what to practice for jazz?

[mister fister]

title pretty much says it all. i want to try out some jazz stuff, but dont know where to start. i know most of the basic theory, and can somehow manage to follow a chord chart, but thats pretty much it. any songs i could start with? bass lines i should learn? just general tips for doing walking bass?

[mister fister]

41 views and no replies?

oh well, found an aebersold book which pretty much contained what i was looking for

[BassChuck]

Originally Posted by mister fister

41 views and no replies?

oh well, found an aebersold book which pretty much contained what i was looking for

Aebersold is great for getting around in jazz. Lots of styles too, do check his website if you haven't.

One other thing to consider. When I was studying jazz the teacher had use open a fake book or any song book to the table of contents and just practice that. In other words, look at the title and play the head. Picking out melodies is a great way to really learn your way around any instrument, and is very helpful when constructing solos.

[slybass3000]

Ok,I'll try to give you a good start in one reply.
First,get a real book,so you'll have some standards tunes to work with.
Then, put a metronome on 2 and 4. Let say you want to play at 120,you put your click at 60.
Play a two feel bass part using the root on the downbeat and the fifth on the third beat. Now you're practicing a basic bass line AND practicing time as well.
Then try to connect your roots with a passing note on the fourth beat.
As an example if you have one bar of C maj going to Dmin7 you can play
C-G and C# or E or Eb or A on the 4th beat. You can fill the second beat with the third or something else in the scale and you are going to get a very good walking bass.
Remember to play the root on downbeat as a start and learn the arpeggios 3 notes and 4 notes and hit on strong beats (1 and 3) a chord tone (1-3-5-7).

Good luck,
Hope this will help,

SB

[mister fister]

thanks. thats pretty much what i was looking for

[slybass3000]

[vindy500]

play jazz music

[wesker]

+1 to the views .I just stopped by to learn some stuff.

cheers

[Clay_Bass]

PLAY PLAY PLAY. Your best bet is to play with the best people you can. Take private lessons. Transcribe the greats.Go to camps etc. Surrounding yourself and playing as much as possible is the only way to get good at jazz. You should also learn upright even if its not your bag. You get more gigs playing both and learn some new things about phrasing and space when playing upright.'

Edit learn melodies and horn solos. You want bass solos to sound like sax trumpet etc. IMO bass solos that phrase like bassists generally dont sound as pleasing as guys who play like its a horn.

[mister fister]

well, i'm not going to get that serious about it. have got enough to hang my fingers in, but i think its fun noodling around at home, so i'm trying to look a little more into it

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

Once you learn a few tunes, just find an appropriate venue and sit in. Being challenged by better musicians is a great way to learn.

[Monomer]

the real book....

[arbitrary]

The maiden voyage books are great, jazz books with play along cd work great, hang out in the double bass section and just read a bunch of thread pertaining to it as well.

And lots of patience.


A good starting point is on beat one play root note, beat two play the third of the chord, beat 3 play the fith of the chord and beat 4 play the half step leading tone into the next chord. Rinse and reapeat.

Good luck.

[tkozal]

I read through the Ron Carter book on making jazz bass lines, it was a good basic intro, I would recommend it.

And Aebersold does have a lot of stuff. the Chuck Sher book is good, but a lot more in depth.