10 Tips for Successful Jazz Gigs and Jam Sessions

GOOD FOR

Learn Jazz Standards Instuments
How to Prepare For a Jazz Performance

Welcome to episode 95 of the LJS Podcast where today we are walking through 10 important tips for playing successful jazz gigs and jam sessions. At the end of the day, the end goal for our practicing and honing our craft is to get out there and play. These tips will help set up you and the other musicians you are playing with for success.  Listen in!

Listen to episode 95

It’s January 1st, 2018, a brand new year, and every time a new year comes we hopefully jump into it full of motivation and excitement for a fresh start.

When I was planning for what topic to do for our first episode of 2018, I was coming off of a long month (December) of holiday party gigs and casuals. Though as a professional musician I gig quite often, the welcomed increase in gigs had this fresh on my mind.

What better way to kick off the new year than talk about actually getting out there and playing with other musicians.

Today’s episode hones in on 10 important tips for successful jazz gigs and jam sessions. These are all things that I have observed and experienced having played hundreds and hundreds of gigs throughout my career.

I truly believe that if you and the other musicians you are playing with are following these principles, some pretty incredibly musical moments will be allowed to come to life.

Here are the 10 tips I talk about today. Be sure to listen in to the episode where I go deeper into each.

10 Tips:

1. Know the repertoire

2. Listen first, play second

3. Take the focus off of yourself and serve the music

4. Show up with your homework done

5. Be your own timekeeper

6. Spread positive vibes only

7. Know your role in the band or the musical context

8. Leave competition at the door

9. Don’t overplay- say your part and pass the baton

10. Reflect- what should you work on for next time?

If you aren’t playing gigs or going to jam sessions yet, make it one of your goals to start doing so this year. If you are doing these things, make a point to engage even more.[vc_separator]

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

Read the Transcript

Brent: Alright, what’s up everybody? My name is Brent, I am the jazz musician behind the website learnjazzstandards.com, which is a blog and a podcast all geared towards helping you become a better jazz musician.

Welcome and happy new year, if you’re listening today, which is January 1st, 2018. Special happy new year whether you’re listening a little later in the week because you were partying on New Years day, welcome, really excited to just launch a new year and to have you as a listener on the podcast and if you didn’t listen to episode 94, last episode, I talk about how I’m gonna be setting up my 2018 for a successful music year.

I talked a little bit about my successes and some of my failures, I do hope you go back and listen to that episode if you haven’t yet. Whenever we talk about the new year and resolutions and goals, all those things are really important for our success and our case, our musical success. Our success with becoming better jazz musicians. Be sure to listen back to that one.

While I was thinking about what would be a great podcast episode to launch 2018, I thought to myself, what better way to start than to talk about actually playing music, going out there and playing. ‘Cause you know what, why at the end of the day do we spend all the time that we do in the practice room, working hard, working on our technique, working on learning jazz language, working on learning repertoire, why do we do it.

The end goal and hopefully, you are doing a little bit of this already, is to actually go out there and play. To play gigs or even to go out and play jam sessions. I’ve been playing a lot of gigs lately, I am a professional musician so I do play a lot of gigs in general, but I just got off of December, which is the holiday season, tons of holiday gigs, just lots of playing. I thought to myself, it’d be great to talk today about 10 tips for successful gigs and jam sessions. Things that I have just observed from just playing hundreds and hundreds of gigs over my career and especially as it’s so fresh from my mind of just night after night of gigs.

I’d love to share that all with you today. If you’re not playing gigs yet, I want you to make this a very big part of your 2018, or at least a goal. I have a couple Skype students that I teach, I don’t teach as much these days but when I do teach some Skype students, one thing that’s always lacking and it’s always missing, is the playing side. Us actually getting to play with each other. It’s more like a consulting session, which is really awesome, but I always encourage them to be getting out of the practice room. To be getting out and to be playing gigs and to be playing jam sessions cause that’s where the real learning happens, that’s where the real experience happens.

You know you can read books, you can theorize about things you can practice exercises, do all kinds of stuff but at the end of the day you have to go out there and do it. I hope that you will make 2018 the year that you either start playing gigs or start going to jam sessions or if you’re already doing that, playing more of these things. Getting out there even more. Not only is it going to beneficial for your jazz education, it’s gonna be beneficial for you. It’s gonna be fun. That’s really why we do this, right, we can go out there and play with others. Without further ado, let me jump into 10 tips for successful gigs and jam sessions.

Now today’s tips aren’t so much on the professional side, like as in showing up early to the gig, making sure you show up on time, making sure that you’re dressed properly and not abusing your breaks, that’s not really so much that stuff today, although all that stuff is certainly important. This is more tips for actually being prepared and actually having great musical situations, playing with other people, being successful and actually creating great musical moments, both for yourself and for everybody else.

I thought I’d start by saying that but if you are interested, if you are more interested on the professional side of things, one of the earlier podcast episodes … episode 23 I believe, is Gig Etiquette 101 for Musicians. If you want to go back and listen to that episode, I talk a little bit more about some of those aspects of actually playing gigs.
Today, I’m gonna go through these 10 tips. I’m gonna go through them rather quickly, I’m not gonna spend too much time on each one, I’m just gonna elaborate on each. I hope you have your notes out and ready but if you don’t and you’re out running right now, you’re at the gym, you’re on a commute, you can go to the show notes later, learnjazzstandards.com/episode95 to check out all of these 10 tips if you’d rather see that all in writing.

Now number one, first tip for a successful gig or a jam session and that is Know Repertoire, know the repertoire. Whether that be Jazz Standards, which is obviously a really important thing for jazz musicians to know or whether that be knowing how to play a particular piece, an original composition that is required of the gig. If you are playing someone else’s music, know that music. Have put in the study time ahead of time or make sure that you know a number of jazz standards to get through. The most common ones that you need to know in order to have a successful time.

Now, in a more recent episode, episode 84, I talk about important jazz standards you need to learn. In that episode, I break down 40 standards at a different important category. If you’re wondering to yourself, what jazz standards should I know, this list of 40 is a really good one to go off of, especially because I do break it down at different categories so that you can go back and listen to episode 84 if you want to dig deeper into that but the bottom line is you need to know repertoire. Whether it’s a gig, where you’re actually playing for money in front of an audience or as background music, or if you’re playing at a jam session and you want to go play and network with other musicians, which is incredibly important.

Jazz is a social music, you need to know repertoire. Be sure to spend time in the practice room learning repertoire so that you have a handful or 10 or 20 songs under your belt that you can play.
Okay now number two is Listen First, Play Second. Listen First, Play Second. Now what do I mean by that? When we are playing with a group of other jazz musicians, our top priority should be to be listening to what everybody else is doing and responding. Listening and responding. That is the root of thins music. Call and response. Listening to what other musicians re playing and feeding off of that energy and it should got the other way around too. If you’re playing something and the other musician should be responding to you as well.

Everybody has their own part. Everybody has their own seat at the table, but it’s up to us to listen to each other so we can have the best musical situation possible. The best musical experience possible. Oftentimes with amateur musicians or less experienced musicians, that doesn’t always quite happen. Sometimes, it just happens to be that the musician just plays. Just plays whatever they know, whatever they’re hearing and ignore the rest of the band and we need to listen first and then play. Don’t just start playing and assume things, listen to what’s going on and react to that. That’s a really big, golden tip for you when you’re playing with other jazz musicians. That’s the spirit of jazz, improvisation call and response. Number two is listen first and play second.

Now going off of that, building from that, is number three, which is Take the Focus Off of Yourself. Take of the focus off of yourself because it’s not all about you. If you’re listening first, then you’re automatically taking the focus off of yourself. It could be really easy to indulge yourself in … especially with jazz music, it’s kind of an indulgent sort of music. Improvisation and focusing on virtuosity. There’s the soloist and you pour yourself into all of that but if you take your ego out of the picture and you just show up to a gig and you show up to a jam session with an attitude of service, serving the other musicians, you take that focus off of you, automatically a lot of problems are gonna be fixed.

I played with lots of musicians and I played with some, who walk in, are completely humble and they’re there to serve the music and therefore, the music turns out awesome no matter what kind of different level of players are playing. I’ve also played with some other musicians who come up and they’re in it for themselves, they’re in it to show off, they’re in it to let themselves shine and not listen first and just play for themselves and kind of hog the show for themselves.

What happens when musicians do that is the music suffers because that’s just not how it works. Not in most styles of music and I would say especially not in jazz, in my opinion. Number three is take the focus off yourself, show up in service of the music and the other musicians that you’re playing with.

Number four is Show Up with your Homework Done. Okay show up with your homework done. What do I mean by that? We all need to spend time in the practice room preparing ourself for the musical situations that are gonna come up. We need to practice. We have to pay a little bit of our dues. I don’t mean to say that in a sense of, well you have to put in X amount of hours before you go out and play a gig or show up at a public jam with more experienced players.

Again, the music, going out there and actually playing is a very pivotal, important part of your education but at the same time, you need to have studied the music. You have to be listening to it. You have to know what jazz sounds like of course, you have to know the elements and the essence of it. You have to have put in some time on your instrument so that you can hang so that you can play in time.

You need to know some jazz standards, you need to know the repertoire, like I mentioned in number one. You need to have some of these things put together at least on a basic level. It doesn’t mean you have to be a great player. By no means do you have to be any of that, but you have to have some knowledge, you have to have some preparation in place so that you can execute a song or a number of songs with a group of musicians.

Number four is, do your homework, don’t show up without having done your homework. Don’t think that you can just show up and play with other experienced players without having put any work into it. You do have to, you do have to spend some time in the practice room, that’s really important so be sure that you do show up with your homework done.

Number five, Be Your Own Time Keeper. This is a really important one, okay? Be your own timekeeper. It’s kind of funny, sometimes when you’re playing with a group of musicians and you feel like the music sped up or it dragged, it slowed down. A lot of times, the drummer seem to get a lot of flack for this, right? Or the bassist get flack for this. The truth is, everybody in the band is a timekeeper. I know the drummers listening to me today will love me for this and even the bass players, but yes if you’re a horn player, if you’re a piano player, if you’re a guitar player, it doesn’t matter what instrument you play, you are a time keeper in the band. Everybody is responsible for it.

We all have to be working with that. We have to be working with our metronomes so that we can build an internal clock. We have to be practicing along with records and trying to keep the form, we have to practice that kind of stuff. We’re all time keepers, we’re all responsible for this kind of stuff.

It actually amazing, by the way, everybody in the band has a certain amount of power to make the music go faster or slower, regardless of what role you play. A piano player can comp in such a way that it makes the band speed up or slow down. A horn player can play lines in such a way that could cause the band to speed up or slow down. When a drummer is taking a solo, it’s everybody’s responsibility to track with the drummer where they are.

It’s everybody’s responsibility to keep time. That’s really important and I see this happen on gigs all the time is when not everybody is taking responsibility of this, the music can suffer, the music potentially can even fall apart. Be sure to work on that, keeping your time and realizing that you are part of that tune no matter what instrument you play.

Now number six is Positive Vibes Only. Positive vibes only, now there’s nothing I hate more than vibey jazz musicians, pretentious, vibey, jazz musicians. It’s so disheartening, it’s a terrible culture that sometimes exist in jazz and it’s awful. In fact, I dedicated an entire podcast episode to that, episode 71, Why the Vibe Culture in Jazz Has to Go, just because I think it’s an awful thing that really does not help anything. We’re all in this together, we’re all on the same path though different parts of that path we may be. There’s no reason to put somebody else down because you think you’re better than them.

Leave your ego at the door, we don’t need to have any of this stuff going on so please, no vibing, keep positive, positive attitudes towards other musicians, positive attitudes towards the music and even positive attitudes towards yourself. Don’t be showing up to a gig or a jam session and just constantly feeling down on yourself, the way your playing. It brings energy down for everybody else as well. If we all show up with positivity, then there’s something positive that’s gonna come out of the music. If we’re showing up with negativity, I think that things can suffer. Please, positive vibes only.
Number seven is Know Your Role. Know your role in the band, this is really important. This kind of covers a few different areas here. There’s number one, as your instrument, what typically, what role typically does your instrument play?

For example, I’ve been playing a lot with singers lately. As a guitar player, I’m required both to be able to play melodies and I’m also required to be able to accompany other musicians and singers as one that I especially have to deal with.

One thing I’ve realized over the time of playing gigs with singers is that I need to be able confidently end the song and confidently intro a song for a singer. That doesn’t always comes naturally and there’s’ still times where I have to really consciously think, “I am in control of that, I need to really help lead that charge.” That’s my role when I’m playing with a singer.

I also play with another band at a club and it’s a sextet, so it’s a lot of instruments and there’s a piano player present and for that gig, I purposely really minimally comp, I don’t really accompany much, I kind of let the piano player take that. My role changes to more of horn player. When it’s my turn to solo or if I’m doubling the melody, then I’m doing that but I’m not stepping all over the piano player’s toes. I’m knowing what role I play.

If you’re’ a horn player, it could mean if you’re playing in a big band, right? You’re not going to be blowing over top of everybody else you’re going to want to be melding in with the rest of the section. If you’re the horn player that’s playing the melody, you’re the star. You have to lift it up, you have to take that responsibility, hone in on that. Maybe you’re a secondary horn player and you want to be playing counter point.

All kinds of different scenarios, if you’re a drummer, if you’re’ a bass player, think about what does your instrument traditionally play. How does it traditionally play, what is the traditional role. Then in the particular musical situation you’re in, what role are you playing? How can you make the music sound the best it possibly can. That’s number seven, know your role.

Number eight, it kind of ties in a little bit with number six about keeping positive vibes but it’s a little bit different. That’s Leave Competition at the Door. There’s some that may disagree with me on this, but I really do no think that music should be a competitive activity. This is not a sport, it’s music.

Yes, I am a totally a peace loving hippie sort of character in that way. Music should be all about spreading the good vibes and there’s really no need for competition in it. Like I said, everybody’s on the same path, different spots of the path, though they may be. It’s our job to encourage each other, not be constantly comparing and contrasting with each other.

It could be really damaging to your self too because a lot of musicians, they suffer from feeling down on themselves in the way the play and constantly comparing themselves to others and I found in my own career, in my own musical life that that could be quite damaging personally, really emotionally damaging to constantly to be checking yourself on somebody else and it can create a lot of bad feeling. It can create a lot of bad vibes and instead of being competitive, I would encourage you to do what my older brother does best and set personal records.

Focus on each gig or jam session as being your personal record. How can you outdo yourself? You don’t need to outdo other musicians. How can you outdo yourself and if you keep that attitude of constantly wanting to improve yourself, you’re always gonna get better and you don’t need to worry about how other people are matching up to you. You can be inspired by other musicians who are better that you, that’s one thing but I strongly encourage you to fight that urge to feel competitive against other musicians, I just don’t think it’s helpful to anybody. That’s number eight.

Now number nine is don’t overplay. Don’t over play, just say your part and then pass the baton on. I’ve heard jazz before described as a mini democracy of sorts. Everybody’s kind of sitting around and everybody plays something together and then everybody has a turn to say what they want to say and everybody gets a chance to be heard. I’ve that analogy before, I think it’s a cool analogy. It’s a good analogy but sometimes you have people that are kind of hogging things.

Again, this goes back to taking the focus off yourself like I mentioned in number three, you have to step away and think about how can I serve the music in a broader sense even outside of myself. Sometimes I hear this in the musicians taking too long of a solo. They have some great choruses of a solo but then they just decide that they want to keep going on. Sometimes that’s appropriate but other times it’s like, I think the music should have stopped there, I think you said what you needed to say and you probably should have started capping it off and closing it and passing it on to the next person.

It’s very subjective, but you can always tell when someone overplays. It also, you can take that another direction too and just put that in the hand of the improviser. If you’re overplaying all the time and not leaving space and breathing room, then that’s also going to make the music feel claustrophobic. It’s gonna make your solo sound claustrophobic. You got to get some air to breathe, leave some space.

What is it, there’s this Miles Davis quote that says, it think I’m gonna butcher it but, “It’s not the notes that you play, it’s the notes that you don’t play,” something like that, which you know is kind of a powerful, striking little quote, one liner that he said once, and it’s so true. A lot of times, what makes a series of notes or one note or a line powerful, is the notes that you didn’t play before. The entrance that it actually came in. Keep that in mind. Both, keep that in mind in your solos to leave space but keep it mind also in the broader sense of not hogging the spotlight too much. Pass on the baton, don’t overplay.

The last one I want to talk about, number ten is a really important one, it’s Reflect. Reflect after the gig. What should I work on? What went well, what didn’t go so well. A great way to properly reflect is to record yourself and I do this from time to time, you don’t have to record yourself every single gig, although I have some friends, some colleagues that do. They record just about everything they play and they listen back just to kind of check it out to see if anything great came out of it that they really liked they did or maybe to listen back and probably most importantly, listen back and see, what can I work on for next time? What went well, what didn’t go very well. How was my phrasing going? How is my comping going, how is my baselines. Did I lose the form in this area and if so, why?

Listen back to all these things or look back at some of the other thing like was I over playing. There’s a lot of things you and critique yourself. You could be kind to yourself at the same time, but critique some areas of your playing so that you can improve for the next time. That’s how we learn, that’s how we do it.

Sometimes, we may even show up to a jam session or a gig with some really experienced players and get a little bit smoked, right? Like, “Oh, that tempo was way too fast for me, I got lost, I fell on my face.” But you can listen back to that and be like, “Okay, cool. I think I know what I need to work on.” Then you can get into that practice room and work on that for next time.

That’s what I do. That’s the attitude that I always try to keep is, not let maybe a failure that happened at a gig or jam session get me down but try to learn from that experience and move on. That’s the most important thing that we can get out of playing gigs and jams sessions is actually in real practice, putting things to work and by doing so we can learn so much and better.

Really quickly, I’m just gonna run through, there’s a lis of ten really quick, just to recap really fast. Number one was know your repertoire. Number two was listen first, play second. Number three is take the focus off yourself, put it onto the other musicians. Number four, show up with your homework done, make sure you spent time in the practice room honing your craft. Number five, be your own timekeeper, everybody in the band is responsible. Number six, positive vibes only, no negativity needed. Number seven, know your role in the band whether that be your personal instrument and what you normally or what the musical situation requires. Number eight, leave the competition at the door. Go for personal records instead. Number nine, don’t overplay, just say yourself, pass the baton, leave some space in your solos. Number ten is reflect. What should I work on? What can I do to improve of the next time around.

If you do all these things, you are going to continually have better, more successful gigs and jam sessions. When everybody’s doing all of these things that I just mentioned, some incredible musical moments can happen. I’ve been in the before. I’ve totally been there before where everything just came together, all the musicians were on the same wavelength and some real, magical stuff happened. It’s the greatest feeling int he world and I want you to have that too. I want you to have that too.

If you have not started playing gigs, I want you to definitely dig in, jump in, start playing gigs in 2018. If you’re playing om, keep playing them, maybe you can try to play a few more and if you’re a professional or a semi-professional, more on the lines of how I operate in music, then try to maybe hone in to some to these finer elements of reflection and improvement on where you’re at and maybe some of the more professional elements.

I hope you get into this, and I hope you start playing more gigs here in 2018.

Alright that’s all for today’s show. I want to take you so much for listening. Thanks for tuning in and once again, happy new year, really excited to have you listening to the show. Hope you’ll be listening all year long now. If you’re listening to this and you’re thinking to yourself, “Man, 2018, I really want to work on my jazz playing. I really want improve. I really want to get better,” well I don’t think there’s any better time than now to start taking our 30 days to better jazz playing course.

Our 30 days to better jazz playing course, it’s a 30 step process going through goal oriented focused practice sessions where you’re gonna be practicing things that will actually improve your jazz playing. That kind of stuff is learning jazz repertoire, learning jazz solos by ear, learning licks and just having real solid instruction and actual structure to a practice session.

If you’re serious about practicing, if you’re serious about improving your jazz musicianship in 2018, I think it’s a great idea for you to go over to learnjazzstandards.com/30days, that’s three, zero days. Check out this course, see if it’s right for you and if it is, go ahead and enroll and I’d love to see you in that course. Great way to start off 2018.

As I always say at the end of this podcast, if you got value out of this show, go to iTunes, your favorite podcast listening service, leave us a rating and review, it helps other people find the show and we really appreciate your help.

Now next week, we’re gonna be coming out with episode 96. I’m looking forward to seeing you back then.

TAKE YOUR JAZZ PLAYING TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

We help musicians of all instruments start improvising confidently over jazz standards in just 30 days without mind-numbing hours of practice or the overwhelm.

TAKE YOUR JAZZ PLAYING TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

We help musicians of all instruments start improvising confidently over jazz standards in as little as 30 days without mind-numbing hours of practice or the overwhelm.

“Jazz music is the power of now. There is no script. It’s conversation. The emotion is given to you by musicians as they make split-second decisions to fulfill what they feel the moment requires.”
WYNTON MARSALIS

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN

Learn Jazz Standards The Smart Way Ebook Cover

OUR PROVEN PROCESS FOR LEARNING JAZZ STANDARDS LIKE A PRO

A step-by-step guide for how to effectively learn jazz standards so you’ll feel confident playing them, and won’t forget them.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Welcome to LearnJazzStandards.com! We’ve created this page so that you (and any visitor to LearnJazzStandards.com) will understand the terms and conditions that govern your use of this website. If you continue to browse and use this website you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions, which together with our privacy policy comprise our (LearnJazzStandards.com’s) entire relationship with you.

Exclusion of Liability

The content found on any page of this website is for your general information and use only, and it is subject to change without notice. Neither we nor any third parties provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on this website for any particular purpose. You acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law. Your use of any information or materials on this website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through this website meet your specific requirements.

Indemnity

By accessing our website, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from all claims, actions, damages, costs and expenses including legal fees arising from or in connection with your use of our website.

Copyright Laws & Intellectual Property

This website contains some material which is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions. All logos, trademarks, and other intellectual property found on LearnJazzStandards.com are the property of their respective owners. They do not indicate ownership, affiliation, sponsorship, or any other relationship with LearnJazzStandards.com. In addition, this website may also include links to other websites. These links are provided for your convenience to provide further information. They do not signify that we endorse those websites, and we have no responsibility for the content of those linked websites.

Unauthorized Use

Your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of the United States of America. Any unauthorized use of this website may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offense. Thanks, and enjoy LearnJazzStandards.com!

Return Policy for Products

Refund Policy

For play-alongs and eBooks:

Because these are digital downloads, and not returnable, we have a strict no refund policy. All purchases are final and cannot be reversed. Please be sure that you fully understand the product you are purchasing and what is and what is not included. Of course, if you ever have any questions about a product feel free to contact us or visit our FAQ page.

For 30 Days to Better Jazz Playing eCourse

Please make sure you completely understand the product you are buying before purchasing. 14 Day 100% Money Back Guarantee
  • This guarantee lasts 14 days, which completely covers almost half of the course, enough for you to observe its’ effectiveness.
  • We can’t guarantee you will be Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, or John Coltrane in 2 weeks. We’d be suspicious of anyone who could promise that. Becoming a better jazz musician is a process and it requires work.
  • If you’re not happy with the quality of this program…send us an email and showing you did the work. We’ll refund 100% of your money (We’ll even eat the credit-card processing fees) and we’ll part as friends. We believe in the power of this course and so we’ll take responsibility for it.

For Inner Circle Membership

Please make sure you completely understand the product you are buying before purchasing. 30 Day 100% Money Back Guarantee
  • This guarantee lasts 30 days, which is enough for you to observe the membership’s effectiveness.
  • We can’t guarantee you will be Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, or John Coltrane in 30 days. We’d be suspicious of anyone who could promise that. Becoming a better jazz musician is a process and it requires work.
  • If you’re not happy with the quality of this program…send us an email and showing you did the work. We’ll refund 100% of your money (We’ll even eat the credit-card processing fees) and we’ll part as friends. We believe in the power of this course and so we’ll take responsibility for it.

Rights of use

All digital products are for the use of the individual customer only. Redistribution or reselling of our digital products is strictly prohibited and a violation of United States and New York State law.

PRIVACY POLICY

At Learn Jazz Standards LLC, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important.

Here are the types of personal information we may collect when you use and visit LearnJazzStandards.com, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.

Log Files

As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as AOL or Shaw Cable), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.

Cookies and Web Beacons

We may use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. This could include only showing you a popup once in your visit, or the ability to log in to some of our features, such as forums. We collect this information to help send you only pertinent content that we believe you are interested in and will benefit from.

We also use third party advertisements on LearnJazzStandards.com to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program) information including your IP address, your ISP, the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed.

This is generally used for geotargeting purposes (showing New York real estate ads to someone in New York, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites).

DoubleClick DART cookies

We also may use DART cookies for ad serving through Google’s DoubleClick service, which places a cookie on your computer when you are browsing the web and visit a site using DoubleClick advertising (including some Google AdSense advertisements).

This cookie is used to serve ads specific to you and your interests (“interest based targeting”). The ads served will be targeted based on your previous browsing history (For example, if you have been viewing sites about visiting Las Vegas, you may see Las Vegas hotel advertisements when viewing a non-related site, such as on a site about hockey).

DART uses “non personally identifiable information.” It does NOT track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, social security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers. You can opt-out of this ad serving on all sites using this advertising by visiting http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx

You can chose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

Deleting cookies does not mean you are permanently opted out of any advertising program. Unless you have settings that disallow cookies, the next time you visit a site running the advertisements, a new cookie will be added.

Email Addresses

If you share your email address with LearnJazzStandards.com via the contact page, we will only use it to contact you, and will NOT add you to any lists or newsletters without your consent.

In addition, if you sign up for the free newsletter, your email address will only be used to send special offers and updates from LearnJazzStandards.com. Addresses are recorded and kept secure through MailChimp, which we use to distribute information to our subscribers. Neither MailChimp nor LearnJazzStandards.com will give or sell your address to any third party, nor will you be added to any additional lists.

Right to Be Forgotten

If at any point you wish to be completely deleted from our databases, whether it be as a newsletter subscriber or an account holder on learnjazzstandards.com, you have the complete right to do so.

Contact us, and we will ensure your data is cleared from our system.

Data Control Contact

If you ever wish to reach out to us regarding the use of your data, we are reachable at [email protected]. Additionally, you can use our contact page, to reach out any time.

In short, your information is safe with us, and we greatly value your trust.

Thanks for using Learn Jazz Standards!

Terms of Use

Welcome to LearnJazzStandards.com!

We’ve created this page so that you (and any visitor to LearnJazzStandards.com) will understand the terms and conditions that govern your use of this website.

If you continue to browse and use this website you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions, which together with our privacy policy comprise our (LearnJazzStandards.com’s) entire relationship with you.

Exclusion of Liability

The content found on any page of this website is for your general information and use only, and it is subject to change without notice.

Neither we nor any third parties provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on this website for any particular purpose.

You acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Your use of any information or materials on this website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through this website meet your specific requirements.

Indemnity

By accessing our website, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from all claims, actions, damages, costs and expenses including legal fees arising from or in connection with your use of our website.

Copyright Laws & Intellectual Property

This website contains some material which is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions.

All logos, trademarks, and other intellectual property found on LearnJazzStandards.com are the property of their respective owners. They do not indicate ownership, affiliation, sponsorship, or any other relationship with LearnJazzStandards.com.

In addition, this website may also include links to other websites. These links are provided for your convenience to provide further information. They do not signify that we endorse those websites, and we have no responsibility for the content of those linked websites.

Unauthorized Use

Your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of the United States of America. Any unauthorized use of this website may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offense.

Thanks, and enjoy LearnJazzStandards.com!

Return Policy for Products

Refund Policy

For play-alongs and eBooks:

Because these are digital downloads, and not returnable, we have a strict no refund policy. All purchases are final and cannot be reversed. Please be sure that you fully understand the product you are purchasing and what is and what is not included. Of course, if you ever have any questions about a product feel free to contact usor visit our FAQ page.

For 30 Days to Better Jazz Playing eCourse

Please make sure you completely understand the product you are buying before purchasing.

14 Day 100% Money Back Guarantee

  • This guarantee lasts 14 days, which completely covers almost half of the course, enough for you to observe its’ effectiveness.
  • We can’t guarantee you will be Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, or John Coltrane in 2 weeks. We’d be suspicious of anyone who could promise that. Becoming a better jazz musician is a process and it requires work.
  • If you’re not happy with the quality of this program…send us an email and showing you did the work. We’ll refund 100% of your money (We’ll even eat the credit-card processing fees) and we’ll part as friends. We believe in the power of this course and so we’ll take responsibility for it.

Rights of use

All digital products are for the use of the individual customer only. Redistribution or reselling of our digital products is strictly prohibited and a violation of United States and New York State law.

Learn Jazz Standards Messaging Terms & Conditions

Effective Date:

This SMS message program is a service of Learn Jazz Standards. By providing your cell phone number, you agree to receive recurring automated promotional and personalized marketing text messages (e.g., SMS/MMS cart reminders, sale notices, etc) from Learn Jazz Standards. These messages include text messages that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system, to the mobile telephone number you provided when signing up or any other number that you designate. You give Learn Jazz Standards permission to send text messages to the enrolled cell phone number through your wireless phone carrier, unless and until you end permission per these Terms & Conditions. Consent to receive automated marketing text messages is not a condition of any purchase. Message & data rates may apply.

Message frequency may vary. Learn Jazz Standards reserves the right to alter the frequency of messages sent at any time, so as to increase or decrease the total number of sent messages. Learn Jazz Standards also reserves the right to change the short code or phone number from which messages are sent and we will notify you if we do so.

Not all mobile devices or handsets may be supported and our messages may not be deliverable in all areas. Learn Jazz Standards, its service providers and the mobile carriers supported by the program are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

By enrolling in the Learn Jazz Standards messaging program, you also agree to these messaging terms & conditions (“Messaging Terms”), our Learn Jazz Standards Terms of Use and Learn Jazz Standards Privacy Policy.

Cancellation

Text the keyword STOP, STOPALL, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE or QUIT to the telephone number, long code, or short code that sends you our initial confirmation message to cancel. After texting STOP, STOPALL, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE or QUIT to the telephone number, long code, or short code that sends you our initial confirmation message you will receive one additional message confirming that your request has been processed. If you change your preferences, it may take up to 48 hours for it to take effect. You acknowledge that our text message platform may not recognize and respond to unsubscribe requests that do not include the STOP, STOPALL, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE or QUIT keyword commands and agree that Learn Jazz Standards and its service providers will have no liability for failing to honor such requests. If you unsubscribe from one of our text message programs, you may continue to receive text messages from Learn Jazz Standards through any other programs you have joined until you separately unsubscribe from those programs.

Help or Support

Text the keyword HELP to the telephone number, long code, or short code that sends you our initial confirmation message to receive a text with information on how to unsubscribe.

No Warranty

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THE MESSAGING PROGRAM IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL EITHER OF Learn Jazz Standards OR ANY PARTY ACTING ON BEHALF OF Learn Jazz Standards BE LIABLE FOR: (A) ANY CLAIMS, PROCEEDINGS, LIABILITIES, OBLIGATIONS, DAMAGES, LOSSES OR COSTS IN AN AGGREGATE AMOUNT EXCEEDING THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO Learn Jazz Standards HEREUNDER OR $100.00; OR (B) ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES. YOU AGREE EVEN IF Learn Jazz Standards HAS BEEN TOLD OF POSSIBLE DAMAGE OR LOSS ARISING OR RESULTING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE Learn Jazz Standards MESSAGING PROGRAM. Learn Jazz Standards AND ITS REPRESENTATIVES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR THE ACTS OR OMISSIONS OF THIRD PARTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DELAYS OR NON-DELIVERY IN THE TRANSMISSION OF MESSAGES.

Indemnity

To the maximum extent allowed by applicable law, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Learn Jazz Standards, its directors, officers, employees, servants, agents, representatives, independent contractors and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, actions, causes of action, costs, expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, judgments or penalties of any kind or nature arising from or in relation to the these Messaging Terms or your receipt of text messages from Learn Jazz Standards or its service providers.

Dispute Resolution

  1. General. Any dispute or claim arising out of or in any way related to these Messaging Terms or your receipt of text messages from Learn Jazz Standards or its service providers whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation, or any other legal theory, and regardless of when a dispute or claim arises will be resolved by binding arbitration. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT, BY AGREEING TO THESE MESSAGING TERMS, YOU AND Learn Jazz Standards ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY OR TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION AND THAT THESE MESSAGING TERMS SHALL BE SUBJECT TO AND GOVERNED BY ARBITRATION.
  2. Exceptions. Notwithstanding subsection (a) above, nothing in these Messaging Terms will be deemed to waive, preclude, or otherwise limit the right of you or Learn Jazz Standards to: (i) bring an individual action in small claims court; (ii) pursue an enforcement action through the applicable federal, state, or local agency if that action is available; (iii) seek injunctive relief in aid of arbitration from a court of competent jurisdiction; or (iv) file suit in a court of law to address an intellectual property infringement claim.
  3. Arbitrator. Any arbitration between you and Learn Jazz Standards will be governed by the JAMS, under the Optional Expedited Arbitration Procedures then in effect for JAMS, except as provided herein. JAMS may be contacted at www.jamsadr.com. The arbitrator has exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, or enforceability of this binding arbitration agreement.
  4. No Class Actions. YOU AND Learn Jazz Standards AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Further, unless both you and Learn Jazz Standards agree otherwise in a signed writing, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. You agree that, by agreeing to these Messaging Terms, you and Learn Jazz Standards are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action, collective action, private attorney general action, or other representative proceeding of any kind.
  5. No Class Actions. YOU AND Learn Jazz Standards AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Further, unless both you and Learn Jazz Standards agree otherwise in a signed writing, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding.
  6. Modifications to this Arbitration Provision. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these Messaging Terms, if Learn Jazz Standards makes any future change to this arbitration provision, you may reject the change by sending us written notice within 30 days of the change to Learn Jazz Standards’s contact information provided in the “Contact Us” section below, in which case this arbitration provision, as in effect immediately prior to the changes you rejected, will continue to govern any disputes between you and Learn Jazz Standards.
  7. Enforceability. If any provision of these Messaging Terms is found to be unenforceable, the applicable provision shall be deemed stricken and the remainder of these Messaging Terms shall remain in full force and effect.

Changes to the Messaging Terms

We reserve the right to change these Messaging Terms or cancel the messaging program at any time. By using and accepting messages from Learn Jazz Standards after we make changes to the Messaging Terms, you are accepting the Messaging Terms with those changes. Please check these Messaging Terms regularly.

Entire Agreement/Severability

These Messaging Terms, together with any amendments and any additional agreements you may enter into with us in connection herewith, will constitute the entire agreement between you and Learn Jazz Standards concerning the Messaging Program.

Contact

Please contact us with any inquiries or concerns at [email protected]

OUR PROVEN PROCESS FOR LEARNING JAZZ STANDARDS LIKE A PRO

Get our FREE eGuide “Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way” and follow the 5 simple steps for crushing it with jazz standards.

Learn Jazz Standards The Smart Way Cover

OUR PROVEN PROCESS FOR LEARNING JAZZ THEORY LIKE A PRO

Get our FREE “Jazz Theory Made Easy Fast Track Guide” and follow the 4 simple steps that make learning jazz theory easy.

Jazz Theory Made Easy Fast Track Guide Ebook Cover

OUR PROVEN PROCESS FOR IMPROVISING JAZZ SOLOS LIKE A PRO

Get our FREE “Jazz Improv Made Easy Fast Track Guide” and follow the 3 simple steps for improvising amazing jazz solos.

Jazz Improv Made Easy Fast Track Guide Ebook Cover

DOWNLOAD THIS CHORD CHART

Get our FREE "10 Tips for Successful Jazz Gigs and Jam Sessions" chord chart and our entire library of 200+ jazz standards!

Chord Chart

DOWNLOAD THIS CHORD CHART

Get our FREE "10 Tips for Successful Jazz Gigs and Jam Sessions" chord chart and our entire library of 200+ jazz standards!

Chord Chart

DOWNLOAD THIS CHORD CHART

Get our FREE "10 Tips for Successful Jazz Gigs and Jam Sessions" chord chart and our entire library of 200+ jazz standards!

Chord Chart