day-job where I have to be efficient.

[@DenisChangMusic]

Ya Like I said in the video, you don’t have to haha, the most important is just to have fun

[@martinnieva8484]

Hello Denis. Do you think that to be a good lead it'd be better to be a decent rhythm first?

[@DenisChangMusic]

Well , it depends hahah. If you want to play with other people and not have them complain, i think “decent” rhythm would definitely be the minimum…. I ‘ll say it here, a lot of famous players have only decent rhythm and not more. They’re soloists for a reason, they have no need to be “good” rhythm players. I would never want to hire certain famous players to play rhythm for me… Why would they anyway? They’re way better than me hahahaha

[@martinnieva8484]

Oh, so it's not that nailing the chord positions and changes trains somehow your fingers to shred better? Thank you very much for your take! Very interesting

[@ralphstanfield3734]

What is efficient practicing? A particular goal? Thanks Denis

[@andresantana516]

First

[@CesarSandoval024]

Im not good enough. Never was

[@DenisChangMusic]

I’m not good enough by my standards either, but it’s an endless ladder , one never reaches the top! Having fun is the most important though

[@jamesrohr1]

So what exactly does one practice to learn bebop improvisation. You've clearly laid out what NOT to do. So what precisely is left to woodshed to comfortably take decent solos over jazz standards? Because I tried for 6 years before throwing in the towel. Learning tunes, transcribing, parker heads, scales, arpeggios, etc. Again, you've defined what NOT to do but even in this video you said, "It's hard to know what the right path is to be honest." That's not very helpful really.

[@davidwilliamson9462]

Strongly agree. Egomaniacal

[@ron95guy]

Listen and copy the greats

[@DenisChangMusic]

This is not a standalone video, and is a continuation of the previous weeks. It will continue on for another week or two. I cannot explain WHAT to do because there are too many variables. If someone could explain WHAT to do, they would have already done it long ago and that would be the end of that. Music schools have standardized curriculums that tell you what to do. Certain people thrive on that curriculum, others don’t. One can only give generalized tips on what to do up to a certain point. Past that point, everything has to be personalized according to many factors: one’s personal goals, one’s strengths/weaknesses, etc. In this video in particular, the point is to really think about whether what you’re practicing is efficient or not, and to be brutally honest about it. The other point is to be willing to let go and try other practices routines; to continuously experiment…If people practice seriously and correctly, every 6 months, there should be noticeable progress. A lot of young prodigies who practice correctly reach a professional level within 3-4 years. By professional, I don’t mind that they become god-like virtuosos, but they are functional musicians: good knowledge of basic repertoire, vocabulary, time feel, sound, etc… The standard is not that high actually Nothing beats having good mentor(s) though.

[@jamesrohr1]

@@ron95guy Vague much? Look at my page. See how many transcriptions I’ve completed and posted. You are providing useless advice.

[@jamesrohr1]

@@DenisChangMusic “If someone could explain what to do they would have already done it.” This quote really seems to sum up the sorry state of Jazz education. How can a student even know if they are practicing inefficiently if we cannot define what efficient practice is? All this only serves to underscore your point that what really matters is talent. The inevitable conclusion being that if one is not naturally talented in Jazz improvisation they are best served NOT pursuing Jazz improvisation. What a sad conclusion. Is this where you’ve been headed all along?

[@s3fruit969]

The word you’re looking for is dogmatic.

[@DenisChangMusic]

If i used that word, i wouldn’t have had as many views as this video does now!

[@coastalgeorgia6558]

uh watch it.... religious beliefs have nothing to do with it.

[@DenisChangMusic]

Looks like you didn’t watch past 60 seconds 😂