 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Fred
Date: 1999-11-17 23:46
Can anyone give me some guidance on how a person trained on band/orchestra clarinet parts and recital pieces can learn to play jazz? What are the most important things to work on?
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Author: Fred
Date: 1999-11-18 00:57
I just read 'Dixie with a capital D' on the board and it answered many of my questions. Of course, if anyone has any other suggestions . . .
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Author: William Fuller
Date: 1999-11-18 01:28
Listen to Benny, Artie, Eddie and Pete and learn their solos "by ear." Also try Jamie Abersold CDs--major and minor is a good start. The key to playing jazz is to develope your inner ear, fire up your creative instincts and learn to express what you come up with through your instrument.
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Author: William Fuller
Date: 1999-11-18 01:29
Listen to Benny, Artie, Eddie and Pete and learn their solos "by ear." Also try Jamie Abersold CDs--major and minor is a good start. The key to playing jazz is to develope your inner ear, fire up your creative instincts and learn to express what you come up with through your instrument.
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Author: MikeH
Date: 1999-11-18 03:02
Fred,
In addition to listening to your favorite jazz clarinetists, if you don't know them already and if you are not strictly an "ear" player, you've got to learn the basic scales and scale chord relationships. For this purpose I recommend a great book titled "Patterns for Jazz" by Jerry Coker. It is old and may be out of print but you should be able to get a copy. The other thing that is very beneficial is to play increasingly difficult tunes in all keys by ear. This will develop your ability to transfer what you hear in your head to the instrument. I found Charlie Parker tunes very useful for this purpose. Of course if you're blessed with a great ear already you will be able to do this with no trouble from the get go. In that case, all you need do is play and play some more till what you hear in your head starts to come out of your horn and you like what you hear. Hope this helps.
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Author: Justice
Date: 1999-11-18 03:21
The most important thing to know about learning how to play jazz is time. Since jazz comes out of the New Orleans marching and dance tradtition, rythm is the most essential element of the music (true, you will get some stuff out on the edge where rythm is not the main concern, but that is later in your developmental stage). Every jazz musician has to be able to swing, and swing hard. When you get the concept of what swing is, then you can move on to the other types of jazz (e.i. bebop, cool, free, fusion, etc...).
Next, coming from the classical/legit(non-jazz) tradition, you will probably have a decent understanding of theory. However, there are some very distinct differences in jazz theory. You will be coming into contact with more chords, larger chords, different chord types, and different ways to approach chords in jazz than you would with classical stuff. Jazz typically uses (since the big band era) the dominant seventh chord type on all chords, not just the five. Also, since bebop, jazz has expanded into using ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths, and all the various altered forms of those chords.
All of this comes together in improvisation. You have to be able to "play time" and play over the chords.
For an introduction into jazz harmony I would suggest Dan Herle's book "The Jazz Languege". This will get you accustomed to the theory used in jazz. Next I would suggest Scott Reeves book "Creative Jazz Improvisation". This book has transcriptions of most of the greatest solos played by the greatest players to play the music. Each one deals with a different aspect, or approach.
Above all, as mentioned before, is to listen to the music. Not just on recordings either. Get out and hit the jazz clubs in your area. You will hear a lot of things live that you would not hear otherwise; things like the rythm, the style, nuance, and you can see the way the players hold themselves, the way they play, the kinds of faces they make; all these things give you a better insight into what is going on inside the musicians head/soul.
Since you are a clarinet player, you will obviuosly want to listen to clarinetests. But, don't limit your self. Listen to saxophone players, trumpet players, trombone players, drummers, pianists, flautists; listen to every instrument you can imagine. I am a saxophone player, but my greatest influences are trumpet players, and it shows in my playing. Listen particularly to people that play with soul. (Don't ask me to explain what soul is, because it would take me about three pages to do so). Some of mys favorite players who play with soul are Cannonbal Adderly and JJ Johnson (alto saxophone and trombone (respectively)).
Next, find a mentor. Find a teacher, or player in your area that has experience with jazz, or is a fulltime jazz musician. It doesn't have to be a clarinetist. Unlike classical music, you can study jazz with someone who does not play the same instrument as you. I study with a trombone player.
Bottom line, start.
Justice C. Bigler
the Altissimo Freak
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-11-18 06:26
MikeH wrote:
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For this purpose I recommend a great book titled "Patterns for Jazz" by Jerry Coker. It is old and may be out of print but you should be able to get a copy.
It is still in print. But it's pretty expensive. Of course it is a pretty big book.
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Author: jason flores
Date: 1999-11-18 15:20
Hey bro
If your into jazz you must get the charlie parker omnibook in Bb key. it contains all of charlie parkers jazz solos ,hence the very foundations of modern jazz improv.
also jazz differs from classical in that the soloing is not root based. to outline the chords in jazz you need to concentrate on the thirds and sevenths of the chords.
also the Bible of jazz standards "th new Real book " vol 1 and 2 are the standard fake books.
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Author: John Kelly - Australia
Date: 1999-11-19 05:33
I agree with most things posted by the others, however it largely depends on your background - mine is "non legit" that is I am self taught. If you are coming from a trained background then the "books" can help, but jazz skill is acquired mainly in the head and not from the page and it does not matter whether you want to play modern or traditional, its all intuitive.
You have to learn how to feel the music, learn chord changes, learn melodies and learn how to play "with the book shut"- eventually, anyway!. Playing to records is a good way and a book of chord changes with a melody line [for reference only] will be a big help.
It's great fun and a dollar or two is there to be had if you become good enough.
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