Originally Posted By: rockstar_not

Would there be some that jump out at you as obvious songs to go through and learn individual modes by playing along/soloing? I'm up for transposing to learn the modes for different keys.


Quit looking for others to do your homework for you.

That is, if you really want to learn what's up.

The Jamie Aebersold Chord/Scale syllablus, plus other materials, likely stuff you got from your recent course, will show you which chords allow for which modes and scales.

Look through the songs for those chords and chord groups, govern your practicing around that.

This is the only way I know to start envisualizing "songs" as groups of chord changes and that is where total improvisational ability and thus freedom is derived.

*Pick ANY song out of that Standards book.

*Find a good performance of that song on the web, places such as Youtube.

*LISTEN to the greats play the song a few times, then pick up the chart and look at it while you listen to them play the song again and again.

*Even (and especially!) if you are an instrumentalist, find the lyrics for the target song and LEARN THEM AS WELL. Internalizing a Melody around its Lyrics is so important, actually, and should be something done with every jazz tune encountered. This helps so much, not only in the phrasing when playing the Melody part, but also in deriving phrasing that makes sense when soloing.

*Pick up your instrument and start learning the song, chords first, scales and modes after that.

*Stick with that song until you have *internalized* it and can blow it in at least several different keys.

*Find someone's recorded solo that really strikes you, even and especially if done on an instrument different from yours, and transcribe that solo. Spend as much time on this as it takes, knowing that each time we transcribe the task will indeed get to be that much easier and will take less time than the previous transcription.

*Finally, force your feet to DANCE while you play. Seated or standing, at least the one foot tapping or patting in perfect time.


--Mac

Last edited by Mac; 12/19/13 07:59 AM.
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