How Can I Learn Jazz without a teacher?

Question

I Play Guitar (western classical ). I wish to learn Jazz but have no teacher. Plz guide how can I learn the same without any one's assistance ? (any websites , Books ..........)

Answer 1

Start by songs you like then find its TABLATURE online. It's an easy way to learn those songs.

Answer 2

I'm a largely self-taught jazz guitarist playing at a very advanced amateur level (light giging, I host a jazz jam), so I can speak with some authority.



Depends what skills you bring to the table.



For improvising:



The Jazz Theory Book -- Mark Levine



The bible for jazz students. Assumes an ability to read music on standard clef, and assumes that you will find an alternate source to teach you the scales that get applied in The Jazz Theory Book (which is instrument-agnostic).



Prerequisites:



Some ability to read treble clef. Enough familiarity with jazz cords (e.g. G13, D7b9, Em7b5) to play them or know how to construct them. Levine will take you through the chords and matching theory, but (because it's instrument agnostic) won't teach you how to play the chord.



Syllabus: start at the beginning. For each mode covered in the text, learn the mode in all five positions; learn to hear it and apply it against the musical samples that Levine gives in the sidebars. This means that you'll progress at a rate of about 2 or 3 pages a week for quite some time. It would be a good idea to purchase a Real Book, and learn the complete tunes for the examples that levine gives. Work completely through the transcriptions levine provides (a couple of weeks for each). Expect to spend at least a year to work through levine the first time, and expect to do the entire book cover-to-cover at least twice in order to really absorb it.



If your reading is weak, learn to read directly from treble clef. Do NOT transcribe through tab. It may be slow going at first, but this is not an optional skill.



Time spent with a teacher at this phase would be time well spent. A couple of months of lessons could save you years of study by setting you on the right path early. That being said, my personal experience is that full-time teachers aren't productive. My path has been: study intensively for a while; go to a teacher to get fed new material that will take me months to master; repeat. Don't waste your time with guitar teachers that don't play jazz for a living. Posers are common, and are not useful. Lessons from a pro jazz player don't cost significantly more than lessons from a poser.

Answer 3

I recommend a GOOD chord book..there are several out there to help you finger and spell them out. Know as many positions as you can for each one.

Then pick up 'The Johnny Smith Approach To Guitar' by

Mel Bay. You can find it on ebay and other web sites.

He is a grand master of jazz guitar and one of the greatest teachers / theorists around.

Then,,, listen to as many players as you can. Don't try to copy then but learn from their style, phrasing and general feel.

Answer 4

If you are not musically gifted that much then you need to go to a teacher and you need to learn to read music. Failing that, perhaps you can find some piano lessons over the internet, which also lets you listen to what you are supposed to be playing.

Answer 5

If you play guitar, (western classical) then you know the notes on the neck of a guitar. My advice is to learn as I learned, and how thousands of others including paid professionals have learned, listen to your favorite artists very closely and carefully and play along. The more you do it, the better you become. The more you listen to your favorite artist, you'll soon realize that that particular artist uses a lot of he same notes, in the same pattern, at the same tempo, in the same key. It's the comfort hook that was catchy and got them where they are now, getting paid doing what they do. So listen and play along, you'll get it.

Answer 6

I taught myself how to play jazz from a classical background as a clarinetist years before the Internet existed using my ears and reading skills; in recent years I have added transcribing by merging the ears and reading skills (admittedly helped by the advent of computer notation and digital audio media; repeating an idea or phrase is so much easier than in the days of tape and LP's!).

While I have not ever had a formal teacher in my jazz studies, I have had mentors: some were players, some were avid long-term jazz fans who were also journalists, but all somehow contributed in shaping my explorations as a musician. A mentor might show you matters of technique or theory, but the mentor really is there to "put a compass on the ship" (as said the principal of teachers in "Mr. Holland's Opus"; yet of all the teachers I've encountered only a handful truly challenge minds as mentors do). One was a sax player with whom I never discussed technique, but about how to learn tunes and musical standards; another, a bassist who showed me a bunch of cool voicing tricks. Yet another was a photographer who reminded me that "the holes in my Swiss cheese could well be another's Swiss cheese"- that still resonates as a challenge to absorb from any and all sources that my horn can do.

My mentor of nearly twenty years does talk technique with me sometimes, but mostly as it applies to execution of an idea rather than pure mechanics. When I met him at a jam session I was so knocked out by his ideas and execution that I asked him if I could study from him. He demurred, saying that I had something that no one taught at music school (he had done his junior year at North Texas State)- a working pair of ears. He encouraged me to hang out with him as much as possible to absorb not just content but context. Go hear as many local artists as you can in the search of such figures; sometimes they just might be in the audience listening to the gig just like you. As Charlie Parker remarked, "If you haven't lived it- it ain't in your horn!"

So listen, listen, listen- whether you're practicing or not, and seek out those who do also for feedback. Don't just listen to guitarists: listen to horn players (the early guitar solos supplanted the sax solos on '50's R&B records), pianists, and especially tasteful vocalists for phrasing (can't go wrong with Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, or Sarah Vaughan for starters). As for books on guitar technique I am as a wind player unqualified to answer, but the Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine which Robin D mentioned is a great choice for theory comprehension as applied to jazz harmonies.

Best wishes for your development as a jazz guitarist.