Jazz is very polyrhythmic and often has 2 and 3 beats running simultaneously against each other creating an interesting polyrhythm. Drummers do this all the time! Here is a quick way to play or clap 2 against 3 using the mnemonic ‘Nice cup of tea’. We’ll start with the groups of 3 beats: […]
Pianist Wayne McConnell urges people to Just Improvise! I genuinely believe everybody is able to improvise in one form or another. This basic ability is the very essence of how we get through life. Music aside, the ability to put together words and construct sentences is essential in everyday living. Free thinking is […]
Pianist Terry Seabrook continues with his series of Jazz Tips with No. 22 Turnarounds and Substitutions (part 1) A turnaround is a sequence of chords which starts form the tonic (I) and moves through a short “progression” (mostly through the circle of 5ths) back to the tonic. This is typically as follows: […]
Pianist Wayne McConnell looks at Musical Interplay: Miles Davis’s Four and More album This album (the complete concert) by Miles Davis is fascinating for many reasons. First and foremost was the geniuses that he had in his band. Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, George Coleman and a very young Tony Williams. This rhythm section […]
Pianist Terry Seabrook’s Jazz Tip of the Month No. 21: Phrasing in Improvisation A simple tip this week is this: Play less not more. It’s a common shortcoming of improvisers at all levels but particularly beginners that there are not enough spaces in the music. Simply put this means that while […]
Pentatonic Scales A Pentatonic Scale is simply any scale with 5 notes in. Pentatonic scales can be very simple sounding, they have an earthy, natural quality but they can also be used in a way that makes them harmonically rich and interesting. Most of you will be familiar with the basic pentatonic scales for […]
Terry Seabrook’s Jazz tip of the month No. 20 Make sure you listen (and interact) Most aspiring jazz musicians learn to play by using play-along records (or more frequently now by using an app such as iReal Pro) and thus spend most of their musical activity playing alone. To be sure, the […]
Committed to Committing it to Memory You would think learning songs would be a relatively simple exercise and in many ways it is. In jazz however, simply knowing the song is not really enough. As improvisers, we want to be able to feel completely relaxed with the material that we are improvising on. Learning […]
It is very easy to get habituated to playing loud because it is often a way of creating energy and excitement in music but volume can become a one-way street if you are not careful and it is very easy to end up playing too loud a lot of the time. If you are […]
Jazz Tip of the Month No. 13 by pianist Terry Seabrook. Transcribe, Transcribe, Transcribe One of the best tools in learning to improve your ability as a jazz improviser is to transcribe other players’ improvised solos. This is a very effective way to learn the language of jazz and of your favourite players. […]