hey,

just a small query, how do i learn jazz the 'natural way', e.g.by ear, because im no fantastic sight reader, i think a mole could read music better than me!
Any ideas, or website/books i could begin lookin at?
Cheers.

Buy some jazz or blues CD's and play along to them.

I agree with Jazz man

I learnt thru listening years ago... But!!!!!! I have since formalised my playing thru passing the abrsm jazz grade 5 (pioano). Now that I have, I am progressing much faster.

I would suggest that listen learning coupled with the formal abrsm exams would be the best approach. Your sight reading doesn't have to be great!

The board supply CD's of the exam pieces for you listen and learn. You also don't have to do sight readfing in the exam either.

Learning Jazz the 'natural way', as you put it, kind of contradicts alot of Jazz history in a 'way'.. Learning by 'ear', so to speak, is one way of getting by.. and you can glean quite alot just by jamming to Jazz CDs..

There are however, a variety of tried and tested methods of learning Jazz, which transcend this. First of all, a deep knowledge of theory is essential in understanding how to start manipulating our 12 tone harmonic system - It's a much more formal study, but you should definitely start by memorising and mucking around with all basic scale types in 12 keys. Learn 2-3 octave scales for major, minor (Real melodic and harmonic), diminished and whole tone scales. Learn all your blues scales inside out, and then start experimenting with diatonic arpeggios in a few related keys.

Now take a Jazz standard (All of me or something cheesy + melodic) and learn it by memory - everything; the tune (or head), the chord changes, and the general structure of the piece. Then start taking liberties with the rhythm of the tune, and use it as a kind of solo idea - Next it's on to the bare bones of soloing in a Jazz style - learn the 3rds and 7ths of all your chords in a standard - (so be aware that B + E are the major 7th and major 3rd degrees of Cmajor 7 - G# + D are the equivalent degrees of E7 etc...) Then try playing a solo using just those notes for a whole set of chord changes. Emphasise simple, melodic lines to begin with, and avoid flash scalic runs... gradually, add another note from each chord to your arsenal - until you have a set of arpeggios which contain each relevant extension of the basic triad, so for C major 7 you're looking at the notes C, D, E, G, A, B. .. and so on for each chord - generally speaking the following degrees of a chord fit well - root, 9th (or 2nd), 3rd, 5th, (flattened 5th later) 6th (13th), and 7th.

Once you can play through a standard using arpeggios + 3rds and 7ths fluently, you're onto a winner! The great thing is you don't need to sight read anything as such - you do however, need to memorise a whole lot of notes and their relationships to each chord type.. Learning arpeggios for all major, minor, dom7, half diminished and diminished chords takes a while!

After you can do that, it's time to learn how to play modally, use pentatonic scales, and of course - learn a few transcribed solos, pinch some licks, and put them through 12 keys, stealing and mutating phrases and studying them until you absorb that particular players style, and have developed your own Jazz 'language' or vocabulary of ideas...

That's one way of doing it anyway! Listening to lots of Jazz is fairly essential - don't neglect blues either mindyou! Hope that's some use!

Another good way to learn jazz the natural way-

Go to a jazz gig and buy the solo artist a drink during the interval and pick his brain for ideas how to improve your technique.

I went to see Mark Nightingale(international trombone player) tonight at a local Sardian restaurant and was blown away by his very developed jazz technique. Very harmonically developed solos. Incidentally during the interaval i asked him if he ever used Arban and to my surprise he said he had'nt used it since he was a youngster.

You can't beat live jazz if your looking for a jazz education.

Jazz gigs are also great for inspiration - I was completely blown away when I saw John Scofield at the Barbican last year! What amazed me the most was that he had just turned 60 and was doing the best playing of his life!

There's hope yet!