OK so you love the music of jazz and want to take up an instrument to play. What do you do next? Well if you decided that you can start taking lessons online please stop right there. The internet is great and provides valuable resources regarding jazz techniques but it won't be a good resource to assist with the correct physical way to play an instrument. Pictures alone will not be enough. A local teacher can actually demonstrate the correct form and the sound you will get by having this correct form. For example teaching the new student to have the correct embouchure when playing saxophone to avoid unnecessary vibrato.
The next step would be to find a local teacher. You can do this by going to the closest college or high school and ask their music departments for referrals. The internet is also available to find a local music teacher. Craigslist is a good place to seek out musicians locally and actually see them play live. Whoever you find I would not settle for your first teacher. Try a few out and get an idea who you might feel comfortable with. Remember that any teacher you go with most likely will be teaching you the basics so it's probably a good idea to get a feel of who you think you might get along with. Discover for yourself how you learn best as a student and see if those teachers fit your criteria as a teacher.
One of my first saxophone teachers I chose was the teacher of a very famous if not most famous saxophone player of our time. I just assumed I would be great if I went with this teacher. Unfortunately he took his fame too far and really didn't pay attention to my lesson and actually fell asleep when I was doing my exercises.
Not all great musicians are great teachers. However once you become more advanced I think you can learn a lot from a musician you really like. They can teach you their style of improvisation or the exercises they practice and possibly you will be able to mimic their style on your way to developing your unique voice. Don't expect to play like them right away but at least they can steer you in the right direction and get you closer to where you want to go. Of course this would be greater appreciated once you become more advanced at improvisation. I am still mimicking ideas from the great players on their solo recordings.
When you become more advanced with your scales and chords I would start playing songs. Isn't that the real reason you picked up jazz in the first place is to improvise and play the jazz standards? If your teacher hasn't turned you on to these already I would get a few play alongs to start learning jazz melodies and practice your improvisation. A few I recommend are Jamey Aebersold and Hal Leonard play alongs.
The next step would be to find a local teacher. You can do this by going to the closest college or high school and ask their music departments for referrals. The internet is also available to find a local music teacher. Craigslist is a good place to seek out musicians locally and actually see them play live. Whoever you find I would not settle for your first teacher. Try a few out and get an idea who you might feel comfortable with. Remember that any teacher you go with most likely will be teaching you the basics so it's probably a good idea to get a feel of who you think you might get along with. Discover for yourself how you learn best as a student and see if those teachers fit your criteria as a teacher.
One of my first saxophone teachers I chose was the teacher of a very famous if not most famous saxophone player of our time. I just assumed I would be great if I went with this teacher. Unfortunately he took his fame too far and really didn't pay attention to my lesson and actually fell asleep when I was doing my exercises.
Not all great musicians are great teachers. However once you become more advanced I think you can learn a lot from a musician you really like. They can teach you their style of improvisation or the exercises they practice and possibly you will be able to mimic their style on your way to developing your unique voice. Don't expect to play like them right away but at least they can steer you in the right direction and get you closer to where you want to go. Of course this would be greater appreciated once you become more advanced at improvisation. I am still mimicking ideas from the great players on their solo recordings.
When you become more advanced with your scales and chords I would start playing songs. Isn't that the real reason you picked up jazz in the first place is to improvise and play the jazz standards? If your teacher hasn't turned you on to these already I would get a few play alongs to start learning jazz melodies and practice your improvisation. A few I recommend are Jamey Aebersold and Hal Leonard play alongs.
No comments:
Post a Comment