If you wanna be a good musician of any kind then you know you need to practice, especially if you want to play jazz. So, I'm gonna give you the very best practice advice I can give you to help you get set up for success. CHAPTERS: Intro Tip #1: Can't find more time to practice? Stop trying. Tip #2: Practice less Tip #3: Ditch these if you don't want them Tip #4: Focus on the things you're not good at Tip #5: Give it some space Tip #6: Keep a sense of accomplishment ***Important Links and Resourc...
Jun 24, 2022•8 min•Season 1Ep. 361
So today, I'm gonna share with you some important points in my music life, like, the first thing I played with my first guitar when I got it, how that one, 7-note lick that my first pro jazz teacher taught me gave me a "light bulb" moment, and most importantly, the reason behind what is in music that resonates with me so much that keeps me passionate about it Before I'll end this story, I'm gonna leave you with a challenge that would help keep that spark going that lights up your passion for dis...
Jun 20, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 360
You've probably been told that playing jazz requires great ears. Well, how do you actually train your ears for jazz improvisation? I'm gonna give you 10 things you can do! CHAPTERS: 1. Intro 2. What are the Ear Training Fundamentals? 3. The Best way for becoming a Jazz Improviser 4. What is Applied Ear Training? 5. The 10 Different Ideas For Applied Ear Training 6. #1: Learn the Melodies of Jazz Standards by Ear 7. #2: Learning A Solo Lick or Etude by Ear 8. #3: Take A Lick Into Different Keys 9...
Jun 18, 2022•13 min•Season 1Ep. 359
We're doing a from-the-vault episode today. We're going back in time where I had my very own brother on the show to talk about performance and how to beat the brain game that goes on when we're playing music and trying to get better. Looking forward to bringing this one back and bringing it back to life. In this episode: 1. The power of mindset over musical performance. 2. How to train a positive mindset with a Self-Talk Script. 3. Using the “Three D’s” to cut off your negative thoughts. -Detect...
Jun 13, 2022•48 min
The best jazz musicians in the world can play a solo, unaccompanied and you know exactly the tune they were playing. You can do that, too. CHAPTERS: 1. Intro 2. The secret to playing chord changes 3. A great jazz-blues solo 4. Targeting Chord tones 5. What are guide tones in a chord? 6. What is motivic development? 7. Tension and Resolution Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podc...
Jun 10, 2022•9 min•Season 1Ep. 357
Listening to jazz is one of the best ways that you can improve your jazz playing without even touching your instrument and actually retain material so that it becomes exponentially easier to play when you actually do pick up your instrument. So I wanna talk about some plans for listening to jazz if your intention is to retain and ingrain musical information. In this episode: 1. Why listening can be a game-changer for your jazz playing 2. Framework for internalizing a jazz album 3. Frameworks for...
Jun 06, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 356
If you're a guitar or a piano player, one important thing that you'd be able to do is chord melody - playing the chords and the melody of a jazz standard at the same time. But this presents a particular challenge, especially for jazz guitar players. So what are the basics of chord melody and how do you do it? In this episode: 1. Intro 2. Creating chord melody - Polka Dots and Moonbeams 3. The basics of creating chord melody: 4. How to find the chords under the melody notes - Section A 5. How to ...
Jun 03, 2022•15 min•Season 1Ep. 355
Today on the podcast, I'm answering the question, "How long does it take to become a great jazz improviser?", from day 1 until that day when you're really playing solos that you're enjoying, hearing back, and feeling happy about. In This Episode: 1. Variable that will influence how long 2. Defining what a "great jazz solo" is 3. Conditions of practicing during timeframes of practice 4. General time frames starting from a beginner level 5. The secret to staying consistent ***Important Links*** LJ...
May 30, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 354
If you know the pentatonic or the blues scale you can actually play really amazing jazz solos using just those notes. In this episode: Intro Demo: SOUL STIR BLUES - A jazz blues solo Kinds of Pentatonic Scales used in Soul Stir Blues How I put the solo together Applying rhythmic concepts Summary Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast Get our Amazon Best Selling book See you i...
May 27, 2022•8 min•Season 1Ep. 353
If you've been studying jazz for a little while, you've probably heard from somebody, whether it would be me or somebody else, that it's a good idea to learn jazz solos or jazz etudes. And you may or may not fully understand why it's a good idea to do, and if you don't understand that, it could be not very motivating to go through the process of doing something tedious like this. So in today's episode, I'm gonna explain why this is a great practice and some insights that I think you'll find very...
May 23, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 352
So, if you're practicing over jazz standards but you continually feel like you're not improving, not getting any better, it could be that you're just practicing them wrong in the very first place. So, I'm gonna show you strategies for practicing over jazz standards and actually improvising over them. In this episode: Intro Demonstration First strategy: Study the chord changes of a jazz standard Isolate just one chord and practice improvising over it Demonstration: How to improvise over one chord...
May 20, 2022•10 min•Season 1Ep. 351
Welcome to episode 350 where today I discuss 21 different options for jazz practice. So if you are wondering what you should practice today, this week, or this month, this episode should give you a handful of good ideas to work with. Hey listen, so if you're sittin' there this week going, "I actually don't know what to practice to improve my jazz playing this week". Well, this episode is gonna leave you with zero excuses 'cause I'm gonna go over 21 different ideas for you to practice today. And ...
May 16, 2022•45 min
What are the most important music theory concepts that you need to know to make learning and improvising over jazz standards much easier? In this episode: Intro Concept #1: Secondary Dominants Concept #2: The Backdoor Dominant Concept #3: Relative Keys Concept #4: Parallel Keys Concept #5: Sidestep 2-5 Concept #6: Hybrid 2-5 Concept #7: Deceptive CadencesConcept #8: Passing Diminished Chords Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear. Learn Jazz Standards t...
May 13, 2022•17 min
Welcome to episode 348 where I play a jazz ballad solo guitar set to commemorate the last time I play my guitar. I play through my 6 favorite jazz ballads and briefly discuss what makes them great jazz standards and a few harmonic and melodic lessons from each. So, I've got a shocking announcement: On this episode today, this is going to be the last time that I play my guitar, the very last time. Okay, okay, okay, maybe not the very last time. Actually, I probably will play it in the future, but...
May 09, 2022•34 min
If your jazz solos feel like they're missing that secret sauce that pro-level jazz musicians have, then you could be missing out on one of these strategies. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. Example/Demo 3. 1st Strategy 4. 2nd Strategy 5. 3rd Strategy 6. Video recommendation Important Links : LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear. Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast Get our Amazon Best Selling book See you in the next video! Learn J...
May 06, 2022•8 min
Welcome to episode 346 where, in celebration of the 2-year anniversary of our Inner Circle membership, we're sharing 6 lessons we've learned from our jazz community. Joining us is a member of team LJS, Brett Pontecorvo, and we dive into things most successful members are doing to improve their playing within the community. Today, we have a special edition of our LJS Podcast because we are celebrating the 2-year anniversary this month of our LJS Inner Circle membership and we're gonna share 6 les...
May 02, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 346
Welcome to episode 345 where today I talk about finding your ONE thing that if you accomplish this, will make playing jazz so much easier, and even make other things you would practice unnecessary. I talk about this concept and then share ONE thing from members of our Inner Circle. My friends, what is the one thing that you can do this month for your jazz playing that if you accomplish this one thing, will make everything else exponentially easier or no longer even necessary? That's what I wanna...
Apr 25, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 345
So what are the most important scales that will help you improvise over jazz standards? In this episode: 1. Intro 2. The 5 Qualities of 7th Chords Song Sample: Stella By Starlight 3. The Minor 7th (b5) Modes 4. The Dominant 7th Altered Scale Ideas 5. The Minor 7th Mode 6. The Dominant 7th 7. Mixolydian Mode 8. The Other Scale Choices 9. The Fully Diminished 7th Chord in Have You Met Miss Jones Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards...
Apr 22, 2022•12 min
Welcome to episode 343 where today I talk about my experiences as a professional performing jazz musician and the music lessons I've learned. Having dedicated most of my life to playing and teaching music, I've learned a thing or two. This advice is helpful for hobbyist musicians, from the perspective of a pro. In today's episode, I wanna talk about my experience as a professional jazz musician. Looking back on my career, the lessons that I've learned about playing music, playing jazz with other...
Apr 18, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 343
So what are some jazz blues heads that you absolutely need to know for jazz jam sessions and gigs? Well, today I'm gonna share with you 10 that you absolutely should know. In this episode: 1. Simple melody with some kind of cool bebop-y elements in it. 2. Super easy blues head that uses only 5 notes! 3. A very common jam session jazz-blues 4. A minor blues head 5. A unique concert Eb blues 6. An entry-level bebop head 7. A great up-tempo minor blues 8. This one's super easy to learn as long as y...
Apr 15, 2022•28 min
Welcome to episode 341 where today I talk about one of the most important skills you should focus on when it comes to jazz improvisation. If you master this, you could literally play any note (in the key or out) and make it sound great. Learn what it is and how you can start mastering this skill. So I was at the Village Vanguard the other day, here in New York City. It's perhaps the most famous jazz club in the entire world, and I was watching a band play and something that stood out to me was t...
Apr 11, 2022•27 min
So how did I learn 100 new Jazz Standards in one year? Well, I'm gonna show you the exact strategies that I use so that you can use them, too! In this episode: 1. Intro 2. Strategy #1 The circle of10? 3. Strategy #2 The key to learning these standards 4. Strategy #3 Learn this first instead of the chord changes 5. Strategy #4 Do what the Romans did 6. Strategy #5 Ears first before the eyes 7. Strategy #6 Repetition is the key 8. Strategy #7 Start from #1 with a different playlist Important Links...
Apr 08, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 340
Welcome to episode 339 where today I walk you through one of my favorite jazz ballads. Ballads are important to know, and this particular one has a lot to teach us about jazz harmony and how to create an amazing melody. I play the ballad and then deep dive into the harmonic analysis. In today's episode, I'm gonna be going over one of my favorite jazz ballads of all time, do a little deep-dive into the harmony, and hopefully, you're gonna come away with some amazing lessons that you can learn abo...
Apr 04, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 339
So how do you master the seemingly difficult but important jazz song form rhythm changes? Well, today I'm gonna show you 8 simple steps to do exactly that. In this episode: 1. Step #1: The obvious first step 2. Step #2: Get "a-head" of the game! 3. Step #3: The first place I really start with improvising 4. Step #4: This makes the chord changes pop! 5. Step #5: Get really good at this instead of scales 6. Step #6: Exposure to these will generate ideas for your solos 7. Step #7: Time to get those...
Apr 01, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 337
Welcome to episode 337 where today I talk about jam sessions and how to know if you are ready to attend one. I also share a 6 step checklist for how to prepare for a jam session so that you feel more comfortable, confident, and set up for more success. In this episode: Step 1: Know 5 Standards Step 2: Go to the session and evaluate Step 3: Learn tunes you don't know Step 4: Record yourself and identify problem areas Step 5: Go to session and call a song you know well Step 6: Re-evaluate success ...
Mar 28, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 337
If you're feeling stuck in your jazz playing today, it's likely because of one of the reasons I'm about to share with you. So, I'm gonna be your jazz doctor today, diagnose your issue, and tell you how to fix it. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. 10 Reasons Why Your Jazz Improv Isn't Improving 3. Reason #1: This results in licks that don't sound organic 4. Reason #2: Learn more of these 5. Reason #3: Learn more of these very well 6. Reason #4: Scales alone doesn't do the trick 7. Reason #5: Get that ...
Mar 25, 2022•11 min
Welcome to episode 335 where today I talk about how to get unstuck from playing the same stuff over and over again in your jazz solos. It's easy to get comfortable playing the same stuff because we know it will sound good every single time. But this also keeps us stuck, unsatisfied, and wishing for more. I go over my simple solution for turning this around. In this episode: 1. Why do we get stuck playing the same stuff 2. Making conscious decisions when we play 3. Practicing making mistakes Impo...
Mar 21, 2022•22 min
How do you craft amazing bebop lines over a minor blues so that you sound like a jazz pro? I'm gonna walk you through the perfect minor blues solo. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. What actually are the chords in the D minor blues? 3. Try to add these to make your solos sound super "Bebop-y" 4. The quintessential bebop rhythm 5. The 3 Take-aways Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get...
Mar 18, 2022•11 min
Welcome to episode 333 where today I talk about my entire philosophy on learning and teaching jazz. I discuss what I believe about teaching jazz, using music theory, how to learn to improvise, and how to practice to get the most success. This episode consolidates a lot of talking points discussed within many different episodes of this podcast. In this episode: 1. My 4 Core Philosophies 2. Philosophy for what you should focus on 3. Philosophy around jazz standards 4. Philosophy around jazz theory...
Mar 14, 2022•57 min
These are the best scale exercises you can do if you wanna turn these boring linear patterns into amazing jazz solos. In this episode: 1, This is the very first place we need to start 2. Add this to automatically make your scales a little bit more musical 3. Small musical ideas repeated 4. This will create different patterns and chord tones 5. Notes beyond the scale Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way Learn Jazz St...
Mar 11, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 332
