Bluffers Guide to Playing Jazz
Hi guys and gals. Many of you are involved in jazz workshops and tuition. Please feel free to copy this material in any newsletters, or promotion material. We make it the main thrust of our web site
www.jazzenthusiasts.com which appeals to amateurs and semi-pros. Full-time pro's are a bit too classy for this stuff though in the past they've been there and done that, and they'll remember.
Lois says I can post extracts here from time to time and keep it updated. Go to our web site if you want to see it all, some other fun stuff there, too. Please, if you use it, would you give us a link to our site - we can only ask, just for friends, huh?
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BLUFFERS GUIDE TO PLAYING JAZZ.
Notes about playing jazz; a fun guide to this inventive music.
Yup, notes are the problem. How many to play, which ones, and at what time.
Guitars
Guitarists are known by their desire to play one or two extra notes on their instrument after the song has ended. This works well in the early part of the gig, but sooner or later the drummer notices what happens and will cover their final odd notes with a short flourish on the drums. Later still, the alto player joins in. In the hands of professionals this becomes an extended improvised coda which surprises everyone since it bears no relation to the song at all. Guitarists try to sit next to drummers but a long way from pianists. There is no known reason why. Perhaps it is because pianists can use all ten fingers at the same time.
Ending songs
This is one of the most difficult bits in jazz to do properly. Some bands are on record as not knowing how to do it at all, and once the final melody has been played out, someone then strikes up with another solo. (True) This makes for fascinating and meaningful social interaction within the group. This is one reason why audiences prefer to watch jazz players rather than listen to them.
Starting solos
Knowing where the 1 is tests the mettle of all soloists. For some of them, listening to the music itself is of little help, and they need someone to nod them in on time. Singers are particularly prone to starting problems and frequently offer themselves to band leaders who look after them in this regard.
Playing duff solos
If you play a duff solo it is because you have forgotten where you are in the song, or forgotten what key you are supposed to be playing at that moment, or because you are out of it anyway. After you have finished everyone goes quiet – although everyone knows where you went wrong and will talk about it behind your back. The thing to do is to ask the band loudly, “Did someone cross the beat at bar 23?” The band will look at the drummer, who will say “Sorry” and you are off the hook.
Extracted by permission from
www.jazzenthusiasts.com, a web site for amateur players.
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