Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Latest Episodes:

5 Reasons You Shouldn't Transcribe Jazz Solos Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

Back when I was in college, I studied with a great jazz guitarist in New York City named Steve Cardenas.
Steve is a fantastic jazz musician, tours around the world with lots of different artists, and has recorded albums. In all senses of the word, a very accomplished musician and seasoned jazz player.
In one of our lessons, one time, when I went up to his house in Brooklyn, he told me something that was slightly disturbing, at least to the way I was thinking about learning music and jazz at that time. And that was, he told me that he had never transcribed a jazz solo before.
And this shook me because many of us understand that conventional advice for learning jazz is to learn jazz solos by ear, transcribe jazz solos and he didn't do that, and that kind of threw me in a whirlwind and kind of turned my world around.
So, today, I'm going to talk about 5 reasons why you actually might not want to be transcribing jazz solos to learn how to play jazz and improve your solos.
In this episode:
1. What is transcribing in the jazz context
2. Transcribing solos is time-consuming
3. Transcribing solos is frustrating
4. Transcribing solos doesn't always translate to better solos
5. Transcribing solos won't help you develop your own voice
6. Transcribing solos may not fit your learning style
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

How to Play Jazz By Instrument (Guitar, Piano, Sax, Trumpet, Bass) Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

If you play guitar, saxophone, trumpet, bass, and piano, this episode is for you.
On this podcast, we talk about jazz improvisation and things that literally all harmonic and melodic instruments need to be doing to improve at playing jazz.
But, inevitably, there are certain technical elements of each one of these instruments that do need to be addressed that will help you actually play jazz better.
So, on today's episode, we're going through each one of these instruments. We're also going to talk about things that all of them need to do, and if you are not one of those instruments, you're going to learn something here today.
In this episode:
What all these instruments need to be doing to improve at jazz:
1. All of these instruments need to be learning jazz standards
2. Working on micro and macro jazz language
3. The technical aspects that each of these instruments need to be working on
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

The 7 Categories of Jazz Standards You Need to Learn Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

Hey, so we know there's a lot of jazz standards out there to learn and sometimes we wonder which ones should we be learning to be able to play with other musicians who play at jam sessions or even play at gigs.
And so, it can really be helpful to understand what the categories are that we need to be focusing on, the subgenres of jazz that will come up time and time again as far as tunes being called in public settings.
So, today on the podcast, we're talking about 7 categories of songs that you need to be learning for jazz.
In this episode:
The 7 Categories of Jazz Standards You Need to Learn
1. Blues
2. Rhythm changes
3. Great American songbook
4. Bebop
5. Modal
6. Bossa nova
7. Ballads
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Using Chord Extensions and Alterations to Spice Up Voicings and Solos Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

Today, on the podcast, we are talking about chord extensions and alterations, what are they, how can we use them in our comping and how can we even use them in our soloing to spice up our jazz improv and jazz playing.
In this episode:
1. The 5 qualities of 7th Chords that are commonly used in jazz:
a) Major 7th chords
b) Dominant 7th chords
c) Minor 7th chords
d) Half Diminished chords
e) Fully Diminished chords
2. What are Extensions and Alterations
3. Extensions we can add on top of the chords
4. Characteristics of suspended chords
5. Using altered extensions to create tension and resolution
6. The Basic structure of Minor 7th chords and their acceptable extensions and
alterations
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

From The Vault: How to Prepare to Play at Jazz Jam Sessions Feb 20, 2023

Show notes

I hear from a lot of you that a big goal is to play at a public jazz jam session. But there may be some barriers, either in your mind or your actual playing ability that is stopping you from actually doing that.
So, how do you prepare to play at jazz jam sessions and with other musicians in general?
That's why we're going to go back into the vault of the LJS podcast, pull out an episode where I get two of my good friends and professional jazz musicians, Wallace Stelzer and Diego Baldonado, and we have a discussion where we talk about this subject.
I know you're going to find it incredibly valuable.
In this episode:
1. What are some of the basics you need down to play live?
2. Watching jam sessions and taking notes
3. Using playing with others to practice vs. perform
4. How to know when you are ready to start going to jam sessions
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Big Thinking Will Transform Your Jazz Playing Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

Today, on the podcast, I want to talk about thinking big. Thinking big in your jazz playing. What I mean by that is aspiring to be something that you probably could never attain.
Perhaps it's playing just as good as Sonny Rollins, perhaps it's playing with your own band at the Village Vanguard. Audacious goals that are really, really difficult to attain, if not, impossible for you to attain.
I want to talk about how this kind of thinking will actually propel you forward in your musical journey and will have a tremendous output for you when you allow yourself to think this way.
In this episode:
1. Thinking big: Why it's actually a good thing.
2. Identifying your most audacious goals.
3. Take your first steps toward the goal.
4. Taking note of the elements of what makes jazz players great.
5. How projects trigger reward responses to create motivation.
6. The dangers of thinking big.
7. Recalibrating your expectations to energize you in the pursuit of progress.
8. What is your audacious goal?
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

Fine Tuning Your Jazz Playing with P.B.R. Practice Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

One of my jazz mentors once said that the secret that pro-level jazz musicians have, some of the best jazz musicians in the world, is they've mastered the art of practicing.
In fact, he went on to say that, pro jazz musicians spend just as much time fine-tuning their actual practice as they do their actual jazz playing.
And so, today, I want to talk about the strategy called P.B.R. practice. Elements of practice sessions that will help set you up for success and jump-start your playing and help it improve a lot faster than it would, otherwise.
In this episode:
1. What is P. B. R. practice
2. The Planned Practice
3. Different options for planning out a practice session
4. The Batched Practice
5. The Regular practice
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

My Story of Overcoming Performance Anxiety Jan 30, 2023

Show notes

So, tell me if you're going to relate any of this:
You want to go play at a public jam session, but you're kind of just afraid that you're not going to sound good and you're afraid of what the other jazz musicians are going to think of you and your playing.
Or, you go up to perform and all the eyes staring back at you make you tremble, make you clam up, and in general, it's just an incredibly uncomfortable experience that doesn't allow you to actually have fun performing and playing jazz.
Well, in today's episode, I'm going to share with you my personal experience with performance anxiety, whether it be for a crowd of people or in front of your peers, and how I've dealt with it and hopefully, you can learn a little bit from my story as well.
In this episode:
1. Why we need to overcome performance anxiety
2. When I started experiencing performance anxiety
3. How jazz playing intensified my performance anxiety
4. Factors that gradually helped me overcome my performance anxiety
5. The best mindset for improving long-term as a musician
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

The 6 Lies of Jazz Success Jan 23, 2023

Show notes

Today, we're talking about the 6 lies of jazz success. Things that you've probably heard before are good things, but it turns out they actually aren't and could be holding you back from reaching your goals in your jazz playing, and becoming the musician that you want to be.
So, let's get ready to do this. Pay attention and grab your notebook.
In this episode:
The 6 lies about jazz success and the alternative ways to turn it around
Lie #1: Everything you practice matters
Lie #2: Practicing a lot of things gets more results
Lie #3: We must practice the same things
Lie #4: Willpower to practice can be summoned easily
Lie #5: We must have balanced practice sessions
Lie #6: Thinking big is bad
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

The Art of Taking B.A.D Jazz Solos Jan 16, 2023

Show notes

So, we just got our Inner Circle Retreat this last weekend, and my friends, it was an absolutely amazing time. So motivating and so inspiring. A lot of our Inner Circle members came together. We did workshops, we did masterclasses, and we did group breakout sessions. It was an amazing time and we learned a lot together.
I want to share with you one little thing that we did talk about during the retreat 'cause I think it will be helpful for you as well, And that's this concept about playing "B.A.D" jazz solos and how playing "B.A.D" jazz solos all-year long could be the secret to massively and exponentially improving your jazz skills this year.
In this episode:
1. What B.A.D. stands for
2. Characteristics of a Brave solo
3. What is an Audited solo
4. Steps to Audit a solo
5. Listen to my own jazz solo and how I audit it
6. The Directional solo
7. Looking at B.A.D. solos in a different perspective
Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!

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