Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Welcome to episode 239 of the LJS Podcast where today we kick off "Minor Blues Month" on the podcast! We'll be uncovering 3 strategies for improvising over a minor blues and then my master practice plan for dominating a minor blues. Today is Strategy #1: Minor Pentatonics and "Blues Scales."Listen to episode 239October 2020 is Minor Blues Month here on the LJS podcast where I will be going over 3 strategies for improvising over a minor blues followed by the final episode 4 of the series where I'm going to give you my plan for mastering a minor blues.Now today's episode is strategy number 1 where we're going to talk about using the minor pentatonic and the blues scale. What's going to be fun about this series is each strategy is going to go over something new. A new kind of approach to the minor blues but I'm going to be composing a solo, it's a 12-bar minor blues solo today on this show, only using those tools.And in the next episode, I'm going to be taking that exact same solo but changing it and morphing it up a little bit to add the new strategy. And in the next episode, strategy number 3, adding more to the solo to start developing it and making it more complex.In this episode:1. Minor Blues Month and what you will learn 2. The chords to a basic minor blues form 3. How to play minor pentatonic and the "blues" scale 4. I compose a solo using these scales on a minor bluesImportant Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart WayLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 238 of the LJS Podcast where today I sit down and learn the first A section of a jazz etude I've been wanting to learn. Listen in as I walk through my process for learning a jazz solo by ear off of a recording. You'll find observing the process helpful as well as learning some awesome jazz lines to try out for yourself.Have you ever heard a jazz solo and after you heard it, you just knew you had to learn it, or at least learn a part of it? Because if only you could learn that musical information then somehow it would unlock something that you were missing in your jazz playing. Do you just want to know like how did they do that? Well, I've been feeling like that a lot lately, and here is a particular solo that I've heard recently and have become accustomed to that I just really want to learn a part of it. Now, I often just feel like I don't have enough time to properly practice these days. I'm just so busy with all these different things. So I'm going to be stealing a little bit of time here on the podcast to learn this solo. But at the same time, I know that you're going to get this in your ears and learn some things along the way as well and get inside of my process for how I go about learning a jazz solo by ear. In this episode:1. I learn the first part of a jazz etude on "Misty"Important Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart WayLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 237 of the LJS Podcast where today I share a masterclass I am taking out of the vault about listening to jazz. The way we listen to jazz can dictate how much we actually get out of it when we listen. As jazz musicians, listening can be one of our best forms of practice if we approach it mindfully.When you listen to jazz, what are you hearing? What are you listening for? What kind of things are going through your head as you hear the different instruments play? As you hear the melody played? As you hear the comping being played? The drumming being played? What are you listening for? Well, listening to jazz is one of the most important things you can do if you want to become a better jazz musician. But I find that if we really do some mindful listening, some critical listening, and understand what we're listening for, it can be incredibly helpful for not only appreciating jazz more but for getting as much out of it as possible so that we can start implementing into our playing.So, in today's episode, I'm going to be sharing with you part of a masterclass I did once for mindful jazz listening and we're going to listen to a couple of tracks, dig deep into them, and see what we can find out.In this episode:1. A listen through "Blues Up and Down" 2. A listen through "Someday My Prince Will Come"Important Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart WayLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 236 of the LJS Podcast where today I show you a simple technique that will help you take your jazz ballad playing to the next level. One of the challenges of playing ballads is the slow tempo and chords that seem to last forever. Side step 2-5's will help you add more harmonic movement and have you sounding like a pro.Ballads can be some of the more difficult jazz standards to solo over top of because they're typically played at fairly slow tempos and there's usually a lot of space in between each chord. And now that may seem like a bit of a luxury for those who struggle with playing over up-tempos but believe me when I say that soloing over top of slow tempos on ballads can be just as difficult if not more difficult than playing on uptempo. So in today's episode, I'm going to be giving you a cool little technique called side step 2-5's that can actually help you fill in more of that space, create more harmonic movement and therefore, give you more options and more creativity in your jazz ballad playing.In this episode:1. Side Step #1: 2-5 replacing the V 2. Side Step #2: 2-5 replacing the viImportant Links:1. LJS Inner Circle Membership (Access to ear-training course)2. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way3. LJS 59: 5 Tips for Playing Jazz Ballads Like an ExpertLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 235 of the LJS Podcast where today I put you to the test. Instead of the regular format of tips and tricks for becoming a better jazz musician, we're doing an ear training intervals quiz and I want to see how well you do.Today's episode is a bit more of an experimental episode where I am going to be putting you to the test. We are going to be going outside of our normal format of tips and tricks for becoming a better jazz improviser and we are going to instead be doing an ear training interval recognition quiz.I want to see how well you do at recognizing intervals, ascending and descending.Now, ultimately as jazz improvisers, we want to be able to play what we're hearing in our head. That's really the goal. But that doesn't come naturally to everybody. Certainly, it doesn't come naturally to me. And ear training fundamentals such as interval recognition are ways that we can work out our ears, help us become more critical listeners, and help us know what we are actually hearing. So, this is a great skill to have. Ear training is something that everybody should do a little bit of and so, we're going to see how well you do and see if you need to be doing a little bit more of it.In this episode:1. Intervals Ascending 2. Intervals DescendingImportant Links:1. LJS Inner Circle Membership (Access to ear training course)2. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way3. Video: How to Train Your Ears to Hear Intervals 4. LJS 78: How to Master Hearing Intervals and Level Up Your EarsLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 234 of the LJS Podcast where today I give a quick lecture on the importance of having fun when you practice. Of course, having fun should be the center of why we practice and want to improve. But having fun when you practice can also lead to quicker results in your jazz playing.Today's episode is probably the shortest in LJS podcast history, but that's because I want to share a short but powerful message with you. Now, I want to ask you a question first before we jump into it though. When you sit down to practice your instrument when you sit down to improve your jazz playing, are you having fun? Are you having fun more often than you are frustrated? More often than you are feeling held back? Are you enjoying yourself when you are playing? Because if you're not, you could be holding yourself back immensely from improving and becoming a better jazz musician quicker.So, in today's episode, I want to give a short lecture all about having fun and why that is so important.In this episode:1. A short lecture on having fun and how it will help you improve faster Important Links:1. LJS Inner Circle Membership2. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way3. LJS 159: Brain Hacking for Speeding Up Your Jazz Improv Success (feat. Rodney Brim)Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 233 of the LJS Podcast where today I show you 4 jazz blues licks that I know you're going to love. We listen to them and I explain what makes them work and sound so great. Prepare to have your face melted.Now if you're an avid listener of the LJS podcast, you may have heard me talk a lot about the blues before and how I believe that the blues is a really great song form to master in order to make all the rest of learning jazz standards easier. It just contains so many important chord progressions, a lot of important concepts, and of course, blues. It's kind of the foundation of jazz as far as the origin story, of course, coupled with European marching music and all of that. But I digress.So, wouldn't it be great to learn some jazz blues language? Of course, it would. Let's go over some jazz blues licks that are really going to melt your face off, to be quite honest with you, and that you're going to love. I'll do a little bit of showing you what they sound like, a little bit of explaining, and hopefully, you'll come across some great ideas that you can start implementing into your playing right away.In this episode:Lick #1 Lick #2Lick #3Lick #4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al-H5R335cw&t=Important Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart WayLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 232 of the LJS Podcast where today I talk about the 6 biggest mistakes I see beginner jazz musicians make.Having helped thousands of students through Learn Jazz Standards, I've discovered common mistakes that come up time and time again. Intermediate and advanced players make these mistakes too. I reveal them as well as some alternatives to correct your course.Over the last 9 years as a musician, teacher, and online jazz educator, I've had the opportunity to help thousands and thousands and thousands of musicians learn how to play jazz and improve. And over that time, I've been able to witness lots of different kinds of issues that these musicians come across in their journey to becoming better jazz improvisers. I've noticed common mistakes that many of them make that only hold them back from reaching their true potential and improving quickly.So, in today's episode, I'm going to be going over the 6 most common biggest mistakes I see beginner jazz improvisers make and even some that I see intermediate and even advanced players make as well. So you might want to check in on yourself no matter where you are in your journey to see if any of these fit with you. In this episode:1. They don't listen to jazz enough. 2. They use scales as plug-and-play tools. 3. They learn standard and solos primarily from sheet music. 4. They try to copy-and-paste licks into their solos. 5. They consume too much content. 6. They don't have a practice plan.Important Links:1. LJS Inner Circle Membership2. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way3. LJS 229: How to Turn Scales Into Killer Jazz Solos 4. LJS 216: By the End of This Episode You'll Have Learned a Jazz Blues SoloLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 231 of the LJS Podcast where today I feature a chapter reading from my book "Jazz Improvisation Made Simple" where I discuss establishing your "why" and setting goals for your jazz playing. Establishing your why will help you keep anchored when the going gets tough or you feel like you are in a plateau.If you're a long-term listener of the LJS podcast, today's subject is probably not something that you haven't heard before from me. But this is one of my favorite topics to talk about. And no, it's not a sexy episode. It's not learning the next music theory trick. It's not you learn a new solo by the time you end this episode. It's not a plethora of other things that I notice that a lot of people love to listen to and for good reasons because they are great things. However, today's episode is really getting down to the bottom of why you're actually learning jazz. Defining your why. Why you want to actually be doing this so that if you're tapping into that at all times, it will motivate you to keep going further and then after that, define your actual roles. Now, if you don't think this is important, I hope that by the end of this episode, you will be convinced because I do believe that this is the number one thing that can move the needle in your jazz playing. Trust me on this.In this episode:1. Establishing your "why" 2. Establishing Master Goals 3. Establishing Project Goals 4. Establishing Micro GoalsImportant Links:1. LJS Inner Circle Membership2. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way3. Jazz Improvisation Made Simple bookLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Welcome to episode 230 of the LJS Podcast where today I go over my 3 step LIT Process for learning and applying jazz licks.Learning licks and then copy/pasting them into your solos rarely sounds natural, so we need to learn and apply them in a way that allows them to come out organically and expressed our own way.I've got a question for you. Have you ever learned a jazz lick, maybe off of a record, or from some other resource? You were really excited about it and practiced it, it's a great new idea that you can use in your jazz improv. But when it finally came to actually apply it, maybe at a jam session or gig or just by yourself in a practice jam session, you weren't really able to do it very well. It just sort of sounded contrived, you're basically copying and pasting it, maybe you couldn't really time it right, couldn't really fit it into what you are trying to do. It just didn't sound very good and you sort of felt like, oh, that went to waste! Well, we don't really want to be using licks that way. Yes, we want to learn them, we want to learn new jazz language. But how do we actually play licks and learn licks so they come out organically in our solos?That's exactly what we are going to talk about in today's episode. I'm going to teach you my LIT process for learning and applying licks in your jazz improv. In this episode:1. Learn 2. Internalize 3. TransformImportant Links:LJS Inner Circle MembershipFree Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart WayLearn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!