Jazz for blues guitarists

[Downunderwonder]

Take your point, but if he wants to play jazz he will need to start thinking about other chord structures or he will quickly get lost. And if he doesn't reach beyond I IV V why's he showing up at a jazz night?

Just a question of how far to push him at once. My vote is baby steps. Once he gets his ear around the fact he is way under equipped for the situation he will either rise up or go away. Setting easy goals in the beginning encourages him to get stuck in.

 

[3Liter]

Bulldog, you know I think the world of you. But I’m sincerely glad the OP doesn’t seem to share that opinion.

Thats an attitude that’s endemic in some jazz circles and one of the biggest turn-offs on the planet for somebody to encounter who might otherwise be interested in getting into jazz for the first time. Especially when you consider jazz isn’t something that you’re ever going to pick up on too well from books or videos. Which is why it’s still a genre that has a very real apprentice and guild system. I found it (back in my early jazz days) like riding a bike or swimming. You hang with people who know how and keep falling off or sinking until one day it clicks and you can.

Unfortunately there’s a lot of local jazzers I’ve seen who tell would be players who want to join in to stay out of the water till you know how to swim. So the would be players soon decide there’s no entry into the club and move on to other genres. And then those same jazzers. who only want to play and jam with knowledgeable and accomplished jazzers, bemoan how the young ‘uns don’t want to get into playing jazz.

Can’t have it both ways. You want to have the majors then you need to give some thought to maintaining your farm teams. And maybe even start a little league just to be on the safe side. Schools are scaling back on music programs everywhere you look. So you can no longer depend on your local Board of Education to provide intro jazz programs anymore.

Yup. There's an elitism in this thread that's shocking. I am new to blues myself. I did a lot of "cowboy chord" strumming most of of my musical "career". I'm having a ball. The blues form is pretty basic but even that was intimidating when watching guys play SRV etc live. I had no idea what was actually going on as (when played well) there's lots of movement in the three underlying chords. You go, see it up close and work to get better and learn what the other guys play. Then call those tunes so you can play along. Maybe that's where this kid will get...some posters are writing him off from the get go. Wow.

I played at a blue jam last week where a guitar player showed up. He didn't sing and the bass player did. So he started calling stuff from the hard blues rock song book. Settling on Crossroads. Nobody shooed him away for not being rooted in Muddy, Sonny Boy, etc.

For the OP, I have been working on "Night Life" which would cross over nicely. I have heard some of the better blues guys do Chitlins Con Carne as well. Slow blues like Stormy Monday is a good way to cross over into jazz from the blues.

 

[obimark]

Really? The lowest? Huh... how d’ya figure that?

Because I play bass 99% of the time, and I could pick up a guitar and belt out a i IV V on it with no problem. And I have seen so many guitar wankers at open mics I hosted that just wank away over it. Then you ask them to play ANY other song, and guess what they don't know ANYTHING else. So based on my research it is is the most basic of the basic.

 

[bassliner50]

I grew up listening to jazz since a youngster (thanks to my Dad.) This turned into a big unexpected advantage when I began playing traditional jazz. This genre of music is deep and wide. Truly an under appreciated and brilliant American art form that is worth the study needed to play it competently. I encourage anyone to take their music in this direction. No need to abandon other previous genres of music that you know and enjoy.
As a bass player, I strongly suggest hang with horn players and real pianists, instead of guitar players. A whole new (possibly shocking) musical perspective will be experienced.

 

[Robscott]

I am not saying the guitarist has to do it on his own. But he has an obligation to work to improve - OP does not have to just find songs to make it easy for him. It's good that OP is looking for tunes that will be easier for him. As I said, OP should help him find local jazz shows where there are good guitarists, so the guy has inspiration.

Jazz is not my area of expertise. I played it in high school and college, because that was about the only way bassist could play in school. When I was about 40, the drummer in my rock band asked if I wanted to play with his jazz group. No one did anything but tell me what music they were playing.

I'm more with Bulldog on this. If you wanna play with jazz guys it's your responsibility to get far enough forward that you at least understand the fundamentals of jazz. First lesson in jazz is that a pentatonic scale will not get you home if we ain't in I IV V, so you need to know the harmonic movement and what you can play over it. You don't have to turn up gig ready, but you do need to know where to put your feet. From then on, it's great if the other guys can help you out, support your development and all that. But it starts with you. Playing I IV V, you may as well stay in a blues band (BTW, I don't agree with posters who turn their nose up at that, just a different gig). I say this having just joined up with a bunch of jazz guys myself. Why? to push myself out of my comfort zone. Did I arrive expecting help? No, I put in a ton of work beforehand so I didn't embarrass myself, and guess what, I found out I can play jazz (some of the time). Did I get help? Yes, lots, but if I'd turned up with just a I IV V repertoire I don't think they could have helped me much. Of course, encouragement is a great thing, but come on, learn your stuff