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 "High
Five my musical friend!"
Welcome to Lesson Number 5. This lesson
is an important last step before learning
to improvise a solo in Jazz. That's right!
You are getting closer to becoming knowledgeable
in the arts of Jazz music.
Remember way back in earlier lessons I told
you that the most important things to know
about a song were:
- How
to start a song?
- How
to end a song?
In the use of "Endings" and "Codas,"
it is important for you to locate these
things (if any) before you begin playing
a song. Visually scan through a song before
you play it. It helps you to understand
the form (flow) of the song and keeps you
from becoming hopelessly lost during performance.
It is a very gnawing feeling to become lost
in a song, not knowing where you are. Use
the tools you've learned in these last 4
lessons to help you avoid this trauma. When
you begin your solo studies these tips will
be paramount in the performance of a solo.
Review
- Practice counting songs to train yourself to intuitively know (feel) the passing
of 8 bars phrases (12 bars in a blues).
- Scan a song to learn it's form and remember that every song has some kind of
form. If you get lost in the "Head" or in the "Bridge," find
the next group coming up in the song and rejoin the performance at that point.
- Sometimes your music is marked with "Horn Cues" or "Drum Cues."
Listen to the horns or the drums and see if you can recognize any of these musical
cues (shown on your music) being played. This will help you relocate your place
in the music.
- Listen to the harmonies (chords) being played by other players. Are they playing
"minor" sounding chords? Are they playing "major" sounding
chords? Do these chords match with any of the chords you see in your music? This
listening tip can assist you in finding your place by comparing what you hear
with what you see written on your part (in your music).
- Are there any long rests? Some songs have long phrases of rest. The composer
might use a group of rests to generate interest in a song. This group can be as
long as the "Head" or the "Bridge."
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