Blog 3: The Practice Doesn't End (Week 2)

Ahoy fellow Jazz musicians. As the 100th Aniversary of the first jazz recording recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band (Yes JASS), it only makes sense to make a blog today.
Here is the Official first Jazz Recording

Now it is time to get on to my progress in improvisation. This first week was probably the most bored I have been in my entire musical career besides when I played the piano. I had to squeeze in almost 40 minutes everyday devoted to only scales and chords. one of the realizations that I come to that the Mixolodian mode, and Dorian modes are not actually different from the major scales. Although a C Major scale is different from a c Mixolydian. A C Major scale is the same thing as G Mixolydian. The only difference is that they start on different notes. But the notes in the scale itself is the same. Down below is the C Major, G Mixolydian, and D Dorian scales.

C Major Scale

G Mixolydian Mode

D Dorian Mode

However, just because this first week is over, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop practicing the basics. 1 week is not nearly enough time to really have these chords and scales completely at my disposal. In addition to the practice of the basics, I have to start my study of music theory, and learn how the chords fit together in a piece. However, it is making absolutely no sense to me right now. Currently I am using the Jazz Handbook by Jamey Abersold to get a basic understanding of the chords. This book was a recommendation by a previous private teacher to get a better understanding of improvisation. It provides many useful tips a long with and explanation of chords and the scales. It also shows a bunch of other scales and chords that extend beyond the basic dominant and minor chords.

Although there won't be enough time for me to play all f these scales, there are some that I amd going to need for certain songs since not all songs only have dominant and minor chords. This 56 page long read is gonna be tough.

Blog 2: Boring Beginning (First Practice Day)

WOOHOO. It's this first practice day. I'm finally going to get to be like Charlie Parker. It's gonna be so much fun.

2 hours later...

Never Again

Like my most people I was excited to jump right into the cool improvisation and all the amazing things that Charlie Parker did. However, knowing the importance of the basics, it was extremely important that I went back to the basics. During my first practice, I focused on reinforcing my scales, and taking the time to actually learn all the chords. Saxophone players like me never get the chance to really learn chords. No matter how boring it was to just play scales and chords, I forced myself to do it.

Here is a video of my practice (CLICK HERE). This is only contains the major scales (or it would have been ridiculously long). Seriously don't watch the whole thing unless you have nothing better to do (that would be sad).

For this first practice, I focused on just the major scales and major chords as all of the other scales such as the mixolydian mode and the dorian mode are simply the major scale but have one note (for mixolydian) and 2 notes (for dorian) that are flatted in the scale. Here are some examples below:

Chords on the other hand, are completely based off the scales and the different modes. Chords are made up of the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, (and so on) notes of the chord. The major chord corresponds to the major scale, the dominant chord corresponds with the mixolydian mode, and minor chord goes with the dorian mode.

These are the main chords that occur in any song. Of course their are more rare exceptions that may occur in the song.

Blog 1: Every Music Legend Starts Somewhere (Week 1)

"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art." - Charlie Parker

Hello Fellow Struggling and aspiring Jazz Musicians. You are not alone.
Like many Jazz musician's I have struggled to play jazz music the way I want to. Sure I can read the music, but jazz is so much more than what is written on the page. It is about he improvisation. The expression of one's personal story through music. I can barely communicate my thoughts through words, let alone evoke emotions through music. Music is the only thing I can truly identify as a part of my personality.

For the next 6 weeks I have decided to delve deep into the world of Jazz Music. A style of music that I consider to be the ultimate expression of freedom and creativity. It is in the 6 weeks will I finally be able to explore the world of improvisation and become one step closer in being able to express myself through music.

Motivations
I have been playing music. My very first experience with music was through the Piano as I played classical music. In all honesty, that was the worst time in my entire life. Not only did I hate the piano, but classical music was just awful and boring. I still remember making death threats toward the piano. It wasn't until 6th in middle school when I got my first taste of Jazz Music through Charlie Parker (First Jazz Piece I Heard). Even to this day, Charlie Parker is one of my greatest inspirations.

Another on of my key motivations, is demonstrating the true nature of Jazz. Unlike other styles of music, Jazz is all about freedom and expression. Just this weekend I was provided an opportunity to have a Jam session. It was in an unfamiliar place, with students from other school. Regardless of all these circumstances, we just started playing together. Someone would start playing a song, and the rest of us would join in and begin playing. Through this experience I realized something about Jazz that I feel has been lost through the systematic organization of Jazz Bands. Jazz is about playing with anyone, at anytime, at anyplace. Through improvisation I want to be able to play music with any person in the world.

Although I am capable of very basic improvisation, I am far from being able to improvise according to the key changes in the song. Here is a comparison between me playing a simple blues scale improvisation and real Jazz Artists such as Charlie Parker on the song Billies Bounce.

Goal
Sometimes the excitement of a certain task leads to a lack of patience, and it can rush the necessary development of basic skills. Down below is a chart that outlines my goals at the end of every week. Although very boring and repetitive, it is important that I start with the very basics of chords, scales, and arpeggios. It is necessary that I have such mastery over them that I can play them instantaneously. In order to keep track of my progress, I plan on posting weekly videos on any improvements and updates.

Ultimately by the end of these 6 weeks, I hope to finally be able to improvise over chord changes at a basic level. I also hope that my practice for improvisation will help me improve other musical skills that are necessary to be skillful in Jazz Music.