What's my first step to learn jazz?

[Jazz Ad]

As for answer 3, there isn't such thing as a casual jazz jam. If you show up unprepared or not up to the task they will slay you. Jazz musicians tend to be less welcoming to newbies.

 

[Sean Parsons]

iReal Pro is probably better than a real book as you can play the tunes and play along with the tunes.

 

[buldog5151bass]

If there is some kind of jazz jam in the area, show up without your bass. Explain you are just starting to learn jazz, and want to listen and learn from them.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

My best advice to you would be to start with blues forms, since they are familiar to you. Jazz players approach blues much differently. Learn to walk over a blues form with swinging 8s without pausing or phrasing...just keep going. Once you are comfy doing that, it's time for chord substitutions.

My friend, John Jorgenson, really illustrates that well in his Intro to Gypsy Jazz Guitar instuction book. He takes a basic, 12-bar blues, and each time through substitutes a "jazz" chord for one of the blues chords. I won't take you through the permutations unless you really want me to, but you start out with this:

G/G/G/G
C7/C7/G/G
D7/D7/G/G

and slowly work you way to this:

G/Daug/G/G9
C6/C#dim7/G/E7
A/D7/G-Daug/G

Doing it one substitution at a time really helps you see how it fits together, and makes the learning so much easier! Now you are in full-on jazz blues mode! If you can get access to a copy of John's book, I recommend it highly! I have never seen a better presentation of getting from a basic blues progression to a full-on jazz one.

Next you study "Rhythm Changes." Some wag once said that all jazz is just blues meets Rhythm Changes, and there is considerable truth behind that exaggeration. When you can play a jazz blues progression and Rhythm Changes, you have the tools to play just about anything you will ever come across.

I did this for years as a rhythm guitar player in gypsy jazz, which includes just about any standard ever. I am just now trying to learn this stuff on bass, as a side project, with just the head start from my guitar experiences.

It can all seem overwhelming, but start out just playing the roots and octaves, then add 5ths once you know the progression well, then chromatic and scale approaches bit by bit, as you get comfortable. When in doubt, keep it simple. If there is a good jazz bassist where you live, by all means take some lessons, if you can. It will save you time and mistakes. And plan on it taking you years. To expect less will just lead you to frustration and disappointment. I'm on the same journey in whatever spare time my band duties allow, so let's share notes and frustrations as we go.

This is what he means when he says "rhythm changes."

 

[ClusterFlux]

1) Pick up a book on the history of jazz.

2) Listen to the musicians/albums mentioned in the book (that's very easy these days with music subscription services).

3) Take some lessons. Jazz is technically demanding, and if you're self-taught you will benefit not only from learning various skills, you may also have bad habits that need to be fixed.

 

[nilorius]

The first thing what you must start at is - solfeggio.

 

[DoctorZee]

+1 to jallenbass. Listening a lot is key.

If you are "woefully ignorant" about it, what's your motivation to learn? Do you feel like it's an obligation to do so even if you barely know any jazz music? Just asking because I do know some people who think like that.

Not an obligation... more like, I want to challenge myself with something new, and if it goes well, maybe expand my performance opportunities. I do enjoy listening to jazz, but I'm not deep enough in it yet to know exactly what I like or don't like. I'm working on that.

 

[DoctorZee]

I don’t see the word, accomplished in the OP’s comment.

Haha, yes, I did not and would not say "accomplished." Just catching up on this thread now and I see it was a topic of much debate! Let me give some context.

I have been playing for 15 years, and guitar for 5 years before that. Mostly in rock and pop, modern and classic. Have played in lots of bands, lots of gigging, but almost entirely self taught. (To @Whousedtoplay: this was in the days before YouTube!)

As I get older (in my mid 30s) I'm collaborating with more musicians who have a conservatory background and play a lot of jazz. Sometimes we'll throw a standard piece like My Funny Valentine or Blue Bossa into a set, and I can keep up with that, but barely. I want to challenge myself to have more of this genre in my toolkit, and maybe even start playing some jams and jazz gigs down the road.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I was never a fan of jazz when I was young, other than playing in the stage band in high school. When I was about 35, my drummer asked to play with his jazz group. It's still far from my favorite, but the added musical vocabulary it has given me help tremendously playing all styles of music, and I have begun appreciating it much more. But rock is still my love.

To those who consider jazz "snobbish", I suggest you just find a jazz club in the area, and go listen to some real pro musicians play. Open your ears, open your mind. Yes, some fans can be snobbish, but that's no different from any other genre (I read the debate here about types of metal). Yes, some musicians take their music more seriously, but that doesn't make them snobs. I would guess the average rock player here averages about 30 minutes a day actually practicing, if you include the fact that many go days without touching their instruments. The average upright player probably plays 1-2 hours minimum a day.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

I have been playing for 15 years, and guitar for 5 years before that. Mostly in rock and pop, modern and classic. Have played in lots of bands, lots of gigging, but almost entirely self taught. (To @Whousedtoplay: this was in the days before YouTube!)

Jazz is not like one famous statue.
Jazz is like a huge tall skyscraper with so many floors and so many people living there.You could enter any appartment in that Jazz Tower and find some similar, some different or some completely different furniture designs in those appartments.
Some appartments have lots of people living there, some very few.
Plus, that "Jazz skyscraper" is constantly being modernized...

Anyway, as with building any skyscaper, one must start with a solid foundation (fundamentals) - a (quarter-note) walking bass tutorial that includes (and explains) chromatic notes (not prevalant in pop music), and an introduction to more complex chords and its notation.

we'll throw a standard piece like My Funny Valentine

When you say, "My funny Valentine", I say, "Oh, yeah, we have played that song as DISCO".
In short.
My Funny Valentine performed by Etta James?


By Chet Baker?


By Chaka Khan?


By Miles Davis?



Or by Amber Holcomb?



etc...

 

[Bob_Ross]

Do you listen to much jazz? If not, that would be the first step.

^^^This. A million times, ^^^this.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

^^^This. A million times, ^^^this.

Listening - it takes a lot of time.
Contemporary (new) Youtube/Internet based artists don't have time for "long listening". They need an instant answer.
One-size-fits-all.

 

[CameronCrowley]

I think having other people to play with and feed off of is crucial because it's such a deeply improvisational style- and it's hard to pigeonhole "jazz" as any one particular thing, anyhow. That being said I find the times when I'm most enthusiastic and absorbing vocabulary and language is when I'm playing with my friends who are much more experienced in the style. It's one thing to listen to recordings and transcribe or walk chord changes in your room, but another entirely to interact with other musicians and explore as a group. You hear and experience completely new things you've never been exposed to and it forces you out of your head more, which is a really neat feeling.

 

[eukatheude]

I'm interested in expanding my repertoire into the jazz genre. I'm woefully ignorant about jazz. I imagine I'd start with the more common subgenres: swing, blues, etc. I'm a pretty eager autodidact, and I've taught myself almost everything else on the instrument... but is that the right approach for jazz? Cast your vote above: what should my first step be?

Listen to jazz, try to get stuff down by ear or use charts to help you along. If you can find other beginning jazz musicians to practice with, that's great. Otherwise (an not mutually exclusive) go to jams and get embarassed. Keep going to jams and getting embarassed until those who laughed at you are the ones getting embarassed. That's what I'm doing as autodidact.

 

[Polfuste]

I've had the chance to find a casual jazz jam near to home when i've arrived where I leave now.
The first time, i've gone like "i will take my bass but i will certainly not play, just see what it is.."
Note: at this time, i didn't read anything, nor score neither chord charts. Always all by ears. I've natural very good ear.

Just arrived, the Jam leader saw me and asked me to play with young players (18 years old) as they didn't have a bassplayer. I started to sweat. They wanted to play a simplified version of Chameleon. Good for me, easy enough by ear, and i've already listen it.
After that first tune (with a decent drummer, a bad guitarplayer and this incredible young keyboardist: the new Herbie Hancock ), other players came to me and ask to play "blue bossa". As i was knowing the melody, it was quite easy too. Ok, i've made the job (with simple lines but correct playing) . I started to think "good, I like it and it's not that difficult"
At the end of the evening, two or three tunes to go, other players asked me about another standard: How High the moon. I didn't know this tune, but with confidence i've earned with the two first tunes, i said "ok". They gave me a real book. I said "ok thanks". But in my head, I thought "it will be ok, i will follow by ears, i can't tell them i don't know ho to use this book " ... And this was terrible. As i didn't know melody at all, never heard the tune, i was completely lost. They were nice people and after this big fail, explained me the basics of real book, and chord charts.
The next step was to buy one, and woodshed it with internet original versions of tunes; before becoming there and have good experiences.

First thing: listen all jazz you can > Miles Davis (Kind of blue) and John Coltrane (My favorite things, A love supreme) are a nice way to start.

Second thing: learn to use a Realbook and woodshed at least 20 tunes to be familliar with chord charts, then try to learn all you can of these tunes by ear. Basslines, melodies, vocal parts if any, and even solos. (I took a lot of pleasure to learn "So what" trumpet solo from Miles Davis). It will help you to extand your vocabulary, feel the swing pocket, and navigate through chord changes. Then go to find a (casual) jam session and play with all people you can.

 

[fdeck]

I learned both rock and jazz by playing along to records and the radio. In terms of finding jazz to listen to, I suggest starting with older jazz on YouTube, even if the old styles aren't really your cup of tea, where the bass lines are simpler and more obvious for lack of a better word. I mean, 1930s or even 1920s.

Not knowing what level you're at, if picking up bass lines by ear seems difficult, I suggest starting with something easier than jazz. If reading is difficult, you'll have to attack that problem at some point. If reading is easy, find a swing band to join.

Be aware of when you might be wasting your time trying to learn something on my own. I've read that autodidacts can learn a lot of things, but they typically take longer than someone who learns from a teacher or in a more formal setting.

 

[rufus.K]

1. Listen
2. Play along

 

[DirtDog]

Learn chord theory. That’ll help Put Ed Freidland’s book in context.

 

[IamGroot]

1) Listen to Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" at least 20 times. Its the gateway drug to jazz. Duane Allman had this album on on his turntable a lot.

2) Play along

3) Enroll in a community college beginner jazz course.

4)Listen to jazz, preferably starting with Duke and going chronologically.

5) Woodshed

 

[Watchootognbout]

First,you have to like Jazz.
Even love Jazz.
I've listened to it since I was 7 years old.
From my Dad's music collection.
Which then extended to mine.
So that when I determined that I wanted to play a musical instrument,wanting to play Jazz was a default.

By that time the Jazz "sensiblilities"were already at play.
What I mean is being familiar with dissonance,long solos and odd time sigs were natural.