Interested in learning Jazz with my saxophone and have started playing simple tunes (mainly out of abracadbra saxophone and james rae modern studies) then adding a section of improvisation, then going back to the theme to end.
Really enjoying it with my sax but would like to progress, tips, tricks, ideas much appreciated!
Full Version: Getting Started
QUOTE(Pixie*Porsche @ Dec 19 2011, 11:42 PM) 
Interested in learning Jazz with my saxophone and have started playing simple tunes (mainly out of abracadbra saxophone and james rae modern studies) then adding a section of improvisation, then going back to the theme to end.
Really enjoying it with my sax but would like to progress, tips, tricks, ideas much appreciated!
Really enjoying it with my sax but would like to progress, tips, tricks, ideas much appreciated!
I'll send you a PM.
I've been thinking about the best way to reply to this, because I think it's probably different for everybody. I think the first thing is to accept that you're going to need more than "tips, tricks and ideas" to progress. Playing jazz really is quite different to playing classical. Think of it as a different language - if you'd become competent in French as a second language then that may be some help in learning German, but you'd really need to start with the fundamentals of German vocabulary and grammar.
My way in to playing jazz was via tuition. Firstly one to one, then on to a weekly workshop and summer courses. Jazz isn't something you can learn at home alone with playalongs - you need to play with others, part of the skill is in communicating your musical ideas.
The "tools" that you need to play jazz, and things you can practice at home are scales, playing by ear, transposing phrases and tunes into different keys, and between major / minor / dominant.
The other thing that classical musicians switching to jazz find difficult is the focus on rhythm and syncopation - get used to playing with a metronome and practice phrases that are rhythmically displaced (the good news is that 90% of the stuff you play will be in 4/4). Listen to lots of jazz so that you get to feel how to swing. You know how you occasionally come across recordings of someone like Kiri Te Kanawa, or Lesley Garratt singing jazz standards and it just sounds wrong? That's what a lot of classical musicians sound like playing jazz, because they haven't got the feel and the only way you'll get that is to listen.
My way in to playing jazz was via tuition. Firstly one to one, then on to a weekly workshop and summer courses. Jazz isn't something you can learn at home alone with playalongs - you need to play with others, part of the skill is in communicating your musical ideas.
The "tools" that you need to play jazz, and things you can practice at home are scales, playing by ear, transposing phrases and tunes into different keys, and between major / minor / dominant.
The other thing that classical musicians switching to jazz find difficult is the focus on rhythm and syncopation - get used to playing with a metronome and practice phrases that are rhythmically displaced (the good news is that 90% of the stuff you play will be in 4/4). Listen to lots of jazz so that you get to feel how to swing. You know how you occasionally come across recordings of someone like Kiri Te Kanawa, or Lesley Garratt singing jazz standards and it just sounds wrong? That's what a lot of classical musicians sound like playing jazz, because they haven't got the feel and the only way you'll get that is to listen.
I started jazz a long time ago and learnt on the job so to speak. Clubs, restaurants, weddings, small functions and so on....I got better and more conversant with the language/skills and the improvisation approach as I went along.
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