Welcome to episode 153 of the LJS Podcast where today we are covering 28 different jazz skills that you can start practicing today. No more excuses of not knowing what to practice! I break them down by category and list a lot of resources we have on Learn Jazz Standards to help you accomplish them.
Listen to episode 153
If you’ve ever told yourself that you would practice you just don’t know what, that excuse ends today. There are so many things you can be practicing to improve as a jazz musician, and my goal is to help you identify those things.Today’s episode is a list of 28 jazz skills you can be working on. I break them down into 4 categories that are helpful for improving jazz skills and musicianship in general.
I am fully aware that this is an overwhelming list. I suggest picking one or two things that stick out to you and focusing on them, rather than trying to tackle too many of them.
I also have links to many important resources that we have on Learn Jazz Standards that will help you accomplish and understand some of these tasks.
Here’s the list of 28 along with important links for further training:
28 Jazz Skills:
Category: Technique
1. Scales
2. Patterns
3. Arpeggios
4. Instrument-specific technical exercises
Category: Jazz Language
5. Work on enclosures
6. Pentatonic scale application
7. Learn a jazz lick by ear
8. Take a jazz lick through all 12 keys
9. Practice a jazz etude
10. Compose your own jazz lick
11. Compose your own jazz solo
12. Learn a jazz solo by ear
13. Practice specific chord progressions
14. Practice improvising over one chord
15. Compose your own contrafact
16. Practice guide tones
17. Listen to jazz
Category: jazz repertoire
18. Learn a jazz standard
19. Take a jazz standard you already know into a different key
20. Learn a jazz blues
21. Learn a rhythm changes head
22. Practice a jazz standard with a metronome
Category: Ear Training
23. Interval recognition
24. Sing intervals
25. Chord recognition
26. Sing chords
27. Learn chord progressions by ear
28. Practice melodic dictation
Phew! That was a lot of stuff. I would encourage you to pick one or two that really resonate with you and start getting to work.
We have a huge library of content on Learn Jazz Standards and the resources I’ve linked up can keep you busy for a long time. But focus on just a few and remember to take action.
Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way