Jazz Improvisation, Jamey Aebersold

[JAZZ-PLAYER-COLLECTOR]

Hi Chris,

If the improviser before you played the first five notes of a major scale,
you'd probably be able to recognize the familiar "do-re-me-fa-so" sound
and then play it back to him. You have a certain degree of "ear training"
and some knowledge of music theory that allows this to happen. As you
progress in your jazz improv training you would gradually become more
familiar with the sound of many "advanced" scales as well as many jazz
licks (or patterns) derived from those scales, and the theory knowledge
that goes along with all this. It is a gradual process that just takes time.
Little by little it just gets easier. Day by day, you simply find that you're
able to recognize more and more of what you are hearing being played
through your ears and also what you're "hearing" inside your own head.

I have gone to great lengths to make this thread a logical way to learn
most of what you'll need to know, in an efficient and enjoyable manner
using the first few Aebersold albums as a foundation. It is organised as
a kind of method system that can take you step-by-step from beginner
to advanced. I've taught jazz improv for about thirty years. This course
of study presents the information you'll need in a very logical order and
with the appropriate play-along tracks for each new bit of material. I do
feel almost anyone can follow it and reach their goals if they stick to it!

I do hope this helps...

Your Friend, Tom in Texas
JAZZ-PLAYER-COLLECTOR

[HunchbackofNotredame]

Awesome!!!!!!!!

[JayJay]

10 LESSONS?????

I HAVE ALOT OF CATHCING UP TO DO.

JUST FOUND THIS THREAD!

THANKS!
_________________
JAYJAY

God Bless Y'all!
=======================
-=iii=<() '71 Conn Director Trumpet
o=ciii=<O
o=ciii<O
o-ciii<O
BLESSING BCR-XLS

[Yamahaguy]

And there's more to come, right Tom?

[davidbross]

Is there a good book out there that has transcribed solos and a CD to let you hear the solos?

[Yamahaguy]

The first book I bought was the Clifford Brown transcriptions by Ken Slone.
Then I bought all the CDs that contained these solos (from the discography).
Gave me a good start to learning vocabulary, but not as much as transcribing
did on my own.

[bilboinsa]

J-P-C:

Kudos on your son, and MANY thanks for this killer thread. I just bought Vols. 1, 2 and 24 (M&m Scales), and your lessons will be a tremendous help to me. I promise that before I start posting my Q's, I will search all through your lessons to see if it was already covered.

Thanks again...if you get to SA, holler.
_________________
Doug Walsdorf

Schilke B2;
Kanstul 1525;
1927 Conn 22B
1970 B&H Regent
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit...it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
http://www.myspace.com/schilkeb2
Member: http://xeml.buglesacrossamerica.org/

[Antony Taylor]

Hi Tom,
Im a comeback player for the second time im in my early forties (after a 8yr layoff due to job)
my first comeback was when i was about 27 after 9 yr layoff. (Started playing as schoolboy age10.)
I started playing with big bands during my first return to trumpet and it was at this stage I took interest with jazz. my teacher at the time was a pro player in the big bands and he told me he couldnt teach jazz he said it was a natural gift which he just found he had one day after many years of playing. Any way despite this I had a go and went down the blues scale route play along with abersold etc. I still wasnt happy with what I played though, and have an obsessive desire to be able to play anything by ear. I have started using ear trainers and playing along with the great Chet Baker , Miles , lee Morgan etc on my IPOD which i find a great modern day tool.
I can play simple tunes by ear (nursery rhymes , xmas carols etc) and transpose but still find transposing by ear tunes such as a night in Tunisia for example, why is this? is it due to the minor intervals which dont appear as much in the simple tunes?
I am sometimes playing by ear is going to be an impossible task and is only for the gifted, what do you think?
I am enlightened whenever I find information such as yours as you answer a lot of the things which remain unanswered in the many books i have read on jazz.I admire the fact you are prepared to share your knowledge with us struggling players
Please keep it up.

Antony

PS feeling a bit dejected today had a go at a Jazz solo last night at the big band wasnt familiar with the tune tried to just busk within the key but it was rubbish.Also only two of us turned up first half hence me struggling with jaz on 2nd
_________________
Olds Recording
Yam Shew 8310Z
Big Band , Soul, Small trad Jazz, Funk, Orchestral
Concert and brass band
Brass band(30 yrs ago)

[MFMeow]

Hi Tom,

Big thank you!
After 8 years of serious playing and 18 years of layoff, I'm now 8 months into my "comeback" and I've decided it's high time I learn to improvise. It was always a big, scary thing to me. (This was me: "You want me to play notes that AREN'T WRITTEN? ARE YOU NUTS?!") The first time around, my range was never lead-book-worthy, so I usually got the 2nd parts in jazz band. Every "improvised" solo I ever had to play was carefully composed in a practice room, rehearsed within an inch of its life, and not so much as one note ever varied when performance time rolled around. I refused to leave my comfort zone. I've always loved jazz, but improvising was a big mystery to me, and I was extremely envious of those who had crossed that bridge. In retrospect, it was probably a fear of failure ("if I don't try, I can't fail!")

That was then, this is now... this time around, it's all about having fun, so I decided (with some encouragement from my trumpet teacher) that I'm an intelligent person and I should be able to figure this stuff out. It's all about baby steps.

So I just recently started with Aebersold Book 1, and I wanted to thank you for all the time you've put into this and for making improvisation more accessible. And thanks to TH for making it a "sticky"!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can (Little-Engine-That-Could style),
Kirsten
_________________
Adopt a homeless pet...

[lamgigi77]

Can anyone send me the link/the full name of Aebersold's Jazz book that we are talking about? Because there are so many series of Jamey Aebersold book. I am afraid that I get the wrong one....
Thank you

[JAZZ-PLAYER-COLLECTOR]

This whole thread is basically a book in progress. It is designed to be
used as a guide book, or method of sorts. It uses the first few Jamey
Aebersold book/cds as the foundation for learning jazz improv. Many
people find that this series is an excellent resource for material to be
used as a supplement to one's jazz studies, and I've been writing the
thread as a step by step lesson plan for self-teaching... It is designed
to be used together with the Aebersold book/cd sets and you are free
to use it to learn how to improvise, or even in teaching others... but I
do ask that you not copy or use this material for any other purposes.

I will be writing many more lessons in the near future, and I am also
preparing and editing this for publication as well. My wife is an author
and keeps urging me on, so I shoud have something substantial here
pretty soon to offer to the jazz community. I hope this helps some of
you out there. If each lesson is thoroughly digested, and the material
presented is mastered on one's instrument, you should feel confident
that you will succeed at reaching your improv goals. Stick with it, and
you will have a great time learning this unique art and craft.

Your Friend, Tom in Texas
JAZZ-PLAYER-COLLECTOR

P.S. Don't forget I'm liquidating both my trumpet and flugel inventory
as well as much of my personal collection. Feel free to PM if you want
to find another instrument. I am currently down to about 250 horns!!!

I will probably stop posting lessons altogether for a while now... I am
very busy with my instrument business and planning semi-retirement.
I'll be composing many more lessons in the future... and although it'll
probably be quite a while... I'll be back with more as promised. Many
have suggested that I publish this thread as a method book, and I do
feel this is a worthy project. I have found that this kind of work takes
quite a bit more effort that it would appear, so it may be quite a while
before I'm back with more free material here on TrumpetHerald. But,
I will definitely be back with more. I have been teaching improv using
Mr. Aebersold's Play-Along Sets for many years. Gradually, I've come
to use these tracks to present the theory concepts and strategy many
times over and over again!! It evolved into a system that I use every
day. I can't thank Jamey Aebersold enough for all he's done... I think
the jazz comunity owes him a huge debt of gratitude! His contribution
to our art is truly immeasurable! Thanks again Jamey!
_________________
7 Monettes, 9 Taylors, 8 Courtois, 8 Stomvis
7 Lawlers, 4 Leblancs, 3 Bessons, 3 Kanstuls
2 Blackburns, 9 Schilkes, 8 Bachs, 5 Selmers
8 Yamahas, 5 Committees, 2 Edwards Gen X
4 Marcinkeiwicz, 9 Harrelsons, and 4 Eclipses

[dqjazz]

cool thread! great read through and come back to. But on another note you have a lot of equipment, man, that's serious, can you post a new thread describing your thoughts on some, if not all of your horns/pieces. With your experience, would love to hear/read your thoughts, especially on the Monettes as there is such mixed reviews.

[butxifxnot]

Not to rehash an old hat, but this thread is pretty cool. I need some of this stuff...
_________________
"Never practice, always perform."
-Adolf Herseth

[San Antonio Horn]

Just want to thank Tom again for all the giving. He is a wealth of knowledge and just a hell of a guy period. Anyways, interesting thing to go back and look at some lessons I previously thought I had "mastered" going back sometimes can be so liberating.

[lamgigi77]

hi, tom
how are you these days?
I am still waiting for your book
keep going, sir


_________________
~~~JaZz jUniOr~~~

Taylor chicago standard
bach 1.5c

[JAZZ-PLAYER-COLLECTOR]

Hello... I just wanted to let people know I'm still around, and also that
I will definitely be writing many more lessons to add to this thread!! It
should eventually have about 200 lessons in all. I'm probably going to
skip directly to more advanced theory and strategy, after a little more
review of what I feel are some of the most important concepts I have
presented so far. I started analyzing tunes on the Miles Davis volume
earlier, but I feel this would probably be redudndant theory-wise... so
when I return to posting, it will be directly to more advanced concepts
after a little review.

I'm honored to have been appreciated by so many!! I hope people will
benefit from this project for many years to come.

This thread will allow players to learn at their own pace in a step-by-
step fashion. Each of these 150 lessons can be studied and mastered
at your own pace as you apply everything learned to the "play-along"
tracks. I've been teaching improv using these book/cd sets for many
years now, and I can assure you success if you will stick to a gradual
plan of daily study. All the information is given in a very logical order
to make it easy to understand.

I hope you will try this out and join in the fun. There is nothing more
satisfying than simply closing your eyes and being able to play what
you feel!! I love jazz so much, I just can't imagine a world without it.

Your Friend, Tom in Texas
JAZZ-PLAYER-COLLECTOR

[khedger]

[JAZZ-PLAYER-COLLECTOR]

Hi Keith,

That's a superb game! Try this kind of activity alone as well.
Hum an idea then try to play it, or play something then pause
and wait for a musical idea that artfully flows from there to come
to you. This is true art. Contrived ideas that are "plugged in" here
and there are not.

The musical ideas that flow naturally from the subconscious are what
you really want. That is the real you. Sing into a recorder (with or without
background) to get to this material then learn it on your instrument.

These are the ideas that bubble around in your head naturally and
they will come back again and again... If you learn to play this
material then you'll be able to just close your eyes and play
whatever you hear in your mind. Now that's freedom!!!
Learn the ideas that you would naturally sing without
any physical or theoretical constraints whatsoever.

This is not to say you shouldn't learn all the
theory, etc... and you should definitely
learn more licks from other sources
as well, otherwise you'd miss out
on many good things. But this
process alone has formed
the foundation of many
a great improviser's
musical repetoir.
All good ideas!

Tom in Texas

[junkyt]

Have to nominate Tom's last post as Most Visually stunning!!!
_________________
Check out my new blog about the life of a working musician: OneWorkingMusician.com

[LowerSlower]

I love the Aebersold series, and believe he has revolutionized the way musicians learn how to improvise. I've had over 10 of them, and enjoyed them very much.
If I had one complaint, though it would be the unfortunate tendency of Mr. Aebersold to insert his own tunes into a volume of classics.
Mr. Aebersold, you are an innovator, a great marketer, probably a brilliant improvisor yourself. But, you, sir are no Thelonious Monk.
Oh, and the cover designs suck too.
_________________
"Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny"
Frank Zappa, 1974