Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Latest Episodes:

6 Reasons Your Jazz Solos May Sound Bad Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 279 where today I share with you 6 reasons your jazz solos may sound bad.
These are things I commonly witness in the playing of beginner and intermediate players, and even with some slight changes and focus on these areas, you can start taking your jazz solos from bad to mediocre, to great.
Alright, I am back after a 2-week break from the podcast, I'm ready to come back and serve you guys, and help you guys become better jazz musicians. And to get right back into the swing of things, I'm going to be talking about six reasons why your jazz solos may not sound so good. And I'm not just going to tell you why they may not sound so good,
I'm also going to give you actual solutions so that you can start fixing them and taking your jazz solos to the next level and iron out those little bits that are just holding you back from sounding like the great jazz musicians that you love and you admire.
In this episode:
1. You're not outlining the chord changes
2. You haven't learned enough jazz vocabulary
3. You are trying to copy and paste licks
4. Your time feel is bad
5. You're not considering the arc of your solo
6. You're only practicing things you already do well
Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

Lessons From Learning 100 Jazz Standards in a Year Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 278 where today I share with you 4 important lessons I learned from learning 100 jazz standards over the course of a year.
Struggle with remembering standards? Maybe you learn them but feel like you don't know them very well? These 4 lessons will help.
There's a year in my life when I had a lot of time on my hands and I actually learned 100 new jazz standards in one year. That's right. I'll say it again. I learned 100 new jazz standards in an entire year. And while I wouldn't necessarily recommend someone to do this, in fact, I wouldn't really ever tell my students to learn 100 jazz standards in one year and I'll explain a little bit about that in this episode, I did actually learn a lot of lessons about jazz and learning music very quickly because I went through that process.
So, in today's episode, I'm going to be sharing with you 4 things that I learned from learning 100 jazz standards in one year so that you can learn from them so that you can avoid doing that yourself and just take the lessons that I got from them.
In this episode:
1. Learn standards that you genuinely enjoy
2. Listen obsessively
3. Recognize common harmonic patterns
4. Play standards with others as often as possible
Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

I’ve got a confession to make…brace yourself Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

Today's episode may come as a surprise to you. I confess a deep, dark, secret on the show.
As a listener of the podcast, you have a right to know. I'm prepared to accept the necessary punishment for my jazz crimes.
I've got a deep, dark bombshell confession I have to make to you. It's something I've avoided trying to tell you for a very long time but I have to come clean. I know that you may not think of me the same way after hearing this news, but the truth is, you must know, after all, you listen to my podcast to learn jazz from me and if I can't be honest about this thing, then what can I be honest with you about? I just have to tell you the truth... I haven't practiced my guitar.
In this episode:1. I confess my jazz crimes.
Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

3 Week Jazz Tune by Ear Challenge (Week 3) Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 276 where we conclude a series of 3 episodes where we are going through a challenge of learning a jazz tune by ear in 3 weeks.
We've learned the melody, we've learned the chords, and now it's time to learn some jazz language. I compose a 12 bar jazz etude live on the podcast and teach it to you at the same time.
On the podcast today we are concluding our 3-week challenge to learn a jazz tune by ear where I've been walking you through a simple process and holding your hand through it. So that by the end of this 3-week series not only will you have been able to learn the jazz tune by ear, no sheet music included, but also have some tools to solo over this tune. And so far we've learned the melody by ear. We've learned the chords by ear. You should know those if you have been following along with this series.
In today's episode, I'm actually going to help you learn a solo, just a one-course solo over the top of this jazz tune and we are going to kind of compose one on the spot. And then, I'm going to give you the challenge to compose your own once you've seen the process that I go through so hopefully this would be very insightful and enlightening.
In this episode:
1. Using the melody as a reference for your solos
2. Using "motivic development" to create theme and variation
3. Your challenge to compose your own 12 bar etude
Important Links
1. Ready or Not backing track
2. Ready or Not Etude
3. LJS Inner Circle Membership

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

3 Week Jazz Tune by Ear Challenge (Week 2) Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 275 where we continue a series of 3 episodes where we are going through a challenge of learning a jazz tune by ear in 3 weeks. And in addition to learning it, by the end of these 3 weeks, you'll be able to play a solo over it that you have created yourself. In Week 2, we are moving forward from the melody and learning the chord changes.
We're on to week number 2 of our Learning a Jazz Tune By Ear Challenge! Last week, we've learned the melody of a jazz tune that I wrote called "Ready or Not". Now, in this week, week number 2 of the challenge, we are going to learn the chords to this song so that you are able to play them by the end of this episode.
And so by the end of this episode, actually if you have worked on week 1 of our challenge, you should know the entire tune and then the next set of courses to start figuring out how do we actually improvise over it. So, let's dive into this. Learning chords by ear can be difficult but I'm here to help you and walk you through it.
In this episode:
1. A few tips for learning chord changes by ear
2. We work through the Trial and Error method
3. Overview of chord changes and your Call to Action
Important Links:
1. "Ready or Not" mp3
2. LJS Inner Circle Membership
3. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

3 Week Jazz Tune by Ear Challenge (Week 1) Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 274 where we start a series of 3 episodes where we are going through a challenge of learning a jazz tune by ear in 3 weeks. And in addition to learning it, by the end of these 3 weeks, you'll be able to play a solo over it that you have created yourself. In Week 1, we learn the melody of the jazz tune. Are you up for the challenge?
Today's episode marks the first in a 3-part challenge that I'm going to be walking you through. We're going to be learning a jazz tune by ear and also by the end of this 3-week challenge, I want you to be able to improvise a solo or play a solo over the top of this jazz tune. I'm going to hold your hand through the process, make it easy, and show you how to do it.
It's going to be like we are going to be practicing in some of these episodes, we are going to be learning some methodologies in these episodes. But overall, I think at the end of these 3 weeks, you will without a doubt be able to say that you know a new jazz tune that you can improvise over and you will learn tons of lessons along the way.
In this episode:
1. How the challenge works and what you'll learn
2. Introducing the jazz tune you'll be learning, "Ready or Not"
3. An overview of the L.I.S.T Process for learning by ear
4. Brent teaches you the melody note by note
Important Links:
1. "Ready or Not" mp3
2. LJS Inner Circle Membership
3. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

Only 3 Things I Would Practice for the Rest of My Life Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 273 where I discuss the only thing I would practice for jazz if I could only pick three.
Most of us don't have a lot of time to practice, but we want to improve our jazz skills quickly. We need to be focusing on the most impactful things and discarding the rest. I share with you mine and encourage you to think about yours.
One massive question that I get all the time from subscribers is what should I practice if I only have a very little bit of time to practice? What's going to get me the biggest bang for my buck? We don't have a lot of time to practice, to work on stuff but we want to improve as musicians. We want to improve our jazz improvisation. What do we do?
There are a billion things you could practice, a billion things you could do. And I'm always trying to answer the question. How do we simplify things? How do we boil things down to the most essential?
And that's what we are going to talk about in today's episode. I'm going to talk about only 3 things. If I were only to pick 3 things to practice for jazz for the rest of my life, what would they be?
In this episode:
1. Using jazz standards as your primary vehicle
2. The 80/20 rule for jazz
3. Chord Tones
4. Learning solos
5. Composing solos
6. Discovering your 20%
Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

Worst, Best, Most Challenging, Most Lucrative Gigs I’ve Played May 31, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 272 where I discuss an array of different jazz gigs I've played over my career as a performing jazz musician.
I talk about the worst gigs I've played, the best ones, the worst paying, the best paying, the ones where I learned the most, and I share all the lessons I've learned along the way.
You know, over the years, as a professional jazz musician, I played hundreds and hundreds of gigs and I've really experienced the entire spectrum of experiences as a gigging musician. I've experienced some of the worst gigs ever like horrible working conditions, near-disasters, or just difficult people to work with. I've experienced amazing gigs -- incredible musicians, incredible experiences, maybe fancy gigs that I've attended or worked with. I've experienced ones that taught me a lot of lessons. I've experienced others that made me want to go and hang my head in shame when I got home.
I've experienced a lot and I'm excited to do a very special episode where I go through a bunch of different gigs that I have played and show you the good, the bad, and the ugly and the lessons that I have learned from all of them
In this episode:
1. Best long term gig I've played
2. Best overall gig I've played
3. Worst gig experience
4. The fanciest gig I've played
5. Worst paying gig I've played
6. Best paying gig I've played
7. Gigs where I've learned the most
8. Gigs that have had the biggest life impact
Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

How to Know What the CORRECT Changes Are to a Jazz Standard May 24, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 271 where today we are exploring the question of how to know what the correct chord changes are for a jazz standard.
Because jazz musicians have often manipulated original chord changes, and often take liberties with chordal harmony, it can be difficult to know exactly what the chords are to standards. I give you some practical tips to help guide you through.
One thing that would be very frustrating about learning jazz and playing jazz is that a lot of times jazz musicians will play a song just slightly differently. Maybe it's the way that they phrase the melody. Maybe it's the way they play the chord changes -- adding chord changes, subtracting chord changes, playing an entirely different key. It can get very confusing and you wish you just knew what the exact original changes that everybody's playing at the jam sessions are so that you're not confused by all the options out there.
Well, in today's episode, we're going to be talking about that specifically. How do you know what changes you should be using and learning when you are learning a new jazz standard?
In this episode:
1. Don't use the Real Book or iReal Pro as primary resources
2. Consult the original recording, but realize that Great American Songbook original changes may be different than what jazz musicians play
3. Realize that some tunes have more than one set of "correct" changes
Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

Understanding Gypsy Jazz and Other Musical Truth Nuggets (feat. Dani Rabin and Danny Markovich) May 17, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to episode 270 where today we have special guests Dani Rabin and Danny Markovich from the band Marbin, on the show to talk about Gypsy jazz.
Our guests talk about the ins and outs of this style of jazz as well as many other musical insights and strategies.
One important style of jazz that came out of Europe is Gypsy jazz. And you're maybe familiar with musicians such as Django Reinhardt, who was the guitarist that really is the centerpiece of Gypsy jazz. But what is Gypsy jazz all about? What makes it unique and how do you go about actually playing it?
Well, on today's show, I have two special guests, Danny Markovich and Dani Rabin from the band Marbin, who just came out with an album on Gypsy jazz. And they are going to talk to us about Gypsy jazz, and how it works, and this is going to be a really fun and enlightening conversation.
In this episode:
1. What makes Gypsy jazz, Gypsy jazz?
2. Gypsy jazz comping technique for guitarists.
3. Stylistic approaches to improvising
4. Other important musical truths
5. Marbin's new Gypsy jazz album
Important Links:
1. Marbin's Gypsy jazz album "Fernweh"
2. LJS Inner Circle Membership
3. Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

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

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected