Starting and Understanding Jazz

[GrimChance]

Hey guys,

I've just recently began my senior year of high school. I'm looking at some music colleges in my state and hoping to major in performance. I typically play progressive metal and such, and I have taken music theory classes and my high school and my community college. But since colleges typically focus on Jazz since everything they talk about is found in it, i want to get into it and start understanding.

Any artists or tips would be great.

[funkybassinator]

awesome site for this kind of thing:
http://www.thejazzresource.com/index.html

[funkybassinator]

also just look at the "top however many albums" lists and just pick some albums. And then listen to them. Alot. And join a big band.

[fdeck]

There have been a number of threads about college preparation. One issue is the relatively small number of college music programs that accept electric bass for a performance major.

Why isn't Bass Guitar "academic"?

I don't have a music degree myself, but I would think that joining a jazz band would be worth doing. Also, you need to find a teacher or advisor who can help you prepare for college auditions, and who can also give you a frank evaluation of your prospects.

[AcidFripp]

You must listen to jazz, my friend. A lot of it. Here's a good picture of some of the greatest jazz albums ever. Check out Kind Of Blue and A Love Supreme first, they're the most entry-level ones. Then check out Charles Mingus; he's a bassist.

[251]

Originally Posted by GrimChance

Hey guys,

I've just recently began my senior year of high school. I'm looking at some music colleges in my state and hoping to major in performance. I typically play progressive metal and such, and I have taken music theory classes and my high school and my community college. But since colleges typically focus on Jazz since everything they talk about is found in it, i want to get into it and start understanding.

Any artists or tips would be great.

I suggest a copy of the 4 disk; "The Blue Box, Blue Note's Best".

If you're feeling really ambitious, find a copy of Jerry Coker's "Listening to Jazz";
http://www.amazon.com/Listening-Jazz...3353224&sr=1-1
plus a copy of the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz (8 disk) collection Coker uses to illustrate the book;
http://www.amazon.com/Smithsonian-Co...3353109&sr=1-3

Are there nearby libraries or library networks you can use?

Get ready, your ears are about to throw a party for your head. 8-)

[Eminentbass]

If you have a grasp of how chords are constructed then one thing that helps put it all in context is an exercise mentioned by some members here in other threads, which is taking well known standards and walking through the changes, out of time, using only the chord tones. It helps to form an understanding and analysis of the relationships of what might seem like unusual chord sequences.

It also acts as a great platform from which to start exploring improvisation. You'll internalise your knowledge of chord tones and chord types in all keys and then have the foundation to start experimenting with chromatics and scale tones that will complement the changes.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by AcidFripp

You must listen to jazz, my friend. A lot of it.

Check out Kind Of Blue and A Love Supreme first, they're the most entry-level ones.

I agree on the first point - but am a bit dubious about the second there!

Kind of Blue is popular for having a laid-back, cool feel and not many chords - but that can often be a hinderance to beginners, who get lost in the long stretches of modal harmony - whereas it's harder to get lost in most 32-bar standards?

Similarly with A Love Supreme, which can be very daunting to chart and know where you are, or what's happening...?

OK they might both have catchy riffs - but there is a lot more going on in both, than is immediately apparent.

[AcidFripp]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

I agree on the first point - but am a bit dubious about the second there!

Kind of Blue is popular for having a laid-back, cool feel and not many chords - but that can often be a hinderance to beginners, who get lost in the long stretches of modal harmony - whereas it's harder to get lost in most 32-bar standards?

Similarly with A Love Supreme, which can be very daunting to chart and know where you are, or what's happening...?

OK they might both have catchy riffs - but there is a lot more going on in both, than is immediately apparent.

That's what I'm going after, though. The albums offer a sort of contrast to each other, you see. Kind Of Blue, the chill simple album... and A Love Supreme, the intense complex album. It's to give an impression of the different styles of jazz, see.
And the picture I posted has many other very good albums following many other musical concepts. Dave Brubeck's Time Out, for example, has a theme of unusual time signatures, so anyone interested in those should check that record out.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Actually I think that "A Love Supreme" is based on a very simple concept and is developed from very simple material - but it is what that group of musicians did with it over an extended period of time..?

I think if you are a beginner to Jazz that could be confusing and that looking at "standards" would give you a better idea of what Jazz is really about and that learning standards will be much more useful than say, trying to play "A Love Supreme" - which is really unique to that band and that time and place..?

So if you are joining a Jazz ensemble at college or in a jam - the more standards you can play the better - but nobody is going call "A Love Supreme"...

EVER!!

[Stumbo]

But since colleges typically focus on Jazz since everything they talk about is found in it, i want to get into it and start understanding.

FYI, most 4 year universities and colleges focus on classical music.

Here are a few links you may want to check out:
4.COLLEGE MUSIC
So you want to be a music major?
Virginia Tech Music Theory Dictionary
Auditioning for jazz band
Audition dilemma

[Staccato]

Get this, I've been studying it for years, and feel like I'm barely scratching the surface...

How to? Read biographies (and autobiographies where you can) of great jazz artists-find quotes or helpful suggestions from the masters, or this is what worked-stories.
Play the CD's until you get loads of jazz in your head, study techniques, and basics that work in a jam, or combo.

Theory is the dirt on the floor, it's a given, and always underfoot (or should be within reach).

[AcidFripp]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

Actually I think that "A Love Supreme" is based on a very simple concept and is developed from very simple material - but it is what that group of musicians did with it over an extended period of time..?

I think if you are a beginner to Jazz that could be confusing and that looking at "standards" would give you a better idea of what Jazz is really about and that learning standards will be much more useful than say, trying to play "A Love Supreme" - which is really unique to that band and that time and place..?

So if you are joining a Jazz ensemble at college or in a jam - the more standards you can play the better - but nobody is going call "A Love Supreme"...

EVER!!

That's true. A Love Supreme isn't an album full of standards. But it's an album every jazz listener should have, and with good reason.

[mambo4]

For getting into Jazz, I think this is a highly underrated resource:
http://www.outsideshore.com/primer/primer/index.html

I FTP'd it back in 94, and haven't found a more densely packed resource for developing a broad starting point for Jazz, both from a whose-who /history perspective and a music theory perspective.

[sammyp]

Originally Posted by AcidFripp

You must listen to jazz, my friend. A lot of it. Here's a good picture of some of the greatest jazz albums ever. Check out Kind Of Blue and A Love Supreme first, they're the most entry-level ones. Then check out Charles Mingus; he's a bassist.

i agree, you first want to learn to dig listening to it. .....i was once in a similar position as you! i was 20 or so with a background in rock guitar getting ready to go off to jazz school! I did get my BA in Music in '96 but in all honesty, for someone like yourself - if you can't learn to really love listening to jazz and embrace it you'll have some tough roads in a jazz centered university program.

i'm not speaking about struggling with the acedemics, theory, ear training etc ... that stuff is easy with some work ....what i'm talking about is inspiration and drive and being surrounded by like minded people. you don't want to find yourself in 2nd or 3rd year half depressed and down because you really can't dig it and you just wanna work on the stuff you love ...you'll be a fish out of water .....

on the upside, in my experience, i was not alone as a rock/blues guy who discovered in 2nd year that i really didn't wanna be a jazz guitarist....there were about 10 other guitar students in the same boat ...only two of the guys who started with us actaully became jazz players.

i'm thankful for my education but i may have been better suited in a more contemporary diploma setting ...then on to and audio production course or something.

to answer your qusestion - start with trying to get an appreciation and appetite for blues....in the simplest sense jazz is the same idea as blues with way more chords and song forms. but there are even many great jazz tunes that are blues form - "Now's the Time" by Charlie Parker for ie!

good luck, sorry for the long post but just make sure where ever you go, you're gonna be happy being there for 4 years!

[sammyp]

if i could make another point to consider - when i say jazz is similar to blues i mean in the sense that they are both art forms where improvised solos over a form of changes is the main game of expression - where you're coming from a prog rock background you would have a deep appreciation for complex, worked out parts and intricate songwriting .....although there is this aspect in big band and some jazz combos, it's more about walking thru changes and what you can come up with on the fly when soloing... you will need to adopt a "jam band" kind of mentality as a bass player

[Ray34]

I may be a bit late to this thread, but in my quest to understand chord changes and chord interaction, I've found the book "Building Walking Basslines" by Ed Friedland to be very helpful.