The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

RE: Jazz -- Getting started--K.I.S.S.

Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2001-09-27 08:14

Ignore all that talk of specialized scales for the time being. If you know your major scales and arpeggios, START PLAYING. Get any Benny Goodman record and find a solo to imitate that isn't too technically difficult. (small group recordings of Moonglow and Avalon come to mind...) Don't look for transcribed solos. Learn them by ear. Write them down if you can.

If you want to do something technical with loads of instant gratification, learn the Pentatonic Scale. These are notes 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6 of any major scale. In C, it would be C-D-E-G-A-C. You can improvise over many simpler, older songs (and even the blues) using just one of these scales over the entire form of the piece. You can also play some nice sounding things unaccompanied a la Lisa Simpson. It is a very forgiving scale with many uses, and an ancestor of the blues scale.

Probably the best beginning jazz book would be "How To Play Jazz and Improvise", Vol.1 in the Jamey Aebersold series. This book appears a bit scale-crazy, but READ ALL THE TEXT and you'll find a lot of wisdom in it. Most music stores will carry it. If not, visit http://www.jajazz.com.

As far as theory and playing by ear, I have activities online that are available to the public at http://www.jamschool.net. These are good starting points for playing by ear.

I also have online help for the Master Theory Workbook at http://allencole.tripod.com/mt_help.htm

I also have some reference sheets available for download at http://allencole.tripod.com/st_instr.htm

I hope that some of this helps you. Have fun!

Allen

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics