Best books about jazz according to redditors
We found 398 Reddit comments discussing the best books about jazz. We ranked the 128 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
9. The Vince Guaraldi Collection: Piano (Artist Transcriptions)
4 mentions
Used Book in Good Condition
www.musictheory.net
Skip the Mark Levine book – it has serious pedagogical problems. Go with Terefenko if you must learn from a "jazz" textbook. Truthfully, you would be better off in the long run learning traditional theory and circling back around to jazz practice. Music theory, either coming from a classical or jazz perspective (or otherwise), is not going to help you to play jazz. What will help is playing jazz. In other words, get some lessons, play along to recordings, find some jam buddies, and do it to it.
My suggestion is to learn on your own, and if you choose to go to college, pursue a major that has more profitable career options. Minor in music theory and invest your free time in practicing your instrument. Here is a reading list I recommend to start getting into serious music study and guitar playing:
That was a fucking wall of text. Hopefully I didn't come off like a negative asshole or bore you to death. If you have any questions or complaints, let me know!
If you want technical exercises, this book is the way to go. This will help you get the technique so that when you want to play what's in your mind's ear, you can without futzing around with notes and keys. You need to be more technically proficient in more keys and also more theory proficient than a non-jazz player because in jazz you're frequently moving very quickly through different key areas and you don't have time to think about it.
I'd also get iReal Pro. It's such an amazing tool it's virtually worth getting an Android or iOS device just for it alone. Use it as a band-in-a-box and play along with tunes out of a Real Book or virtually anything you want to play really since you can easily add your own exercises, which will be helpful with some links I'll give later. I personally prefer the Android version. It's literally easier to do custom stuff on my phone with Android than on my iPad with iOS. I also believe there are Android emulators if you need, though I've never had a need.
Do lots of listening and get used to the style you want and be aware of other styles out there. Try to play the tunes with those styles. There are different approaches to improv. I've found that one of the least intimidating ones is literally to pick 2 notes and make a solo out of it... listen to how it feels across different changes. Then add a 3rd note. Listen. This is especially easy over blues changes. Play simple solos... melodic. Think of playing a something you could sing rather than feeling like you need to jump right into crazy bepop with flying scales and arpeggios.
Use some basic theory knowledge (some of which is in the book I mentioned) of what scales and notes fit best over certain things. Learn to quickly think of your "guide tones" for a given chord (3 and 7). If you're playing over some changes with only a 2 or 3 note improv to get used to hearing things, start thinking about what those notes are in each chord you're playing. You might be playing an E... it's the 3rd over the C chord and 6 or 13 over the G chord and 9 over a D chord and a #11 over a Bb chord. That kind of thing. You'll start to find out what notes are purely "avoid" notes, though realistically, almost any note can technically work if you don't sit on it. Due to how chords work in jazz, you literally almost can't be on a wrong note, though some will work better than others depending on context and some will only really work as passing tones.
Your ear will tell you a lot what does and doesn't work. Another approach to improv is to simply be able to embellish the written melody. So do some of that. You basically will end up mixing ideas to get the best solos, but mostly use your ears, but also train them by doing lots of listening. Something like a b9 chord might sound jarring to someone who hasn't done much listening, but can sound amazing as you develop that acquired taste.
If you find a lick you like in a solo while listening to Chet or someone else... steal it! Transcribe it. Play it in every key. Figure out what changes it fits over. Add it to your tool belt.
Here are some long-tone studies that run through ii-V-I in every key focusing on different chord tone relationships that will stretch your ears and beef up your chops.
Here are some scalar exercises with the same ii-V-I idea.
This will probably melt your brain, but here are some very extensive scale things if you somehow ever run out of stuff to work on in the book I mentioned as far as technique.
Hope some of that helps. It's quite the rabbit hole.
EDIT: Oh, in case you didn't know, this is the Real Book most people play out of, though if you play a lot, you'll find that there's a ton in there you don't need and not nearly as many of the tunes you would like.
Also, here is a link to a ton of the Wikifonia files before it got shut down. Open the files with MuseScore and you can adjust keys or whatever you need to do. While I've found issue with some of the chords, the leads tend to be pretty good, so if there's a tune you like, you can probably find a lead there and then download the changes to iReal Pro and play over them that way.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Real-Book-Sixth-Edition/dp/0634060384
It's a collection of jazz standards. A must-have for anyone who plays even a little bit of jazz, but it's definitely not something you could learn jazz guitar from without another aid.
interesting. I recently put together an huge list of Jazz books oriented towards non-musicians. After putting together the list I organized it into courses like a university might. I called it my "Masters Degree in Jazz Studies for Non-Musicians." The first two courses I think would be perfect for you.
<br /> <br /> **Course 1: Jazz Appreciation**<br /> This course is meant to give you a solid grounding in how to listen to jazz music without delving too deeply in music theory or requiring the student to be a musician. It is also meant to expose you to the core body of work of jazz. <br /> <br /> [Enjoying Jazz - Henry Martin](http://www.amazon.com/Enjoying-Schirmer-Books-Henry-Martin/dp/0028731301/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8)<br /> <br /> [How To Listen To Jazz - Jerry Coker](http://www.amazon.com/How-Listen-Jazz-Jerry-Coker/dp/1562240005/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1420760894&amp;sr=1-9)<br /> <br /> [Jazz Standards - Ted Gioia](http://www.amazon.com/The-Jazz-Standards-Guide-Repertoire/dp/0199937397/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&amp;refRID=0DX94W5SY4BM04GD6W5J)<br /> <br /> <br />Course 2: Jazz History 101
This is a basic course in jazz history. it is not meant to be an in depth coverage of every style. It is meant to give the student a broad overview of the general progression of jazz from it's inception into the modern era. Other courses in the program go much further in depth into specific styles and the major players of those styles.
Ken Burns Jazz
Jazz 101 - John F Szwed
History of Jazz - Ted Gioia
Visions of Jazz - Gary Giddins
`
so far the program I developed has 10 courses. If anyone is interested I could share the content of the other courses. and I am considering developing a syllabus for each course and possibly even more courses, but the time and effort needed to complete the 10 courses would already be more than the effort I put in to obtaining an actual master's degree from a university so I'm not sure how much more effort I would want to put into this right now.
You'll find this an interesting read.
Rawlins went on to write his own jazz theory book - but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. It does deal with a lot of what Levine skimmed over, but it's a dull read compared to Levine. All the musical examples were written by the authors, there are no real jazz quotes, as in Levine. (Levine's quotes are not great evidence for his theories, however.)
The best jazz theory book seems to be Terefenko.
So many people seem to have this idea that they're just going to "learn theory." Like that's it.
Like there will be this AHA I NOW KNOW THE MUSICAL THEORY I CAN NOW WRITE THE MUSIC.
But in all seriousness. Yeah you will learn theory. If music is going to be a life long pursuit you will never STOP learning theory. Unless you're not serious about it. Then you might just learn what I IV V means write some pop songs and stop there. I digress..
First thing. Learn to read music. DO NOT READ TAB. Learn all the notes on the fret board. Not like you can count up to it and realize that something is a C. Like you KNOW IT. Point to it and you know what note it is. Start reading music here.
Another good way to learn the notes on the fretboard is to pick 4 triads of different qualities. One major, one minor, one diminished, and one augmented triad and play them in all inversions in all positions on the neck while saying the note names. And then pick 4 new triads the next day. Do not just learn the shapes. This will probably take you 2 hours on your first day if you're as thorough as you should be.
If you don't know what any of that means that's fine for now. Those are some pretty basic concepts that you'll learn pretty soon if you're serious about this.
This guy knows his shit. Learn from him. Take it slow. Don't just watch the video and go "Yeah that makes sense." You need to KNOW IT. Drill the concepts a few hours a day.
You could buy a music text book.
Or get an actual guitar teacher. I'd recommend learning jazz because unlike a lot of rock or pop players they actual know their shit about theory and their instrument. You kinda have to know your shit to play jazz. Either that or classical. But jazz theory is more in line with modern music.
Segway: Buy a Real Book
Start off in there with Autumn Leaves or something else easy.
If you're really beginner-y start here.
While that guy's course is good it really focuses on technique. You learn basically no theory from that guy. Just shapes and tabs. Doesn't even use standard notation. His jazz course is ok. It's on his side bar.
This guy's stuff is good for a beginner in jazz. But a beginner in jazz is not exactly beginner level for some other genres. I think you need a pretty solid level of understanding to understand what he's talking about.
That should get you started..
[Edit] Some people have this disconnect. They think that learning theory is somehow separate from song writing. Learning theory will open so many doors to you and show you why and how things work. So that you can actually understand what you're doing.
If I wanted to build a house I could just jump in and start building a house. I'd probably come across a lot of problems. My first house might suck and have a leaky roof or bad plumbing or something. But I could probably learn a long the way. Maybe after I build a ton of crappy houses I could figure out for myself why things work.
Or.. I could look through the writings of the millions of house builders that came before me and see what they found out works and what doesn't. Then maybe my first house will have some issues and it might not be so easy to pull off but I'd be better off learning from the people who came before me than trying to figure it out myself. By doing this I have just saved myself the time of trying to rediscover the wheel so to speak.
That's what learning theory will do for you.
Thing is, that sort of thinking doesn't really work too well in jazz - there isn't really "repertoire" in the same sense as in classical music. Some standards are more complex than others, sure, but the difficulty is really what you make of it. In jazz, you generally work from what are called "lead sheets", where all you have is the melody and the chords. Here's one for When I Fall in Love. Pretty simplistic, right? Here's Oscar Peterson playing it. The lead sheet is the basic framework for what he's playing, but all the embellishment and runs and extra chords and everything is just coming from him. So you can't really say whether When I Fall in Love is an "easy" standard or not.
As for how to learn, the single best way is to get a teacher. But if you just want to start dabbling, I would suggest getting some books of transcriptions of famous jazz pianists, just to start getting the feel and sound of it in your mind. Those books will have real performances transcribed note-for-note, so you don't need to know how to read lead sheets or improvise to play them. I would also check out Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book to start learning the theory behind it all, and a Real Book to start practicing with. If you're good at teaching yourself things, the combination of those two books will give you years and years of material.
But I want to re-emphasize that getting some kind of teacher or mentor will help enormously. It's good for classical music, as you know, but jazz is even more like learning a foreign language, because it's improvised. If you just want to dabble for fun, that's fine, but if you get serious about jazz, find someone to guide you, even if it's just an hour a month.
I'm assuming you're in high school. If you get a chance, go see your All-state (or All-region) Jazz Band. See how you fare against those guys. Also, chances are you are going to need to know how to read music, have some chart-reading skills, and improvisation chops. For guitar, bass, or drums, they are going to expect you to know jazz fundamentals. Pick up a Real Book, learn some charts and be able to hold your own in a combo.
Here is a good summary of four note rootless voicings and Here is a more complete chart.
I start all of my students off with these. The voicings generally take about 1-3 months to get in your fingers (mostly muscle memory). Around 6 months you'll be able to plug them into lead sheets without too much thought, but you probably won't be able to do it in real time. Around 12 months you really won't have to think about them any more. They are a great place to start with voicings because they give you a great sound in a compact one-hand format. Remember that the bass player is covering the root of the chord, so you are more concerned about 3,5,7,9,11,13.
The most two most important things in jazz are keeping your place in the form and playing in time. You can have the hippest voicing but if it's not in the pocket, it's going to sound awful. Likewise, you can have the coolest, most innovative improvisation, but if you're lost in the form, it's not going to flow over the changes.
Play with a metronome, ALWAYS. Explore play-along tracks, Jamey Aebersold books being the most well-known. There are also great online resources for play-along tracks. Check out here for a great place to start. These are also fun.
Get started on ear training yesterday. It'll help a lot. I like this trainer as it has a lot of things tailored towards jazz musicians. It has some simple play-along tracks too.
If you need something basic just to get by for now (while learning the voicings I linked above) then really start to learn the thirds and sevenths of chords. These are called guide tones and they are all you really need to define a chord. Try playing an A3 and an E4 in your right hand over an F2 in your left hand. There's a nice voicing for the Fmaj7 you listed above. It sounds a whole lot cooler than FAC and will get you started thinking about splitting your voicings up to use more of the keyboard. You want to get to the point where you see a chord on the page and you instantly know what the third and the seventh of the chord is. Make sure you get the correct third and seventh:
Learn those combinations and see if you can get through a lead sheet naming thirds and sevenths as you go.
There's really a whole lot more I could write about the topic, but this might be enough to get you started.
If you have specific songs that you need help with, don't hesitate to ask. I would be happy to work out some simple arrangements/voicings/solos with you.
Good luck!
forums.allaboutjazz.com
jazzguitar.be/forum
Learn how to use google site search to search those forums for topics that you're currently working on.
musictheory.net - use the lessons and exercises because you have to know the basics of reading and memorize the key signatures, etc.
I urge you to check out Hal Galper and Mike Longo's books/videos. They are at the forefront of Jazz Education and their material is a rite of passage for beginning jazz musicians.
Here's a playlist of Galper's masterclass videos:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7iWyGibrnPOQPEuUL4O3s5E0qdPj-cqs
The best general jazz chord-scale theory text I've seen (I've seen them all) is probably the Berklee book,
Chord Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony;
However, even better would be the Bert Ligon books, because they go into more detail about how to actually put it into practice:
Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony
Jazz Theory Resources Volume 1
Jazz Theory Resources Volume 2
Comprehensive Technique for Jazz Musicians
P.S. this subreddit is geared more towards jazz listeners and may not have that many musicians.
You might be hard-pressed to find a free copy since Hal Leonard is very jealous of their IP and are known to sweep the web for copyright infringement, but you can purchase this book which apparently has a full transcription of Vince's "O Tannenbaum" and other tunes.
edit: I browsed the WorldCat interlibrary loan catalog and it seems there's only one copy somewhere in South America so it looks like you either need to buy the book, transcribe the tune yourself, hire someone else to do so, wait forever for an interlibrary loan or perhaps get lucky from somewhere else but it looks like buying the book is probably the easiest way to get the sheet music.
18 is young as fuck. You're fine. Get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Bass-Clef-Sixth/dp/0634060767/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=
Start off by listening to a ton of jazz. Afterwards, learn your major, minor, dorian, and mixolydian scales/modes. Check youtube, there's a ton of good tutorials if you don't know them yet. Then buy a real book and start attempting to follow along with the changes. Start with just the root notes and later add the 3rds and 5ths. Here's a book that I think explains walking basslines pretty well, and another one if you're interested in soloing.
Here's a list of jazz songs most students learn early on:
Afro Blue
All Blues
All Of Me
All The Things You Are
A Night In Tunisia
Au Privave
Autumn Leaves
Beautiful Love
Black Orpheus
Blue Bossa
Blue In Green
Blue Monk
Blues For Alice
Body And Soul
Cherokee
Cotton Tail
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
A Fine Romance
Footprints
Four
Freddie Freeloader
The Girl From Ipanema
How High The Moon
How Insensitive
Lady Bird
Maiden Voyage
Misty
Mr. P.C.
My Funny Valentine
Oleo
Ornithology
Recorda-me
Red Clay
Satin Doll
So What
Song For My Father
Sugar
Take Five
Take The “A” Train
There Will Never Be Another You
Tune Up
You mean the Real Book? Pretty sure it's only chords and melodies though.
Edit: My mistake, they actually did make one for bass clef: http://www.amazon.com/The-Real-Book-Sixth-Edition/dp/0634060767
Do you mean the real book?
My bias will show, but this one was by one of my professors and he was an amazing teacher.
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Language-Theory-Composition-Improvisation/dp/0760400148
I'd recommend Jazz Guitar: Complete Edition by Jody Fisher. It covers all the important topics in a fairly straightforward way and comes with a CD of examples and backing tracks. It's aimed at intermediate guitarists, but your experience should be sufficient.
The old standard was Mickey Baker's Jazz Guitar, but I'm not a huge fan. The learning curve is extremely steep and there's not a great deal of theory or explanation. It'd be a really useful companion to lessons with a teacher, but I think that most beginners would really struggle with it.
A good alternative to the Jody Fisher book is A Modern Method For Guitar by William Leavitt. The learning curve is fairly gradual, but it's tough going - everything is written in standard notation and there's no real instruction as such. It seems to be inspired by the Suzuki method. Everything is taught through progressively more demanding examples. You probably won't get stuck on anything, but you will need to do a bit of thinking to figure stuff out for yourself.
If you want to learn jazz theory in depth, I'd strongly recommend Jazzology by Rawlins and Bahha. It's the clearest, most elegant explanation of how everything fits together in jazz. It's not specifically written for guitar, but the theory is universal. The Jody Fisher book covers all the theory that you really need to know, but Jazzology would be a really good supplement if you like to understand things in detail.
In your jazz guitar journey, you'll probably come across The Real Book. It's an essential reference text, containing lead sheets for hundreds of the most popular jazz tunes. It's how most of us learned our repertoire and most of us still have a copy in our gig bag pocket. Today, you have a huge advantage in learning tunes because of the fabulous iReal Pro. It's an app version of The Real Book, but it can also play backing tracks for any tune in any key and at any tempo. It's an absolute boon when you're learning to play solos.
Finally, I'd suggest just listening to a whole bunch of jazz, not just jazz guitar. You should know Joe Pass, Ted Greene and Wes Montgomery, but you should also know Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie.
this one has been good for me
https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384/ref=pd_sbs_14_1/137-3999734-2361828?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0634060384&pd_rd_r=3a832c6d-71c2-11e9-a563-4fe76fa75f96&pd_rd_w=kQPQY&pd_rd_wg=GGCbY&pf_rd_p=588939de-d3f8-42f1-a3d8-d556eae5797d&pf_rd_r=B0QS47ACR22PTWZE6QXR&psc=1&refRID=B0QS47ACR22PTWZE6QXR
Get a copy of The Real Book and start learning songs. This isn't a hardcore technique workout but more of a way to A)build repertoire and B)get your hands more familiar with playing jazz changes.
The word you're probably looking for is "accompaniment". However, you probably don't want to search using this term.
Any popular music that is published is usually arranged for "Piano/Vocal/Guitar", and I don't really know of a standard term for this type of sheet music. For what this looks like, check out any of the popular sheets on http://musicnotes.com. These are arranged so that you can play the song as a piano solo if you want, but if you want to just accompany someone else or play in a band, you would just look at the guitar chords placed above each line of music (e.g. "G", "Cm7", "D", "Bsus4").
The other type of notated music used for accompaniment is called a "lead sheet". This has only the solo line (the tune/melody of the song) and the chords. So it's basically just the top half of what you see in a "piano/vocal/guitar" arrangement.
The other term you'll see is "Fake Book". A Fake book is just a book containing a large number of lead sheets. If you're playing jazz, the most popular book of lead sheets for jazz standards is called "The Real Book".
Finally, on many "guitar tab" sites, you can find just the chords for songs (although there are often lots of errors). Look for versions that say "chords" instead of "tabs". Here's an example
No matter what type of sheet music you're looking at, if you're playing with others, you'll need to learn to play by reading chord symbols instead of notes on a staff. When searching for music, you'd want to include one of these terms: "chords", "tabs", "sheets", "lead sheet", "fake book", "piano". Don't worry too much exactly what type of sheet music you get, even if it's for solo piano; as long as there are chord symbols on it, that's all you need.
Here is a list of links for you to get started:
If you're into jazz, get yourself a Real Book! It's reasonably basic sheet music, and full of classics.
My suggestion is to focus on the backing track stuff first. Know the backing tracks forwards and backwards, pick a particular idea and stick with it to nail it down. If you want to improve your musicianship chops, write out the part you are going to play. Like on staff paper and everything.
I am not the best person to give advice on improv, because I have always sucked at it. If anyone has any tips for how you can learn to improv effectively in 5 weeks, I'll be quite interested in their advice as well. Though one thing I have learned about improv is that nothing is truly improvised. Building a library of licks and stringing them together on the spot isn't the same as pulling notes out of thin air. Even the most impressive improv musicians have a basic idea in their head before they start.
To practice sight reading, get a Real Book and run through it. Sight read the melody lines, and then build bass lines from scratch over the chords. Learn the style and tempo terminology. Understanding the directions at the top of the page is as big a part of sight reading as the notes themselves.
Aim to be completely prepared one week before the actual audition. Then spend that last week running through it all again. And again. And again. You want to let muscle memory kick in when the nerves start fighting you in the audition chair.
My favorite musical aphorism: "Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong."
You mentioned you like jazz, feel free to hang out with us /r/Jazz
Internet is great, and there is a lot for good free ressources. You'll have to go through a bunch of crap though, it can be confusing for a beginner and takes valuable time away to an already time consuming hobby.
So here are a few books I personally recommand.
Jazzology, an encyclopedia of theory centered around jazz that you can use with any genre. It's really good.
The real book, a good way to learn jazz standards with sheets that aren't so painful, using solfège for melody and letters for chords. This is the format I use with students.
The Jazz Theory book, or anything from mark levine.
The Complete Musician is good if you can find it for cheap, which is no easy task.
The definition of perfect pitch includes knowing the names of the notes. Without this knowledge, it's just "having a good ear". A good way to practice it is picking random notes and visualizing what the chord will sound like before playing it. That vizualisation aspect is the amazing thing about absolute pitch and helps with composing. The tuning or knowing what key you're in things are cute but fairly irrelevant.
Anyway, have fun.
If you are confronted by a mode, run away. Learn the way the greats actually learned back in the day:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDdKVro-7hS8cMjBrcqaAMQ/videos?view=0&sort=da&flow=grid
Unless you only care about post "kind of blue" Jazz, Levine's Jazz theory is a detrimental distraction:
http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.00.6.1/mto.00.6.1.rawlins.html?q=mto/issues/mto.00.6.1/mto.00.6.1.rawlins.html
It's hard to imagine a work which thrown so much real jazz and so many great players under the bus.
This looks alot less harmful:
https://www.amazon.com/Jazzology-Encyclopedia-Jazz-Theory-Musicians/dp/0634086782
poor guy still needs modes though. My favorite theory book, which since you know piano, might be interesting. It's a great supplement to Barry Harris Jazz theory.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1423412494/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For OP and those interested there's actually a pretty cool book that has a ton of the Blue Note album covers in it. I don't personally own the book so I can't speak for the quality or anything like that but its on my Xmas wishlist this year!
It's not free, but I really recommend this book
This + This
also
http://www.learnjazzstandards.com/
plus listen a bunch
(not a pianist, just fiddle with piano enough to help myself)
The Real Book is what most people that I know use when jamming with other musicians.
For getting better at the saxophone as an instrument -- playing mechanics like finger technique, tone production, air support, tongue position, articulation, etc -- there's no substitute for a private teacher combined with lots of individual study and practice of recordings. Charlie Parker learned how to play by thoroughly absorbing a few records by his heroes (Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, etc) and then developing his own ideas from there. It's a good way to go.
In terms of practical theory that'll help with improvisation, writing, and just generally understanding and internalizing how things work in jazz (and most American music for that matter), I always recommend Dan Haerle's book "The Jazz Language." It's skinny, inexpensive, and extremely well put together, with everything you need to know about modern harmony as a gigging musician. Dan is a fantastic teacher and musician, and his book is a staple in many university jazz programs. It's worth a look!
I think you should learn more of the basics like chord theory and what not, [this] (http://www.amazon.ca/Contemporary-Music-Theory-Complete-Musician/dp/0793598818/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1457024157&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=contemporary+music+theory) is what I recommend.
I'd recommend Pops by Terry Teachout.
Also, Subversive Sounds, while not an biography per se, talks a good deal about Armstrong while contextualizing the careers of early jazz musicians within the social atmosphere of early 20th century New Orleans.
Your Wish Is My Command:
Bass Lead:
Johnny Dyani - Song For Biko
Paul Chambers - Bass on Top (Miles Davis bassist- This guy is seriously cool)
General Jazz
Clarke, Kenny & Francy Boland Big Band - Change Of Scenes (Big band with a bass solo on track 6 thats amazing)
Axelrod, David - Song Of Innocence
Axelrod, David - Songs Of Experience heavily sampled by everyone - hear it asap
Ayler, Albert - Live In Greenwich Village The Complete Impulse Recordings (their rendition of saints go marching in will change your perspective of music forever)
Stitt, Sonny - Kaleidoscope
Silver, Horace - Blowin' The Blues Away
Sharrock, Sonny - Ask The Ages (guitar jazz)
Rollins, Sonny - Saxaphone Colossus
Ra, Sun And The Arkestra - Sound Of Joy (planet earth on this lp is one i play my friends to get them into jazz, most end up digging it)
Parlan, Horace - Happy Frame Of Mind (this guy has a physical disability with his hand which makes his playing unique)
Morgan, Lee - The Sidewinder
Monk, Thelonious - Straight, No Chaser
La Roca, Pete - Basra
Lacy, Steve - 5 X Monk 5 X Lacy
Lateef, Yusef - Eastern Sounds
Laws, Hubert - In The Beginning
Hancock, Herbie - Head Hunters
Green, Grant - Matador
Davis, Miles - Birth Of The Cool
Davis, Miles - Round About Midnight
Davis, Miles - Miles Ahead
Davis, Miles - Kind Of Blue
Davis, Miles - Sketches Of Spain
Davis, Miles - Seven Steps To Heaven
Davis, Miles - Miles Smiles
Davis, Miles - Nefertiti
Davis, Miles - Filles De Kilimanjaro
Davis, Miles - Bitches Brew
Davis, Miles - In A Slient Way
Davis, Miles - A Tribute To Jack Johnson
Davis, Miles - On The Corner
Weird\Free\Awkward Jazz
Don Cherry - Mu
Ornette Coleman - Shape Of Jazz To Come (More important than miles in my opinion)
Taylor, Cecil - Unit Structures
Big Satan - I Think They Liked It Honey
Shepp, Archie - The Magic Of Ju-Ju
The Most Difficult Album Ever:
Brotzmann, Peter - Machine Gun
I got into Jazz by listening to Theme De Yoyo by Art Ensemble Of Chicago. From there I moved onto the big hitters like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck. Closer inspection of the players on the albums will lead you to other soloists. For example the Sax player Cannonball Adderly is on kind of blue, he has an album called Somethin' Else which has Art Blakey on Drums etc etc etc.
The more you dig the more you find out there is to listen. You then start to visit historic people like louis armstrong, duke ellington etc and through that you recognize standards. Then once you start out seeking out standards you realise loads of people do them and you get into the modern stuff.
All music is for sure a great resource as they basically tell you who is on the lp and its rating. i trust them for jazz. Also, this book is lovely.
I then started seeking out records labels like Blue Note, Impulse, ECM, Jazz Actuel, Columbia Jazz etc.
Let me know how you are getting on in the future. I'd stay clear at the moment from loft jazz, fire music and free jazz as some of its crazy. And I will just laugh when you hear machine gun and go "WTF IS THIS!!!!) yes, it IS a saxophone...
just enjoy it.
For jazz get a Real Book.
A fake book is just a book of lead sheets. A lead sheet is the chords and melody of a song with usually little else. They're called fake books because they can be used to fake a tune one does't really know. By and large, the most popular jazz fake book is called the Real Book. There are 3 volumes and 5 editions; it was produced by students at Berklee School of Music in the 70's. That jazz style that is so often in music notation software is based on the Real book's handwritten sheets. It's illegal as the songs are unlicensed, but Hal Leonard has created a 6th edition that is updated and fully licensed. You can get it at amazon. You can find versions of the original at your local seedy music store and online with a bit of searching. There are a whole bunch of others. One really excellent one is the New Real Book published by Sher. The tunes are dead accurate and contain most of the arrangements.
Pick yourself up one of these and start playing around with the tunes.
I'd probably suggest this one, or maybe this one
In terms of walking bass, the only to get better at it is unfortunately just to keep working at it. Start on a not-too-complicated tune such as Satin Doll, or something else with lots of II-V-I progressions in it, or a 12-bar blues, and work up to more complicated charts.
Here's a "quick and dirty" method to work out some walking bass lines. It's a bit simplistic perhaps, but it will at least get you started, and it does work. Assuming a 4/4 time sig:
ON BARS WHERE THERE ARE TWO CHORDS PER BAR:
Beats 1 & 3: On the beats where the chords fall (1 & 3) play the root (at least at first).
Beats 2 & 4: On the other beats (2 & 4) play an approach note that gets you to the root of the next chord, so a note either a half-step or whole step above the note you want to get to. Use your ear to judge which is best. So if the chord on beat 3 is G7, on beat 2 you could play either A, Ab, F# or F.
ON BARS WHERE THERE IS ONLY ONE CHORD PER BAR:
Beat 1: Play the root (again, at first)
Beat 4: Play an approach note as above, so either a half or whole step above or below, whichever sounds best.
Beats 2 & 3: You have a few options:
a. outline the chord notes. For example root, 3, 5 then, or root, 3, 5 then to your approach note.
b. move by step (don't be afraid of chromatic notes, you'd be surprised how often they work). So going from Dmi7 to G7 you could move up be step playing D, E, F, F#.
c. Try going from the root on the first beat up or down to the 5th on the second beat, then keep going in the same direction to the root an octave above or below on the third, before hitting your approach notes.
d. Do something else entirely.
So a sample bassline for the first 8 bars of Satin Doll might look something like this. Note that in the last bar it moves completely by step while in the three bars before that it uses that root-fifth-root pattern. Obviously that's just one way to do it. When you're new to walking bass and learning a tune don't try and go right through straight away. Get from bar 1 to bar 2, then from 1 to 4, and so on. Build it up in stages, and try different ways to get there. If you can figure out how to get up by step to the next chord, then try moving down by step the next time.
Now, before anyone tells me that I am the awful spawn of satan and I have killed Jazz by explaining things this way and thus downvoting me to the diminished 7th circle of Hell, I know it's a very simple way of explaining it, I also know that walking bass can be a wonderfully nuanced thing with infinite variety. But we've got to start somewhere and the above will work. As with everything, the ear has to be the final judge.
Jazz is a very wide subject. There are some good Real Books you might wanna buy to learn some jazz standards:
The Real Book
http://www.amazon.com/The-Real-Book-Sixth-Edition/dp/0634060384
The Real Book vol. 2 Low Voice
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Vocal-Book-Vol-Voice/dp/1423451236/
There are a ton of fake books out there, I would suggest buying one called The Real Book Sixth Edition. It's the most popular one to my knowledge and is a great resource. I'd say its a little better for developing harmony than it is melody (since most melody that actually gets played in jazz is soloing), but it's a great tool for familiarizing yourself with jazz standards as well as seeing what kind of chords appear in jazz and how they function
Building Walking Bass Lines
Hal Leonard Bass Method
the real book / 2
The real book is a book containing a collection of lead sheets with transcribed melody and chords in the right transposition and clef (it's available in C in bass and treble clef, Eb and Bb in treble clef and a vocal version is available too). Usually there is info of the specific version being transcribed, so you'll maybe be able to find it on youtube so the structure is exactly as written.
It's really good, and has the majority of the songs you'll want to play regularly as a relatively mainstream jazzer. The "legal" commercial version the wiki article talks about is available at Amazon for less than twenty dollars, if not your favourite music store. Probably the worthwhile investment for any serious jazzer.
Learn harmony. Study all you can about it.
Don't just learn the chord shapes. Understand them.
Once you get a sold harmony base, start soloing THINKING about the chord tones. Always be conscient about EACH note you are playing.
For example. You have a classic Dm7-G7-CMaj7 thing going. When playing over the Dm7 chord be conscient about the role of each note and how the roles changes when the chord changes.
Start with just the chord tones and try to connect them in such a way that your phrases make sense. Then add some more notes.
Also play with linking the notes with some chromatic ideas.
Harmony, harmony, harmony.
Get this book, it's really really helpful http://www.amazon.com/Jazzology-Encyclopedia-Jazz-Theory-Musicians/dp/0634086782
My two cents - love that piano sound, haha. Wish I had a grand to play on. I'm an amateur myself, but I think you can benefit from more of a focus on varying dynamics during your improv and the use of some modes or dissonance to add more atmosphere and color. /u/AtherisElectro makes the case well, but varying dynamics helps tell your story more - just like if you were telling someone a story in real life. You employ this well here in the beginning. If it is all turned up to 11 the entire time, the listener may start to tune out a bit because they are becoming used to the pattern. For example, modulating to a different key with a different atmosphere (more lydian, softer dynamics, etc.) can give you a second section and more of a journey for the listener. Of course, it depends on the story you are looking to tell. An excellent book for learning some ways to add color to your improvisation is "Jazzology: The Encyclopedia of Jazz Theory for All Musicians". Chick Corea is a master at this and listening to any of his innumerable albums should give you plenty of great ideas. Now I just have to start doing any of this for my own improv ; ).
I'd recommend The Jazz Piano Book or The Jazz Theory Book, both by Mark Levine. There's a ton of great stuff in both, and they'll teach you how jazz musicians conceive of how they play—not to mention give you a foundation to play pretty much any popular style that strikes your fancy.
They released a couple of books documenting the covers a few years ago. The Cover Art of Blue Note Records https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1843405997/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hp48BbT627AT8
Thelonious: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D.G. Kelley is definitely my favorite jazz biography.
http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1439190461
Yes, the Penguin guide is fantastic for building a collection and learning more about a particular player's discography.
If you're into blogs at all, the jazz blogosphere is pretty happening as well. Ethan Iverson, pianist in The Bad Plus along with many other artists, has a particularly great blog called Do The Math.
http://dothemath.typepad.com/
Scriabin is great - I'm currently working on his 4th piano sonata.
Also, if you understand the chord notation, look through a fakebook! I'm looking to get more into jazz myself.
Historically speaking, the overtone/harmonic series is probably why we hear them as R-3-5-7-9-11-13. That's the natural order in which overtones occur, and it's actually the discovery of each partial that led to the evolution of music in the early days. A semitone wasn't a common interval in a melody a 1000 years ago.
But your post raises another point: Chord names are not literal instructions for how to voice a chord.
Cmaj#11, for example, is palette of tones you can choose from: C-E-G-B-D-F#.
You don't need to play all of those notes, and it's actually a very guitaristic thing not to. If you're playing with a bass player, you can voice chords without the root. The 5th–if unaltered–adds very little information to the chord. You could play the 3rd and 7th of every chord and totally hear the changes (this is fun to do with a blues, since you're literally moving a tritone dyad by a semi tone to achieve all your chords). The 9th and beyond colour the chord in tasty ways. There's no rule saying you can't voice the chord with the 9th in the bass–as in a 7b9 chord.
In the Jazz Theory Book, Levine suggests that chord symbols are synonymous with scales, which I like. Cmaj7, in the context of the I chord, is just C lydian (R-3-5-7-9-#11-13). So Cmaj7 can mean Cmaj9, Cmaj13, Cmaj#11/D, etc etc.
If you're looking for an exact result, then indicating the inversion (with a slash chord) and including a melody note will make most well-trained guitarist play exactly the chord you're looking for. So for example, if I see a B in the melody and a Gmaj7/D chord symbol, that really narrows down what to play.
kinda tangential but have you checked out this Monk biography? Its super dense with info, but really well written so you don't get bogged down.
Also does anyone else like to listen to whatever album an artist released/was working on when reading about that time in their life? I highly recommend it anyone who hasn't.
the real book - everyone should own it!
The Jazz Theory Book: http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine-ebook/dp/B004KA9UX4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1417884159&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=jazz+theory
fakebook?
Check out The Jazz Fake Book; my high school music teacher had a copy for each key and our jazz ensemble was always looking through it.
These books are (left to right):
Notes And Tones: Musician to Musician Interviews (Arthur Taylor): http://www.amazon.com/Notes-Tones-Musician---Musician-Interviews/dp/030680526X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419879383&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=notes+and+tones
The Jazz Standards: A Guide To The Repertoire (Ted Gioia): http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Standards-Guide-Repertoire/dp/0199937397/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419879452&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+jazz+standards
DownBeat - The Great Jazz Interviews (a 75th Anniversary Anthology) (Frank Alkyer): http://www.amazon.com/DownBeat-Great-Interviews-Anniversary-Anthology/dp/1423463846/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419879539&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+great+jazz+interviews
The History Of Jazz (Ted Gioia): http://www.amazon.com/History-Jazz-Ted-Gioia/dp/0195399706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419879629&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+history+of+jazz+ted+gioia
Check out Bill Frisell, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Weather Report. These are all fusion guys and may serve as a good bridge between rock and jazz for you. Beyond that, learn about the greats. Even non-guitarists. Learn about how Louis Armistrong played trumpet, how Coltrane played sax, how Monk played piano, how Max Roach played drums. One thing I love about jazz is that there's a lot of cross-instrument inspiration. A whole style of piano playing was invented by Armstrong's pianist mimicking his trumpet playing on the keys.
Other people have recommended the Ken Burns Jazz documentary, and I would as well. It's a great look through the history of jazz. This book is also a great resource, going both into the history and the musicality of jazz.
You could do worse than learning some Vince Guaraldi chops. This book has a lot of good material that range in difficulty from "easy" to "kinda hard". This one is a more "serious" book that includes more involved transcriptions of some of the famous pieces ("Linus and Lucy", "Christmas time is here" and "O Tanenbaum" are much more developed in this one) and it includes "Cast your fate to the wind".
Here you go. I think if you like it this much, it's worth $15 to you to get a book with this and eight other pieces by Guaraldi. Only fair to pay for what you use, man.
I'mma just leave this here.
Yeah, the particular album with Oscar Peterson isn't the best for study - as you won't be able to listen to what an experienced jazz drummer would do in those situations - but it is a great practice tool since drumless jazz recordings are so rare. In particular I love "Pennies from Heaven", it's a great mid-tempo swing to jam along with. And if you can work up to up-tempo swing, "I want to be Happy" is a serious workout. 7 minutes of 250 bpm spang-a-lang to really build those chops.
Oh, and if you haven't yet, invest in a copy of the real book and encourage your friends to as well. You can flip to almost any random page and have a great jam sesh. And with a little rehearsal you can gig those tunes as well. Not the most avant-garde stuff, but you've got to start somewhere :) Now go give that ride a good spank for me. Happy jazzing!
I think this is what's meant:
https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Fake-Books-Leonard/dp/0634060384
It's a book full of literally hundreds of 'standards' and songs for around ~20 dollars. I am also starting to learn some jazz, and it's one of the most helpful things I've found. What I like to do is find versions of the songs on YouTube, and listen to how the bass player fits in their line with the other parts, and try to play along -- even if it's just the root notes from the chord diagrams!
The history of the book is fascinating, too - Adam Neely has an interesting vid on YouTube.
Have fun!
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384
You say you play an instrument so I'll work under the assumption you have a basic understanding of chords/chord professions.
There are many different types of "jazz" music and ensembles- big band, Dixieland, Latin fusion, etc. but based on your question I'm guessing you're asking more about small combo-improv-heavy Jazz.
The basic idea is that you have a chord progression and typically a melody is played once or twice, then followed by improv solos. These solos work within and around that same chord progression.
A good way to get started is to pick a song you like, find the chord progression, and start practicing the notes on repeat. Don't try to play in tempo, just go through each chord and play the scale. Then start over and do the same thing but do scale in thirds instead. Then do arpeggios. Then start to embellish a little. Another great learning technique is to listen to pros solo on a song you like, then try to mimic their licks.
If you're looking for a good place to find chord progressions for pretty much every jazz standard, get yourself a [Real Book](The Real Book: Sixth Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0634060384/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_sI1oxbFVNBDBW)
Fair warning: improv has a VERY long learning curve. You'll probably suck at first. That's okay.
Get your hands on some improvisation books. Doesn't necessarily mean they all have to be just guitar books...jazz theory books will come in handy for any musician. Get your hands on a Real Book Listen to great performers - I'll suggest Pat Metheny, John Scofield, and Herb Ellis for starters. Become really familiar with their music and the way they improvise... when you hear little bits and pieces of things they do and you like them, write them out - transcribe. Hearing and practicing these will enable you to incorporate them into your improvisation, and the more you study and 'shed your heart out, the more you will pick up on how great improvisors do their thing.
Also, practice all your scales... slowly. When you are transcribing, you'll be surprised how much easier it is when you have a good understanding of every type of scale and how they are used (theory books will explain).
Hope this helps. Cheers.
Get a Real Book. There isn't anything in the way of explanation or instruction, but you'll learn many tunes and you'll begin to see common progressions (e.g., ii-V-I) and modulations (e.g., between relative minor and major) quickly. Also, you'll expand your chord vocabulary substantially if you master the many alterations and interesting extended chords that show up in there. Substitutions are a little harder to see w/o direction, I think, and sometimes aren't included in the charts.
Yes, they've got both the lead line (melody) and the chords above them. They're really the industry standard for jazz — you'll see them on any music stand for a gigging combo. 6th Edition is probably the best place for you to start. (A given song might look like this.)
https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1495028237&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=hal+leonard+real+book
Get a Real Book and find progressions in there. Use them directly or let it inspire you to create lines of your own. You can also find a lot of jazz lead sheets online.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Real-Book-Sixth-Edition/dp/0634060384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413845380&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+real+jazz+book
melody and chords of jazz standards
If not that, you can order it from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384/
Get a copy of the Real Book and look up what the songs should sound like on youtube, then play them. http://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384
Several years ago, I was in your same position. I finished my classical training and wanted to learn to play exactly this same kind of music I had been hearing in my head for years. Sadly enough, it's not as easy as it sounds...
You already have a basic understanding of music. This is really the basics. When you are going to play jazz, you need to know a lot more: chords, scales, chord progressions, chord substitutions, fillers, rhythm (and playing out of rhythm while having an inner rhythm), ear training, ...
You can't learn that from sheet music or even books about jazz. Find a teacher! He will most likely talk about The Real Book that is filled with this kind of music. You will first learn to play exactly what's on the sheet, but then the important stuff starts, knowing how to change the sheet so that it becomes your own jazz piece with improvisation and things like that. It will take years to get there, believe me. But it's absolutely worth it.
Good luck with it! Don't waste your time (cos that's what you will do) and find a teacher!
the non ligit part is you are not spending £30 on a book of music http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Fake-Book-Instruments/dp/0793529395
the "fake books" came around after the "real book"
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1348419797&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=realbook
I live on the pacific coast so I can’t help with the teacher part but I have just started jazz piano about a six months ago after playing piano for a year, I feel that you should first familiarize yourself with piano in any way you can before moving into jazz and paying for lessons, once you’re experienced you should buy the sixth edition of the real book and learn how to read jazz standards. These are songs that are in the book (400+ songs) are classics that pretty much all experienced jazz musicians can pick up on and can play along to. It’ll only have the melody on the chords to go along with it, you should learn the melody and play it the way you feel is best and play around with it and then harmonize it with the chords. Once you get familiar with this you should try your best to solo over it along with the chords, you might sound like ass but you’ll have to practice to get an ear for soloing, eventually you’ll get better and pick up and learn techniques. One of my favorite jazz pianist YouTubers made a great video that gives a list of some of the easier jazz standards that are mostly in the real book, they are great for gaining a foundation in jazz. It’s important that you know how to play all types of chords to best play jazz standards, if you’re interested message me and I’ll send you directions for a good exercise for this. Lastly when learning jazz standards it’s best to listen to the song and the chord changes a lot first to get a feel for the song, learning the vocals also helps with expression. Once you get a foothold for all of these basics then you should look for a teacher, I suggest taking a few months before that.
It's kinda the default answer and it doesn't have a backing track, but The Real Book.
If you're trying to explore jazz and improve your music reading, there really isn't any other way. A lot of jazz bass books just have the bass line which could be as simple (and boring) as a transcribed walking bass; with the real book you get the melodies and the chords which is what jazz is all about. Plus if you meet some other jazz guys there's probably a handful of tunes you can play with them (and they might have their own real book too).
I just got Mikes Downes' Jazz bassline book and it's amazing! It has tons of transcriptions and lots of very clearly laid out ideas to learn from. http://www.amazon.com/The-Jazz-Bass-Line-Book/dp/395481000X
Also I'd suggest listening to a lot of jazz and playing along with tunes you like. If you want a book of jazz standards I'd suggest something like The Bass Clef Real Book which has hundreds of lead sheets to lots of often played tunes.
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Bass-Clef-Sixth/dp/0634060767/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1453667062&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=bass+clef+real+book
I also agree with this! They have 4 volumes (Realbooks) for bass clef. I’ve done gigs with these with a guitar friend, lots of fun!
Here’s the first one with a lot of popular standards:
https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Bass-Clef-Sixth/dp/0634060767
Get yourself a copy of The Real Book in Bb and start learning the heads and chords to some songs that you are familar with. Youtube can help you find recordings of songs. Most of what makes Jazz different is in the rhythms and articulations, and you can learn those by listening to the greats and emulating them. Then there is the art of improvisation, which will takes years to master, so start now.
Never hurts to study some basic music theory, if only to learn how to communicate with other musicians.
Jazzology is a good book if you're interested.
It's too complex for a post or even a series of posts. You're going to need a book. I'd recommend The Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony and Jazzology. I wouldn't recommend anything by Mark Levine.
https://www.amazon.com/Jazzology-Encyclopedia-Jazz-Theory-Musicians/dp/0634086782
It actually looks to be only about 10-14 dollars!
These are pretty popular and seem to fit your description. I own them both myself.
http://www.amazon.com/Jazzology-Encyclopedia-Jazz-Theory-Musicians/dp/0634086782
http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/1883217040/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z
This concept of playing modally over a diatonic progression is kinda long-winded and pointless, imo. and not really how it's done.
Besides that, telling him to "play" the relevant mode for every chord doesn't help him any more than telling him to just play the major scale over it all.
I mean, we're trying to play music, not run scales from the root, how do you change mode from dorian to mixolydian in the middle of a line before you realize you're just playing ionian anyway?
It's the same note set, unless you know how to place them rhythmically to match the harmony, you're not doing anything different by just mentally shifting gear from dorian to mixolydian to ionian.
And, if you do know how to form lines to place the chord tones on the downbeats, you have no need to switch from mode to mode every bar because you'll know it's all part of one whole.
e.g., if I play this line, I'm not changing from dorian over the ii, mixo. over the V and Ionian over the I, yet you still hear the changes because it hits the chord tones on the downbeats.
It's all C major with a single added chromatic passing tone to make the chord tones line up with the downbeat.
For a further example, that line is over one chord per bar Am7-D7-Gmaj7 but the line would also work if it was two chords per bar Am7-D7-Am7-D7-Gmaj7. Would you say it changed mode 4 times?
Improvisation is hard enough without having to think about changing modes for every chord in a diatonic progression.
Learn your arpeggios, learn where the chord tones are and learn how to make scalar lines that hit the chord tones on the downbeats of the bars. Learn to add some tension, especially over the V and you'll sound like you're playing the changes.
Work on making lines that combine arpeggios and scales, how to use a scale in a musical context instead of running it up and down and, most importantly, work on hearing lines in your head before you play them, eventually you'll get to the point where your brain is screaming at you to play a certain note or phrase, that's what improvisation is about.
Here's some bebop scales you can check out, they're 8 note scales (basically 7 note scales with an added chromatic) that flow better over changes than 7 note scales, since they place the chord tones on the downbeats.
Also, look into David Baker's How To Play Bebop books for practical applications of scales in jazz, the Bebop Bible and Bert Ligon's books are good too.
I don't think there's one book that covers flatpicking, pima classical and fingerpicking with thumb and finger picks (let alone tapping, hybrid picking etc) (Similarly for piano there's Czerny, Bach, Liszt, Pischna, Dohnanyi (the gnarliest), Schmitt, and a bunch of other exercise books)
There are exercise books from "for Idiots", for Dummies, Guitar Aerobics, Guitar Grimoire, Troy Stetina, Culpepper (terrifying technique), also look at Guthrie Govan's 2 volumes, you can find lots of things to practice on for flatpicking. I've seen pumping nylon recommended a lot for classical/fingerstyle, but haven't tried it
also: Steinel, jazz vocabulary
http://www.amazon.com/Building-Jazz-Vocabulary-Mike-Steinel/dp/0793521610
I'm reading a biography of Louis Armstrong, Baldwin's contemporary. The author notes that the non-racist reputation early 20th century France has is at least a little oversold. Of the critics who were less than impressed with young Armstrong's music and stage antics, during his first trip to France, there were clearly racist comments, including remarks, in print, of him carrying on like "a gorilla."
For more info on the man read Pops by Terry Teachout - he had an amazing life. Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0151010897/ref=redir_mdp_mobile
try this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Standards-Guide-Repertoire/dp/0199937397
I agree with some of the classic albums that have been mentioned. I would add that you should check out John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," and just about any Charlie Parker compilation on top of "Kind of Blue" and "Time Out."
Really though, what you will like is very idiosyncratic. For example, because I play guitar and came to jazz through fusion, my favorite artists are guitarists: Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Emily Remler, etc. So your tastes will matter a whole lot.
To go with your listening, I would suggest you get a copy of Jazz 101 (http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-101-Complete-Learning-Loving/dp/0786884967) and just start searching on YouTube for famous recordings of standards.
Then, once you've finished Jazz 101, get a copy of Giddins and DeVeaux's Jazz (http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Gary-Giddins/dp/0393068617) and go through it.
If you are still interested in the history of jazz after going through those two books, Ted Gioia has written a book titled "The History of Jazz," which is on my shelf but I have yet to read.
how much time are you looking to devote? any mediums in particular that you want (documentaries, books, lectures, etc)? are you already into jazz or are you new to the genre? any specific musicians instruments or styles that you want to learn more about in particular? without knowing an of that.
This is a great book
http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Gary-Giddins/dp/0393068617/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_4
The entire Vince Guaraldi book (also linked upthread) only has the one error that I've noticed compared to the original recordings (it is in "Christmas Time Is Here"). The book does not include the bass lines, however, only the piano parts. The book includes "Hark, the Herald", "O Tannenbaum", "Christmas Time Is Here", "Greensleeves", and "Linus and Lucy". These are all transcribed from the versions you hear on radio and TV. The book also includes "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and 3 other songs by Guaraldi. This book is essential if you want to play these songs authentically.
edit:added link
I've used SongTrellis to find chord changes quite frequently (look for the link to the GIF for a chart), and the MIDI "backing" tracks are kinda useful for practicing sometimes. They don't include melodies though, as the melody is the copyrightable part of the tune and they'd be on the hook for infringement.
For melodies, more tunes, and just a generally useful resource, The Real Book is truly indispensable. There are a few more volumes, but that first one (linked) includes all the tunes PropositionJoe_ mentioned and then some. This is the Sixth Edition, the first "legal" version, which is arguably less complete than the Fifth (which you can find laying around some dark corners of the internet).
The Real book.
If you just want "chops" and don't want to know how jazz works, you can fake it by learning the standards.
The sixth edition of the Real Book.
wiki: The Real Book can refer to any of a number of popular compilations of lead sheets for jazz tunes, but is generally used to refer to Volume 1 of an underground series of books transcribed and collated by students at Berklee College of Music during the 1970s.
Whether the book used is the older "illegal" edition or the newer, Hal Leonard "legal" edition, at least one edition of The Real Book has become an indispensable resource for all aspiring and current jazz musicians. Musicians find it convenient to work from "the book", because it is available in different editions to suit B♭, E♭, and C (concert-pitch) instruments, as well as a bass clef edition. A band leader can conveniently call out page numbers, since each edition is also paginated identically.
Get the Real Book. Hundreds of great charts in one place, with super high quality. There are three volumes, but I and II are all you really need IMO. If you are able to sightread most charts with melody and improvise accompaniment, then you just need more practice. See if you can find some friends to jam with and just read charts. In my opinion, jazz can only really be learned by doing it over and over again with other live musicians.
Studying Jazz lead sheets is the most helpful, and the most commonly used book is the Real Book. The real book has Jazz Standards, and it gives the lead sheets with the melody written in sheet music, and the chord symbols written above the staff.
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Looking at chords is mostly seeing what the quality of it is (minor, major, dominant, ect.), and then just looking at the extensions. Once you understand the types of chords, everything else is pretty simple.
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I've made a guide to reading chord symbols, and it goes over all the common types of chords with common extensions. Here you go: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G9GsGFRwS_2VqbyKma1JL8nti3OMTHZm5eGZ7nTU1zY/edit?usp=sharing
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One last thing, you want to figure out chords yourself, or you'll never be able to completely understand chords, but if there are just some things that you can't figure out, here's a book I use that has chords galore in all keys: https://www.guitarcenter.com/Proline/Picture-Guitar-Chord-Pocket-Guide-Book.gc Think of it more as a something that helps, not your go-to thing for figuring out chords.
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Hope this helps!
Are you familiar with The Real Book? I am in the process of learning it, and instead of just looking up videos that are in tune I am cataloging it for me and you and everybody. Some really nice jazz covers and some not so nice ones. :) Thanks for the feedback it's going to take some time.
Hap hap hello there! I am a bot and you linked to Amazon.
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Product 1: The Real Book: Sixth Edition (0634060384)
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This one is pretty much the standard Real Book, based on my experience.
Personally, I'm partial to this version, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone else actually use it.
Get a "fake book." A big book of charts for standard tunes. Like this one: The Real Book: Sixth Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0634060384/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_SBHxub14QHMNV
I’d recommend picking up a copy of The Real Book. It has an absurd list of quality standards in lead sheet form. It’s not the end all, as the arrangements aren’t fleshed out beyond the essential components, but it’s a great place to start.
The Real Book is a popular one. I've also heard good things about the New Real Book.
Once again, thanks for the fantastic reply! I understand perfectly fine now (I think). I hadn't heard of this Real Book you mention at the end, I assume it's this one: http://www.amazon.com/The-Real-Book-Sixth-Edition/dp/0634060384 ? Is it just jazz chord sheets with the melody written on or how do they work? Because I suck too hard to improvise the rest anyways so it's probably not worth it anyways in that case haha
I was in a similar position a few years ago. I grew up playing trombone and guitar. I went to theory camps, and studied in college. In jazz, it's all mental at first. You have to know your theory and know it well. For now, go buy a real book, not a face book, or Steve's collection of jazz standards, or any other book. You need This one. It's the one everyone else will be using, so you might as well be on the same page. I'd recommend by looking it over, and making sure you understand what all of the chord symbols mean, and how to play over them. Once you figure that out, you can start putting together lines. If you have the budget for two books, then the other one you need is This one.
Oh, good point. It would amount to a lot of import tax depending on where you live.
If you're really just starting, have you exhausted all the stuff in The Real Book yet?
https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384
I'd at least expect Girl From Ipanema, Speak Low, and some Bacharach tunes to be in it.
As another starting point, learn how to finger shapes like Amaj7 and Amaj9 and such, but still be able to finger or open string play the root and fifth as your own bass line. What makes it tricky is that the bass is playing root-5 quarters while the other strings are playing the clave. You'll want to have this down before you play a song.
If you don't know how to play fingerstyle, I'm not sure how to teach that in a Reddit comment.
I'd suggest picking up Arban's method, as that contains a pretty good range of abilities. You can probably find it online. As well, the Real Book contains melodies and chord changes for many different jazz standards. You're going to want the Bb edition.
You can never go wrong with getting a real book but make sure you order it in the right key
Link to The Real Book in case you're interested.
Autumn leaves!
Seriously though, this is a hard one to say what the "bread and butter" progressions are. Everyone has their own taste. I would do what theStork said and get yourself the Real Book and start there. Vol. I and II are usually what most musicians have, but there are other real/fake books too. That, combined with listening to lots of jazz should help a lot.
You might also look into getting some of the Aebersold books or some other guitar books on voicings, they would help you out getting started. Finally, a good mentor/teacher is irreplaceable...
Hi, these are the textbooks at home. How much of help will they be?
Essential Jazz Elements: http://imgur.com/a/LtyW8
Standard of Excellence Jazz Ensemble Method: http://imgur.com/a/Q2rNh
The second textbook has songs in it to play (for sightreading?), will that do instead of the Real Book
I can say as a fellow bassist that my big first step into undstanding and using theorywas when I got Real Book and started doing walking bass lines between chords. Walking basslines are really one of the places where understanding chords is really important on bass because we are playing more than just the root or the fifth.
When it comes deeper understanding of harmony and chords, it kills me to say this, it's helpful to know how to play just a little guitar or even better some piano as you can start to connect the sound and movement or chords better by playing them. Bass, while being the supreme instrument, isn't a chordal instrument. We can play chords on bass but it's really not the same as how they sound on chordal instruments.
If you need help on how to get to started on walking bass lines I've heard good things about the Book Building Walking Bass Lines.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0634060767/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480192493&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=SY200_QL40&amp;keywords=the+real+book+bass+clef&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=41Lk--BCg3L&amp;ref=plSrch
https://www.amazon.com/Charles-Mingus-More-Than-Books/dp/0793509009
This should give you a great start. Good luck!
Get this http://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Flat-Sixth/dp/0634060848
You might want to check out Jazzology
It starts with Intervals and explains everything regarding music theory from there upwards. The latest version has tab for the examples, making it easier to use. You might also want to consider Jazzology: The Encyclopedia of Jazz Theory for All Musicians too.
BTW - sight reading is when you attempt to play a piece of sheet music you have never seen before. Thats different from learning to play a piece and reading through it several times.
I had played guitar for a while before taking high school concert band. While I didn't like playing the french horn, the class was rewarding enough that I stuck with it for 3 years. I learned music theory and how to read music notation, and I can't stress useful it is. However, it is a slow, frustrating process.
My suggestion is to buy a beginner theory book, and then something like Jazzology. A teacher would probably be a huge help. You won't believe how fast you improve with a teacher.
David Baker's "How to Play Bebop" is a good starting point.
This book has some good exercises: How to Play Bebop, Vol 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0739020404/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_hTIPCb5KP3C7Y
ETA: obviously this is not specific to guitar but I think the Bebop fundamentals are portable across instruments
You need to branch out into harmony. Theory is just the nuts and bolts, harmony is how everything works and relates. Any serious study of harmony necessitates a good working knowledge of written music because then you can see on paper how the notes move and how they relate (or don't relate) to the key. Jazz harmony has a few of its own rules added to classical Western harmony but the basics are the same. This is the book I used in college, it does a great job, especially for people who are not jazz players (like myself). It does require a rudimentary theory knowledge to be beneficial.
Thanks for the gold - my first!
I learned SO MUCH in my undergrad and master's degrees in jazz performance. I'm not sure what style you're really going for here (although I had your melody stuck in my head in a Latin jazz style), but one of the most useful resources was this book:
https://www.amazon.ca/Jazz-Language-Theory-Composition-Improvisation/dp/0760400148
It's not a giant text so it's very affordable and digestible. But there wasn't a lot of reliance on texts or reading in my program (when it comes to jazz theory). We got a thorough understanding of music theory and jazz theory through practical application in private lessons and participatory courses like Improvisation or Jazz Styles.
Also I think I'm pretty smart about this stuff in general :)
Wish I had more concrete resources to offer you! Feel free to PM with Qs any time.
I have a debut neo-soul single coming out in May :) I'll send you my social media stuff if you're interested in hearing it!
Silhouettes
Sometimes I get some stuff that are going out of stock soon. This is one of them. That first one is higher priority. But I understand if it is pricey. Here is something that is in a more acceptable price range! Both are going out of stock soon!
Hope you're having a great day :)
I have this book btw. http://www.amazon.com/Connecting-Chords-Linear-Harmony-Jazz/dp/0793561930
You gotta learn your scales, man. One other thing I see recomended a lot is solo transcribing. As for books, I really like [mark levine's] (http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/1883217040) for the theory, and this one, but since you're a bass player, you might get more out of a book specifically tailored to your instrument.
But the really most important thing is to practice improvisation whenever you can, preferably in a group. Maybe you can organize a small jazz combo where you live, or join classes with other aspiring jazz musicians like yourself?
Buy this book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0793561930
Lots of good info already in this thread but came here to say this. Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony by Bert Ligon is worth checking out. He lays a good framework for a harmomically specific approach to improvisation. Tons of examples from many different jazz players are used to demonstrate his ideas. If anything, its full of tasty licks but there's a good method approach to be had as well.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0793561930/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1324440326&amp;sr=8-1
Harrison's Contemporary Music Theory isn't free, but it's inexpensive, and I often see it recommended to non-classical musicians (I'm mostly a classical musician) as a theory resource.
I also like the free app Functional Ear Trainer as a tool for getting better at recognizing pitches within a key, but that's far from a complete theory education.
Like this it's basically all the jazz tunes with the melody and chords written out. The only thing it doesn't give you is a written out score, so you have to improvise how to play out the chords over the melody.
Here are my accessories in a backpack I take to every gig:
I hope this helps!
Thanks very much for the examples. I'm starting to get an idea of what you're aiming at. I wasn't able to listen to the Epica song due to territory restrictions, but I'm just a bit confused because all of the others were guitar based and didn't have any piano in at all. Can you give me some examples involving the piano style you are interested in?
From these examples I would say that the type of ballad you like is a sub-category of pop/rock. The main difference between this and classical music is that classical music is generally fully notated and performers are expected to play exactly according to the score. Whereas pop/rock is often derived from jamming/improvisation in the studio, and the notated version (if one is even made) is more like a guideline. With jazz even more so - jazz is fully improvised, generally around a given melody or chord structure, and pretty much never notated.
I would suggest taking a look at The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine. Sorry I could only find the kindle edition although it definitely exists as a hard copy because I've got it at home. This takes you through the process of learning jazz piano from the most basic elements to full competence. If you can play jazz you will be able to play any pop/rock, because it will seem very simple by comparison.
If you would like to learn classical piano then reacquainting yourself with reading music is the top priority. And it would also be good if you could identify the type of classical piano you are most interested in. Perhaps you could take a youtube tour of the main keyboard composers in different musical periods.
In the Baroque era the three main keyboard composers were Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Frederick Handel and Domenico Scarlatti.
In the Classical era the three main keyboard composers were Franz Joseph Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
In the Romantic era the main keyboard composers were Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Brahms - but this era bleeds into the next era of Modernism, so there are still composers such as Debussy, Ravel and Rachmaninov writing in a Romantic style well into the 20th century.
Let me know if you'd like some specific examples and I'll compile a list.
there is a book that collects them and it's great (though i have the larger format paperback edition that's a little pricey I haven't seen the more recent edition) https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Cover-Art-Blue-Note-Records-Graham-Marsh/1843405997
For anyone interested in learning more about Monk, this is the authoritative biography:
"Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original" https://www.amazon.com/dp/1439190461/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_HZILzbQK6NT1W
I've been a Monk obsessive since I was 16, and one great musicological discovery (I think it was in that book) was that the soft three-note dissonant combo he ends many of his songs with mimics the horn of the trains that ran past his childhood home in North Carolina. Find "Functional" from his solo album Thelonious Himself and you'll hear it throughout. https://play.google.com/music/m/Tnqpl55mpik4kf6wvldbhzc7owu?t=Functional_-_Thelonious_Monk
Edited to add: for anyone who falls in love with Monk, your next stop is Art Tatum. You won't quite hear Monk's soul but you'll get to hear what Monk would have been if he had been a technical virtuoso. Try Tatum's song "Cherokee" and you'll immediately hear it.
Get yourself a real book, friend.
https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corp/dp/1423424514
These are incredibly handy.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Theory-Basic-Advanced-Study/dp/1138235105/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1541270549&amp;sr=1-2
This is where I would start.