Turning theory and practice into practical music

[chanson]

Thank you to everyone who responded. I think I have a clearer idea now of how to get to the next level. Any additional advice is welcome though!

 

[chanson]

I think my current problem is I understand the theory I've been learning, but haven't been using it in the context of music (songs). I just ordered a Real Book online, so that should be fun to play along to, but can anyone recommend any introductory jazz tunes to learn and analyze? I know the term jazz is vague nowadays, but I'm honestly into most jazz, from the early days til now.

 

[Michael Case]

"All of Me" is a good starting point. So is "Just Friends", "Autumn Leaves", and "All the things you are".

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Honestly, the best way to learn to apply theory is to get out of the classroom, and into the jams. The only true way to apply theory is to get in with other musicians, and walk your basslines over their chord progressions, or solo over their breaks. Sure, you can sit in your room and write cool stuff, but to "Take it to the next level" as you say, you gotta sit down with other guys, preferably who know more theory than you do, and just jam. Then, you can apply, and maybe even pick up some things you didn't know

Hope this helped

I agree 110%. Practicing applying it on the fly during jams is how you go from being a decent bassist to a great bassist. I started learning theory again about 5 month ago, and ever since then I've been applying my new knowledge into every jam I've done. At first I was slow, but now I don't even think about it. My lines are much more complex (while remaining tasteful) than they ever were before, and even my simple lines have become more colorful and tasteful.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

That never really helped me.

When playing with others, I default to just playing root notes. I find it difficult to fit anything more complex than that into my playing.

Work on arpeggios and chords. Start swapping out tonics with chordal tones and see what happens. Also, don't be afraid to go outside your octave. I find that some notes that sound bad in one octave sound absolutely sexy in another, despite the chord not changing.

 

[mambo4]

A Where to apply all of this, and what exactly do I need to practice? I've been trying to learn to play songs, mostly funky r&b kind of stuff. The problem is my studies in jazz seems to stop at the theory level. I don't really know how to apply it, or what exactly I should be studying.

In my experience , creating music starting from theory often yields poor (academic, sterile, unmusical) results.

I learned to apply theory like this:

1.) Learn a bass line I really like -Jazz, funk, whatever
2.) reverse engineer it using the tools of music theory to understand how and why it works in the context of the chord progression or key.
(that is how it relates to that I-IV-V roman numeral stuff)
3.) re-use the bass line (or parts of it)when I encounter a similar or related chord progression or key.

I do this by habit every time I learn a new bass line. That way, instead of only being able to play that song, I have added more riffs/phrases/rhythms to my musical palette for use when I recognize a similar situation.

The reason Jazz is the go-to genre for teaching theory is because its harmonic complexity combined with improvisational nature practically requires a solid understanding of theory, either explicitly by the book implicitly by ear. It is most certainly not the only genre that you can benefit from understanding at atheory level.

 

[mrekoj]

check out 'bass guitar for dummies'
here are some of the sections which may interest u

Invalid Link Removed
[This invalid link has been removed]

i learn those basic scales but have no ideas how to apply it.
After reading this book, i managed to get a better idea on how to apply them.

 

[chanson]

I think the problem is I just don't know what songs I should be learning. I can learn funk, rock, and r&b songs all day but that won't help my jazz playing much. Likewise, I can analyze chords and scales all day, but that means nothing if I am not putting it to use. I am working with a new instructor now, so hopefully this will help guide me. Until then I will keep trying to walk to jazz standards