Proficiency
Joey Goldstein
Here's the text from a handout I'm writing with the intention of giving
it in the future to all my students. Comments welcome.
Guitarist Proficieny
If you’re wondering what a complete study plan might entail, here are
some of my thoughts. As I teach various students and we concentrate on
this or that topic I often see them lose sight of the big picture, the
goal, which is to be able to play on a professional level.
Many of my students are studying as well at a music college and they get
the benefits of music immersion for 3 or 4 years that my other private
students do not get. The private student needs to find a way to cover on
their own the stuff that the full-time music student is doing. I can’t
teach you everything a professional player needs to know. You have to
look beyond the lessons with me and figure out the big picture on your own.
So, this is my list of things that I think an intermediate jazz player
and a professional intermediate jobbing player need to have together
before they go and hang up their shingle. A great player will go much
farther than this than an intermediate player will. As your teacher I
think it is important for you to know that even if you and I are not
working at present on any of these areas you should just go ahead and do
it on your own. Do it until it is done. Then try to advance even
further. These are goals to be transcended, not merely to be reached.
A: Jobbing Player
1. Be conversant with and be able to play in any style that the jobbing
leaders in your area might ask of you.
This will involve lifting, by ear, a great many guitar parts off of the
recordings of the popular tunes you will be expected to play. It will
also involve you developing the ability to come up with parts similar to
these on tunes that you have never played before.
2. Learn or be able to sight-read the type of tunes that are being
played in your area.
I reccomend going through the following books, cover-to-cover, in order
to begin to get your reading up to the intermediate level:
a. Reading Studies For Guitar - Leavitt
b. Advanced Reading Studies For Guitar - Leavitt
These two books will train you in the nuts and bolts of position
playing. Use his fingerings, not your own.
c. Melodic Rhythms For Guitar - William G. Leavitt - Berklee Press
Practice this book as suggested by Mr. Leavitt’s notes.
Also: Learn each study in every possible position, up the octave, swing
1/8’s as well as straight 1/8’s.
d. Reading Text in 4/4 - Louis Bellson
This is a drum book. There are no notes involved. Pick one note and just
read the rhythms accurately. Pay attention to accuracy of note duration
as well as accuracy of note attack. Play staright and swing. Any similar
drum book will do but this one is very good.
e. A Modern Method For Guitar - Vols. 1-3 - Leavitt
Most of the things of importance in these 3 volumes are also covered in
the 3 Leavitt books listed above. Still, there are other things in here
worth studying.
f. Check out several other guitar method books for a different view from Leavitt’s.
Once you have your reading happening you have to practice sight reading.
Buy a fake book that contains several medium tempo standard tunes with
fairly static activity. I.e. Not busy be-bop tunes.
• Turn your metronome on at a medium tempo.
• Play the selected tune to the best of your abilities from beginning to
end *without stopping*, *without losing your place*. The worst mistake
you can make when sight reading, or performing for that matter, is to
lose your place. Let your other mistakes go. You can’t fix them. they’re
gone. If you try to fix them you will lose your place in the time and
you will make even more mistakes. If you have to leave out 8 bars of
music just so you can play middle C 9 bars later at thew right time
that’s what you should do.
• The tunes you use for sight reading should not be studied and learned.
Try to play them once or twice and then put them away until the next
time you try to sight read them.
There are other tips for effective sight reading that I can only go over
with you in the lessons.
3. Be able to transpose the tunes you are required to play into any
other key that might be required of you.
4. Be able to improvise a decent guitar solo as required on the types of
tunes you will be asked to play. This will involve the types of things
discussed below in section B.
5. Be able to hear and play, on the bandstand, the chord progressions
for intermediate tunes that you have never heard before. See section B.
There is a book called Hearin’ The Changes that is supposed to be very
good for this type of thing. I believe it’s from Aebersold.
6. Study some theory. #’s 3 and 5 above should be much easier if you
have studied the basics of jazz/pop harmony/theory.
I recommend the following jazz harmony/theory books:
a. Modern Harmonic Proigression - Allen S. Michalek - Humber College Press
This is my favorite jazz harmony book but it is very hard to get. You
need to call the Humber College Bookstore’ Lakeshore campus at
416-675-6622, #3236 and hope that someone answers the phone.
b. The Chord-Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony - Nettles And Graf - Advance Music
c. The Jazz Theory Book - Mark Levine
d. The Jazz Language - Dan Haerle - Aebersold
B: Jazz Player
1. Know, from memory, and be able to play, the most played tunes from
the past as well as the tunes that are being played by your local jazz
community at present. I.e. you should be able to go to a jam session and
be able to sit in on most tunes being played, without a chart.
At a minimum this involves being able to play all the changes as an
accompanist and to be able to play the melody. Any improvising you can
do on the tune is a plus too. (see below)
2. As far as tunes that you don’t know are concerned you need to develop
the ability to either sight-read any lead sheet of medium difficulty or
to pick up a new tune quickly by ear.
In order to develop the ability to pick things up quickly by ear you
will need to spend an awful lot of time listening to jazz records and
picking out guitar parts, solos, lines, etc. by ear. At first this will
likely be slavishly slow going. You’ll need to listen to short sections
of the recording over and over and over again until you can sing the
notes you are trying to lift. Then you’ll have to find those notes
somewhere on your guitar. Then you’ll have to fish around for a decent
fingering. Then you’ll have to do the next little section the same way.
Then you’ll have to string the 2 sections together. Etc. Etc. Etc. Until
you can play the whole thing from the beginning to the end without many mistakes.
The more you do this the easier and quicker it comes. Eventually you’ll
be able to deal with longer and longer phrases too.
3. Be able to improvise a melody of your own on the forms of the tunes
in your repertoire.
This is the main focus of the exercises I present to my students in
their lessons with me. But if they are not also working on the above
basic muscianship suggestions my type of exercises will invariably go
way over their heads.
This will involve years of studying the types of things listed in all
categories above.
If you get your reading to a higher level you will also have access to
the many great solo transcriptions that are out there. By-and-large it
is probably better for you to learn a solo by ear than from someone
else’s transcription. But learning it from a written transcription is
the next best thing. There are aspects to working from a transciption
that lifting yourself is missing, and visa versa.
Once you know how to play a solo you need to analyse what it is that you
like about it and to be able to extract those ideas. Then you need to
devise some exercises for yourself that, hopefully, will enable you to
improvise similar sounds in real time.
That’s it.
The above guidelines are, in my opinion, the bare minimum for
intermediate proficiency in the jazz and professional jobbing guitar
scene. The most important thing, on any scene (jazz, pop, rock, blues,
claassical, etc.), is repertoire. If you can play the tunes required of
you, you can play.
The goals listed here are goals that the player should attempt to
transcend, not merely to reach. As a novice, if you find yourself
spending lots of time practicing stuff that is not directed at meeting
the above goals, I think you are probably wasting your time. Any
technical exercises you do (scales, arpeggios, etc.) should be directed
towards accomplishing the above goals. After you have reached the above
goals, then it’s time to work more on technique so that you can do these
things even better.
--
Joey Goldstein
http://www.joeygoldstein.com
joegold AT sympatico DOT ca
A.Most
"Joey Goldstein" <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:425D8E3...@nowhere.net...
> . Play the selected tune to the best of your abilities from beginning to
> end *without stopping*, *without losing your place*. The worst mistake
> you can make when sight reading, or performing for that matter, is to
> lose your place. Let your other mistakes go. You can't fix them. they're
> gone. If you try to fix them you will lose your place in the time and
> you will make even more mistakes. If you have to leave out 8 bars of
> music just so you can play middle C 9 bars later at thew right time
> that's what you should do.
Wow, very thorough Joey. That's enough to scare any wannabe PROfessional
Geetar player off.
Good job! :)
Steve Herberman
Nicely said! I especially like what you have to say regarding sightreading
and transcribing/singing. Thank you for sharing all of this.
Steve
"Joey Goldstein" <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:425D8E3...@nowhere.net...
>
> . Turn your metronome on at a medium tempo.
> . Play the selected tune to the best of your abilities from beginning to
> end *without stopping*, *without losing your place*. The worst mistake
> you can make when sight reading, or performing for that matter, is to
> lose your place. Let your other mistakes go. You can't fix them. they're
> gone. If you try to fix them you will lose your place in the time and
> you will make even more mistakes. If you have to leave out 8 bars of
> music just so you can play middle C 9 bars later at thew right time
> that's what you should do.
> . The tunes you use for sight reading should not be studied and learned.
Joey Goldstein
"A.Most" wrote:
>
>
> Wow, very thorough Joey. That's enough to scare any wannabe PROfessional
> Geetar player off.
> Good job! :)
Hah. That's not really the idea, I hope.
It's mainly for the guys who study with me that aren't going to a music
college and aren't planning on it in the near future. When you're
enrolled in a 3 or 4 year program you are made to develop proficiency in
many areas that a guy trying to do it all by himself is not exposed to.
The way I teach is really geared up for the college kid. I just want my
non college guys to keep an eye on the big picture, that's all. I've got
guys with very little repertoire learning stuff like all arpeggios in
all positions and I want them to remember always why they're doing it.
... It's to help them play the repertoire, the repertoire they should be
developing on their own so they can sit in on jam sessions (the ones
that they don't go to) better. <g>
A.Most
>
>
> "A.Most" wrote:
> >
> >
> > Wow, very thorough Joey. That's enough to scare any wannabe PROfessional
> > Geetar player off.
> > Good job! :)
>
> Hah. That's not really the idea, I hope.
>
No man, I was just funnin'. What you wrote was really, really well thought
out IMO.
From as much as you can judge anything about anybody by what you see in
newsgroups & such - you're a great teacher I have no doubt.
Joe Finn
transcriptions. Your students are fortunate to have a teacher with such a
comprehensive approach. If they follow your advice they'll go well beyond
proficiency. ........joe
--
Visit me on the web www.joefinn.net
"Joey Goldstein" <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:425D8E3...@nowhere.net...
> . Turn your metronome on at a medium tempo.
> . Play the selected tune to the best of your abilities from beginning to
> end *without stopping*, *without losing your place*. The worst mistake
> you can make when sight reading, or performing for that matter, is to
> lose your place. Let your other mistakes go. You can't fix them. they're
> gone. If you try to fix them you will lose your place in the time and
> you will make even more mistakes. If you have to leave out 8 bars of
> music just so you can play middle C 9 bars later at thew right time
> that's what you should do.
> . The tunes you use for sight reading should not be studied and learned.
Joey Goldstein
Joe Finn wrote:
>
> Joey: That's a nice summary. I like the emphasis on reading, repertoire and
> transcriptions. Your students are fortunate to have a teacher with such a
> comprehensive approach. If they follow your advice they'll go well beyond
> proficiency. ........joe
Well, what's sad is that when they study with me these are actually some
of the last things we get around to. That's why I feel they need to see
this little hand-out/essay.
Keith Freeman
> good for this type of thing. I believe it's from Aebersold
-Keith
Music samples, tips, Portable Changes at
http://home.wanadoo.nl/keith.freeman/
E-mail: keith DOT freeman AT wanadoo DOT nl
Peter Inglis - TWG
> Here's the text from a handout I'm writing with the intention of giving
> it in the future to all my students. Comments welcome.
>
> Guitarist Proficieny
>
> If you’re wondering what a complete study plan might entail, here are
> some of my thoughts. As I teach various students and we concentrate on
> this or that topic I often see them lose sight of the big picture, the
> goal, which is to be able to play on a professional level.
Good list, will scare the pants off most people, I wouldn't hand it out
willy nilly!
--
Regards,
Peter Inglis - www.thewholeguitarist.com
-- email: pe...@thewholeguitarist.com
-- Read "Guitar Playing and How it Works"...
-- A new terminology and approach to the guitar based
-- on principles of the Alexander Technique and dance.
-- Videos of my guitar playing at www.thewholeguitarist.com/listen.htm
Jo
That's good information. In fact I put a similar plan together for
myself and I will add some things to it from your list.
The problem in my case is that I am not a college kid anymore - I am
approaching 40... My plan though is to stop my daywork for 6-12 months
and dedicate myself to study thouroughly. I am already on medium
level, for example I know some standards by heart (melody, changes,
improvisation). Do you think at my age - from your teaching
experience - that there is a possibility to catch up or is it a lost
cause?
Cheers
Jo
Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote in message news:<425D8E3...@nowhere.net>...
jim harris
> approaching 40...
> Do you think at my age - from your teaching
> experience - that there is a possibility to catch up or is it a lost
> cause?
Q: "Oh gosh, I'd love to play the piano but I couldn't possibly learn now!
How old will I be by the time I'm any good at it?!"
A: " ... same age as if you don't."
Jim
Bill Ribas
> it in the future to all my students. Comments welcome.
>
you might want to add a few degrees of proficiency, in the sense that this
list might intimidate a few people. If you're just teaching serious
students, and they're all set on being pros, the list is fine. but i assume
you have a few students who won't become professionals, and so you might
want to write a short section on say, jazz guitarist as a hobby (able to
figure out chords and play melody), to an intermediate level, and then your
description of the pro (which, by the way, is excellent). You might also
want to include a paragraph about how you're not in it for the money, and
the rewards are felt more in the heart and head than the bank account.
oasysco
I view what you put up as an ideal goal for those of us who can not
already do all those things. I plan to use some of what you said with
the few beginner students I have if for nothing else than to provide a
guide path for us to travel together. Thanks for taking the time to get
all that down.
Greg
Joey Goldstein
Jo wrote:
>
> Hi Joey,
>
> That's good information. In fact I put a similar plan together for
> myself and I will add some things to it from your list.
> The problem in my case is that I am not a college kid anymore - I am
> approaching 40... My plan though is to stop my daywork for 6-12 months
> and dedicate myself to study thouroughly. I am already on medium
> level, for example I know some standards by heart (melody, changes,
> improvisation). Do you think at my age - from your teaching
> experience - that there is a possibility to catch up or is it a lost
> cause?
That all depends on how badly you want it.
> Cheers
> Jo
>
> Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote in message news:<425D8E3...@nowhere.net>...
> > Here's the text from a handout I'm writing with the intention of giving
> > it in the future to all my students. Comments welcome.
> >
> > Guitarist Proficieny
> >
--
Joey Goldstein
Bill Ribas wrote:
>
> "Joey Goldstein" <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote in message
> news:425D8E3...@nowhere.net...
> >
> > Here's the text from a handout I'm writing with the intention of giving
> > it in the future to all my students. Comments welcome.
> >
>
> you might want to add a few degrees of proficiency, in the sense that this
> list might intimidate a few people. If you're just teaching serious
> students, and they're all set on being pros, the list is fine. but i assume
> you have a few students who won't become professionals, and so you might
> want to write a short section on say, jazz guitarist as a hobby (able to
> figure out chords and play melody), to an intermediate level, and then your
> description of the pro (which, by the way, is excellent).
My private students know that I will teaching them as if they want to
become pros even if that is not the case. All the more reason, I think,
for an essay like this so that they have some idea of what their goals
would be if they were more serious.
> You might also
> want to include a paragraph about how you're not in it for the money, and
> the rewards are felt more in the heart and head than the bank account.
?? The skills described in the jobbing section are all about making
money as a guitar player. Just because I'm not making any money doesn't
mean that they have to follow me.
Bill Ribas
> become pros even if that is not the case. All the more reason, I think,
> for an essay like this so that they have some idea of what their goals
> would be if they were more serious.
okay - just wanted to check on the perspective.
>> You might also
>> want to include a paragraph about how you're not in it for the money, and
>> the rewards are felt more in the heart and head than the bank account.
>
> ?? The skills described in the jobbing section are all about making
> money as a guitar player. Just because I'm not making any money doesn't
> mean that they have to follow me.
>
well, just in the sense that there may be times when you make little or
nothing, and that guitar playing isn't necessarily a road to riches.
Joey Goldstein
I think that would be a different essay, or diatribe. <g>
Ted Vieira
thinking about/working on.
Ted
--
http://www.TedVieira.com
Bio Information, CDs, eBooks, Free Online Lessons
Free Online Articles, Performance Schedule & more...
On 4/13/05 2:25 PM, in article 425D8E3...@nowhere.net, "Joey Goldstein"
Tone
or
> nothing, and that guitar playing isn't necessarily a road to riches.
"necessarily" ?
lol
Max Leggett
NOW they freaking tell me ...........
--------------------------------------------------------------
"If the gods wanted us to twist our spines about
while we played guitar, they would have given us
rubber bands rather than vertebrae. And then where
would humanity be? Propelling cornflakes box
submarines in some alien bathtub in an ungodly
time dimension where the music of the spheres
consisted of Kenny G."
Spinoza
--------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Ribas
>
> I think that would be a different essay, or diatribe. <g>
>
> --
things, since, if you're successful in your teaching (and i would suspect
you are), the next logical question from the student would be 'how do i get
work?'. but the original essay is more than enough, and well done.
Joey Goldstein
It might be the next question allright, but I'm the wrong guy to be
asking! <g>
skin...@yahoo.com
Joey Goldstein wrote:
> Here's the text from a handout I'm writing with the intention of
giving
> it in the future to all my students. Comments welcome.
The most important thing, on any scene (jazz, pop, rock, blues,
> claassical, etc.), is repertoire. If you can play the tunes required
of
> you, you can play.
>
Nice post Joey. I work on my repertoire to compensate for my weak
reading skills. I also find it most practical and enjoy learning tunes.
Stan
charles robinson
to hear the changes and take a solo you need the ability to to look at an
unfamiliar set of changes on a chart and improvise a solo instantly.This one
has a way of popping in and out of your life especially when you are dealing
with people are doing originals, playing in recording situations, playing
with big bands, etc. It can be very difficult when the changes are complex
and tempos are fast (at times you might have to solo the first time through
over changes you have never heard before).
Charlie
"Joey Goldstein" <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:425D8E3...@nowhere.net...
>
> . Turn your metronome on at a medium tempo.
> . Play the selected tune to the best of your abilities from beginning to
> end *without stopping*, *without losing your place*. The worst mistake
> you can make when sight reading, or performing for that matter, is to
> lose your place. Let your other mistakes go. You can't fix them. they're
> gone. If you try to fix them you will lose your place in the time and
> you will make even more mistakes. If you have to leave out 8 bars of
> music just so you can play middle C 9 bars later at thew right time
> that's what you should do.
> . The tunes you use for sight reading should not be studied and learned.
cl...@claymoore.com
Bill Ribas wrote:
>but you might want to consider an essay on the business side of
> things, since, if you're successful in your teaching (and i would
suspect
> you are), the next logical question from the student would be 'how do
i get
> work?'. but the original essay is more than enough, and well done.
Hi Bill,
I teach at McNally Smith College of Music in St Paul, MN. We have a
performance dept, a recording dept, a multi-media dept, and a business
dept. I teach in the performance dept, but several of my more serious
students have asked me for advice on how to get work, which IMO could
and should be addressed by having them take music bus. courses (not
that I mind telling them what I know). Unfotunately there is almost no
contact between the bus and perf departments.
Clay Moore
http://www.claymoore.com/
cl...@claymoore.com
Bill Ribas wrote:
>but you might want to consider an essay on the business side of
> things, since, if you're successful in your teaching (and i would
suspect
> you are), the next logical question from the student would be 'how do
i get
> work?'. but the original essay is more than enough, and well done.
Hi Bill,
Joey Goldstein
Thanks.
Bill Ribas
>
> I think that would be a different essay, or diatribe. <g>
>
> --
Bill Ribas
>
> I think that would be a different essay, or diatribe. <g>
>
> --
Bill Ribas
>
> I think that would be a different essay, or diatribe. <g>
>
> --
Bill Ribas
>
> I think that would be a different essay, or diatribe. <g>
>
> --