Jazz is a genre of music that thrives on creativity, spontaneity, and technical prowess. Whether you're a budding jazz musician or a seasoned player looking to refine your skills, having a structured jazz practice routine is essential.
In this blog post, we'll delve into an effective jazz practice routine that covers all the bases to help you become a more versatile and confident musician.
Setting the Stage: Preparation - Jazz practice routine
Before diving into your practice routine, ensure you have the following:
A Quiet Space: Find a distraction-free environment.
Quality Instruments: Make sure your instrument is in good working condition.
Tools and Resources: A metronome & recording device.
The Routine: Step-by-Step Guide - Jazz practice routine
1. Warm-Up (10-15 Minutes)
Start your practice session with a warm-up to get your fingers, voice, or any other instrumental parts moving smoothly.
Scales and Arpeggios: Practice major, minor, and chromatic scales in various keys. Incorporate different articulations and dynamics.
Long Tones: For wind and brass players, focus on producing steady, clear tones. If you are a trumpet player, try to play efficiently as possible. Go for the best sound you can manage with the least amount of effort! I like to play jazz ballads with the best possible jazz sound I can, again, using the least amount of effort as possible!
Technical Exercises: Use exercises that target finger dexterity, such as Hanon exercises for pianists or Clark studies for trumpet players. I have created my own jazz patterns book that I regularly use as part of a warm up. I also (instead of the Clark studies) use my own creation of chromatic enclosures!
Something like this -
2. Ear Training (10-15 Minutes) - Jazz practice routine
Developing a keen ear is crucial for jazz musicianship.
Interval Recognition: I have found the best way to develop this, which is basically ear/finger coordination is to try and play simple (at fist) tunes by memory in various keys! Start with happy birthday or a simple hymn or nursery rhyme! Gradually start to move to more jazz type tunes and get more chromatic as you improve! Remember to do them in different keys though! Not just the easy ones!
Transcription: Listen to jazz solos and transcribe them. Start with simpler solos and gradually move to more complex ones. You don't have to transcribe a whole solo, I recommend starting with just a short phrase that resonates with YOU!
Chord Progressions: Train your ear to recognize common jazz progressions, like ii-V-I.
In my first jazz lesson ever, my teacher had me practice these phrases in ALL KEYS, it took around 6 months to get them really fluent!
3. Repertoire (20-30 Minutes) - Jazz practice routine
Building a strong repertoire is key to being a well-rounded jazz musician.
Standards: Focus on learning jazz standards. Start by memorizing the melody and chords, then practice improvising over the changes.
Diverse Styles: Include a variety of styles such as bebop, swing, bossa nova, and ballads.
Play-Alongs: Use backing tracks or play with other musicians to simulate a real performance environment.
4. Improvisation (20-30 Minutes) - Jazz practice routine
Improvisation is the heart of jazz.
Chord Changes: Practice improvising over different chord progressions. Begin with simpler changes and gradually tackle more complex tunes. I recommend starting with just the triads, then try to play them in a random but linear order!
Here is an example of what I mean, this page has been taken from my coaching program where I have Blue Bossa as one of my learning tunes! As part of that learning I encourage students to first learn the chord notes and then improvise like so, just creating a solo using quarter beat notes! The better you know the changes, the more melodic your solos will sound (in my opinion).
Scales: Learn the chord/scale relationship that fit over particular chords. I encourage student to NOT think in modes! They will just confuse you, always think in keys! Instead of dorian, think the key but start the scale on the 2nd degress of that major scale! Don't think Mixolydian, think the key you are in but simply start on the 5th degree! The reason I encourage this, ask yourself this question. Did Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown or Chet Baker think in modes! The answer, No. Someone hadn't invented them yet!!!
Motif Development: Take a small musical idea and expand on it through repetition and variation. Again, you need good knowledge of the chord changes and also a good bank of jazz rhythms internalised to be successful with this!
5. Theory and Composition (15-20 Minutes) - Jazz practice routine
Understanding the theoretical framework of jazz will deepen your improvisation and composition skills.
Chord Voicing: Study different voicing for common jazz chords. Pianists and guitarists should practice voice leading.
Form and Structure: Analyse the form of jazz standards and other compositions.
Original Work: Compose your own pieces or solos to apply theoretical concepts creatively.
6. Technique and Advanced Concepts (15-20 Minutes) - Jazz practice routine
Dedicate time to refining your technique and exploring advanced musical concepts.
Technical Etudes: Work on etudes specific to your instrument that target advanced techniques. I suggest practicing and internalising solos of your favourite jazz musicians, if they are too tricky for you, try practicing jazz etudes, I have written hundreds of them for the intermediate jazz student!
7. Cool Down and Reflection (5-10 Minutes) - Jazz practice routine
End your practice session with a cool-down period.
Relaxed Playing: Play something familiar and relaxing to unwind.
Reflection: Spend a few minutes reflecting on what you’ve learned. Note down your progress and set goals for your next practice session in your journal.
I also recommend that you record yourself! We always sound different to what we think we sound like! When you listen back, focus on your timing, articulation and phrasing as well as the notes you have played! If you play with bad articulation, timing and phrasing, no one will want to listen to you anyway, regardless of how many cool licks you have learnt!
It's important NOT to critique your playing as you play! Just play, as your approach improves through proper practice, so will your solos! Revisit your old solo recordings, maybe 3/6 months later and then judge your progress. Learning to improvise (in my experience) is a slow endeavour as we are working on so many skills simultaneously! But, a very worthwhile activity!
Tips for Effective Practice - Jazz practice routine
Consistency: Practice regularly, even if it's for a shorter duration.
Focus: Concentrate on specific goals each session rather than trying to cover too much at once.
Patience: Progress can be slow, but steady practice will yield results.
Enjoyment: Remember to have fun and enjoy the music you are creating.
Practice: Are you practicing? Clark Terry used to say something along the lines of, if you sound good when you are practicing, you are not practicing, you are playing! There is a difference. The trouble is, our ego can stop our own development! If we have been playing for many years and have reached a good level, we don't like to feel like we have totally regressed! But in order to learn new things, such as chromatic enclosures, we must, at fisr be prepared to suck at it!
Conclusion - Jazz practice routine
A well-rounded jazz practice routine incorporates a balance of technical exercises, ear training, repertoire building, improvisation, theory, and self-reflection. By following this structured approach, you'll develop a deeper understanding of jazz and enhance your skills as a musician. Happy practicing!
Recap for your routine -
Warm up
Ear training
Tunes, transcriptions or etudes
Improvisation
Theory, composition
Technique
Reflection
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Check out these lessons I created on th jazz standard 'There will never be another you'. They have been designed/created with many of the above elements in mind!
Lesson 1 - Chord notes. Learn the chord notes fluently of the changes, a great basis for starting beautiful melodic jazz solos!
Lesson 2 - An often overlooked element of jazz practice, rhythm! In this lesson we take a look at developing this area of your playing, again, this relies on the fact you have or are learning the chord changes to the tune you are working on!
Lesson 3 - For me, this was the absolute game changer (again, it totally relied on me knowing the chord changes and scales though). Targeting or as Hal Galper calls it 'Forward motion'. I HIGHLY recommend you check out Hal's book for yourself. It is a total game changer! Developing forward motion REALLY tells the listener you know the changes as you will be always setting up the changes beautifully!
Check out Hal's book and teaching here -
Lesson 4 - Jazz vocabulary - Learn authentic vocabulary, stolen/borrowed from the masters and practice in a goal orientated way, so you are only concentrating on one thing! For this, you NEED to be absolutely fluent with the chord changes, everything depends on prior or scaffolding your learning! You can't start on the 10th run on the ladder (as some teachers try to get you to do).
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Warm regards, Darren.