Learning jazz guitar so hard, so tired, must sleep......
Dallas Selman
Vancouver Island, typical scenerio, really competent jazz guitarist playing,
I am enthralled, intrigued and inspired as ususal watching him play like a
knife in warm butter through a whole afternoon of standards, no sheet music
in sight. Go home, plug in the guitar start over at the beginning for the
500 thousands time, but I still can't remember anything. Go get one of my
100 precious jazz guitar instruction book replete with CD examples and
practice tracks, nope that approach is to hard, get another one, and
another. Hell with it, try a chord melody book, can't play that stuff
either. I am 63 years old now, soon my cobweb draped, dried up shell of a
body will eventually be discovered in the downstairs "studio", like in some
cheap horror movie. Finally reverted to playing all my Freddie Green
chords, roots and fifths on the sixth string, etc., just out of desperation,
four to the floor. Not much use for tunes I think, back to the books, need
some chords on the higher strings, strip 'em down to the essence. Whoa,
theres a blizzard of chord diagrams, all sorts of inversion, subs, passing
chords. Brain locking up. So tired, must sleep.....
GregD/OASYSCO
news:vZi1d.822$XP3.96@edtnps84:
Man, I can empathize with this post!
Greg
Mark Guest
What remote Island pub is playing jazz these days? Is it a regular
occurance? I used to live in Vic, and try to get back to the Island annually
for a shot of outdoor air conditioning.
Maybe you should hit up the guitarist for a few lessons to get you jump
started. You'll probably both benefit. from the effort. I have a tough time
with books, myself. I prefer to learn new tunes, re-harm/de-harm them, and
get comfortable with the changes.
Best,
Mark Guest
Mark at MarkGuest.net
www.MarkGuest.net
"Dallas Selman" <dse...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:vZi1d.822$XP3.96@edtnps84...
Des Higgins
There must be a name for this condition.
The symptoms you have just described are frighteningly familiar.
It is like going to the doctor feeling peculiar and not knowing why and this
moment of revelation where the doctor
looks knowingly at you and says:
And have you noticed your fingers going purple ?
And you look astonished; how could he know this?
And he continues: and have you had difficulties in pronouncing Danish place
names lately?
And he then tells you that you have Blargle-Upschneider syndrome
which at long last is a name for what is wrong with you instead of just a
weird feeling that something is not right.
I console myself that it will get better if I get lessons and or find some
pals to mess around/jam with.
In the meantime, I will have to live with the symptoms. I am 45 and
finding some civilised people to jam with is not trivial.
joe nez
ain't easy. I want to believe it's a function of age because if it isn't
then I'd have to question my aptitude and/or desire.
I took lessons for about 2-1/2 years and it provided me a good
foundation on which to build and I have managed to get a few of the
bricks in place, so to speak. My own problems are ones of focus and not
being very good at regiment. These things, too, can be ascribed to age
and/or lifelong habits that are difficult to break. I've learned that
the cliché "you can't teach and old dog new tricks" is probably true.
This sounds a bit like what you allude to in your post. I know how you
feel. I'm often "all over the place" with my playing because I want to
do it all and get easily frustrated when a progression or a passage
gives me difficulty. The result has been I've learned to depend on my
ears. When I begin to learn a tune my first exposure and attempt at it
will always be based and built upon a version of the song I've heard. I
have to listen. I have to hear it.
Listen.
Learn intervals. Memorize their sound and relationship. Learn where they
are on the fretboard.
Remember that every movement from one chord to the next is an interval.
Remember that every "space" between the notes in a melody is an interval
and approach it that way. Learn them and once you do it will get a bit
easier. And... what's better for we aging axers is we can learn the
intervals with our ears and not have to depend on our overwrought,
nearing useless, brains.
Take some lessons and learn tunes and play those tunes until they make
you want to wretch and then play them once more for good measure and
soon it will start to make some sense. The first thing I learned when I
began lessons is that there actually is a logical framework into which
all, or most, music fits. I'd never known that before and it was quite a
revelation. It's almost as simple as counting from 1 to 8 and becomes
much easier when you begin to hear from 1 - 8.
Let's be honest, Dallas, at our age most theory just isn't going to
stick in any appreciable measure. But, we have ears and eyes. Once you
begin to allow the ears to hear what the eyes see in that chord melody
book you'll be amazed at your progress.
joe nez
Keith Freeman
> theres a blizzard of chord diagrams, all sorts of inversion, subs,
> passing chords
that's the best place to start (as Steve Khan does in his Contemporary
Chord Khancepts book).
-Keith
Music samples, tips, Portable Changes at
http://home.wanadoo.nl/keith.freeman/
E-mail: keith DOT freeman AT wanadoo DOT nl
George Prager
>
>
what a great post, Dallas! I'm in Toronto (playing music full time) and have
been dreaming of moving to Vancouver Island for years. Are there reall jazz
venues like the pub you describe - or was it all just a dream...
;-)
G.P.
Dallas Selman
a number of years actually, nice string intervals in fourths everywhere!
"Keith Freeman" <dont.use.t...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9563CCFC4...@194.134.2.2...
thom_j
> Went to a jazz quartet gig yesterday at an obscure pub.....
snipped
> chords. Brain locking up. So tired, must sleep.....
fwiw Dallas...
I have played for 51+years now & played pro/semi'pro for a good 20.
Even tho' I dont consider myself a very good jazz player I do consider
myself not bad with other genres, but in 1990, I was taken ill, & I was
not suppose to be able to get out of bed ever again, besides even play
again! (plus the so called experts didnt me a year to live past 1990!)
My point? I've never been able to play the way I did, prior 1990 and
many days I am really down but I keep' trying & I am surely glad that
I have & can learn many new scales, modes, pieces etc that I thought
I would never play at all!
So for me, every new day is a better one, and for you, always look
forward my friend, because if this "Ole' fart" can do it, anyone can!
cheers thom_j.
Chris Mullin
"thom_j" <thom_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:UNWdnRVbBbH...@comcast.com...
Great inspiration you guys... keep it coming...:)
I ain't the originator of the thread, just a struglling wannabe. Never the
less I'm thankful to this group.
FWIW I went through this a few years ago with fingerstyle... I thought I'd
never be able to Travis pick. I thought of giving it up and go back to
strumming. Then suddenly one day it clicked. I wasn't thinking about it or
trying, it just happened.
Moral if you can't get the hang of all that jazz stuff try fingerstyle. You
can do it. :)
Best of luck to ya Dallas [and Joe and Thom... to all of ya.]
Chris
JazzLover
Dallas, I have struggled through books and tapes, and transcribing,
and have made progress, but I have made way more progress with a few
months of lessons with a teacher. Things are really so much easier to
pickup when someone can show you how they approach the music.
Max Leggett
A really really important thing in getting to play is gigging. I know
you're not yet good enough to get a gig and there are no gigs anyways,
but get together with other musicians and play, just play. Even one
other musician. An accordian player if there's nothing else. And don't
stop when anyone makes a mistake - keep steaming through.
Come up with little arrangements - 2 in, 2 each, and 2 out is just
fine - and play through the arrangements, and play for keeps. Play
like it's important, cuz it is. If you can get together with musicians
better than yourself [and I was lucky in that regard when I started
playing] then so much the better, but if they're not as good as you,
then you can help them, and teaching will really solidify stuff in
your mind.
You don't have to have the same lineup as Miles on the Cookin'
sessions - one other muso, two, three, whatever. Piccolo, tuba and
guitar will work if you want it to, the important thing is to play.
After you've been doing it for a while, get a couple of numbers right
up as best you can [tape your rehearsals and study them afterwards]
and next time someone has a party, inveigle an invite for your band
to play those two numbers. People will love it. And if they don't you
can always trash the place, the stinkin' Philistines.
A teacher [excellent excellent advice] can hook you up with other
musicians. You really learn to play when you learn how to dig yourself
out of the holes you make by screwing up. I guarantee your playing
will get way better way fast if you practice with other players. You
don't have to play Giant Steps, you don't have to play Donna Lee at
320, you can play any damn thing you like at whatever level of
complexity suits you. But play.
thom_j
> Best of luck to ya Dallas [and Joe and Thom... to all of ya.]
> Chris
cheers thom_j.
Dallas Selman
time.
"Max Leggett" <hepkatre...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:41462c95....@News.sprint.ca...