Why Jazz Isn’t Defined By Your Personal Taste
In recent years I’ve noticed what I feel is a troubling trend among some – but, to be fair, not all – jazz musicians and enthusiasts. Sometimes, when someone hears a style, sub-genre, or...
Why Jazz Musicians Should Practice Slowly
If we go around and ask every professional and accomplished musician, I believe they will all agree on one thing, and that is that slow-practice routines are an essential part of their development and...
18 Ways to Make Big Money as a Jazz Musician
(Editors Note: This is a guest post by Chad Lefkowitz-Brown)
If you Google "How much money does a jazz musician make?", an NPR article will come up headlined, "Do Jazz Musicians Really Make $23,000 A...
4 Tips For Not Getting Lost During a Drum Solo (for Non-Drummers)
Drum solos are entertaining and bring a ton of energy to the performance. However, they can also be a nightmare, because keeping your place during a drum solo is not always an easy task.
For...
3 Pivotal Exercises to Improve Technique on Your Instrument
As jazz musicians, we are all on a lifelong journey to constantly improve our technique on our instruments. Anyone who has tried to master a bebop tune or improvise at a fast tempo knows...
Pro Tip: Practicing Towards Killer Musical Performances
Practicing is an art in and of itself, and it is not easy. If we want to see results, we have to know what to practice and how to do so.
Performing is an entirely...
6 Common Endings All Jazz Musicians Should Know
How do you end a jazz standard?
As jazz musicians, we spend so much time and energy working on learning jazz standards and developing the craft of improvisation that we sometimes forget to address very...
3 Mistakes Jazz Musicians Make When Developing an Original Sound
I've encountered all kinds of students in the many years I've been teaching music. I often get the ones who are concerned about sounding original and finding their unique voice, which I think is...
How to Improvise Over “Giant Steps”
Giant Steps looms large in the jazz repertoire as one of the most challenging tunes on which jazz musicians cut their musical teeth.
The iconic title track from Giant Steps helped cement saxophonist John Coltrane’s...
How to Play an Intro to a Jazz Standard
Sometimes in jazz, like in life, the hardest thing to do is to just get started with something. When it comes to starting an activity like a song, it’s occasionally a challenge to break...