Week 12 - Jazz in 3 Months

Wow wow wow. So I have now officially made it halfway through my Jazz program. Now to tell you how I feel... EXCITED. It has not been a walk in the park. Jazz is most certainly the rocket science of music, fortunately however, it is not as hard as rocket science. I am slowly getting a name for myself as a jazz guitarist around Stellenbosch, as well as Hout Bay I guess seeming as Otis, my mentor, has asked me to perform alongside him for some jazz shows in and about Hout Bay. That alone makes me ecstatic. I'm honored to be playing with Otis who was one of the top Jazz guitarists in Johannesburg some years ago. He has not played jazz shows in a long while, and now for his debut, he asks me to play. Yes. I am happy! I have made new jazz friends, mostly from the jazz jams. I have been jamming so often at the conserve that even they are beginning to recognize me (Josh and I have started a trend there). We actually jammed yesterday with a bassist (Josh's student), and that was great. Awesome to have bass. We just solo'd over two songs, but we did not get bored. Jazz improvisation is never boring. Even though I'm still a novice at it, I could feel with every improvisation, I was getting more confident and experimental. I would make the 'bad' notes sound as if they are meant to be there.

So after 3 months, I have learned quite a bit: Arpeggio's, Melodic Minor Scale, Chords, STANDARDS, Theory, Blues, History, Aural training, transcriptions, licks, Swing feel, latin feel, chromatism, sheet reading, trading of fours, band leading etc. Most importantly, I have learned, and am still learning how to use all these elements TOGETHER. As Parker Said, you got to learn it all, and then forget it. So when I play at the jams, I'm not constantly thinking; - Db7alt, melodic minor 7, swing, Pass lick, add chromatics, No. none of that. Instead I just do!

More impressively, when I started, I knew about 1 standard. Autumn Leaves. Now I know 21 standards!! And I still got way more to go. I have found pics all over the net that relate to the songs I have, and also to celebrate my halfway mark. So try guess if you can see what song correlates with what picture. The songs are (including both chords and head):

1. Autumn Leaves
2. Take the A Train
3. Blue Bossa
4. Beautiful Love
5. Four *new
6. Watermelon Man
7. Green Dolphin Street
8. Cantaloupe island
9. Harold's Bossa
10. In a Mellow Tone
11. Footprints
12. Sookie, Sookie
13. Satin Doll
14. All the things you are
15. Days of Wine and Roses
16. Yardbird Suite *new
17. Night in Tunisia
18. Witchcraft
19. Summertime
20. Fly me to the moon
21. My Funny Valentine

What makes me more excited is that this is only the halfway mark, and I have already got so much under my belt. What can another 3 months do for me? That really is what excited me! In terms of my goals from the beginning, I have not been keeping strict with them. 5 hours a day, is difficult mainly because I have other commitments. There are certainly a few days when I play for 5 hours or over, but mostly its between 2 to 4 hours a day that I practice and learn. BUT - I do pick up my guitar EVERYDAY. My sheet reading skills have increased, therefore that reduces my practice time I guess. It used to take me like an hour and a half just to read a melody, now it takes me about half an hour. Progress? I think so. My ears are being developed. Once again, it used to take me a while to transcribe music, but now it just happens so much easier. Oh, and whilst on topic. I finished the transcription for Wes Montgomery on Satin Doll, and I definitely will be using some of his licks and techniques. In the Jam yesterday I used licks from Pass and Gillespie that I transcribed, so transcribing has a three-fold effect. It develops your aural skills, it gives you the feel for how the greats improvise, and it gives you some killer cool jazz licks.

So yea, I'm really getting this whole jazz thing. My improvisations are still 'weak' as I mostly rely on arpeggio's, the major scale, and I too often start each lick or whatever you want to call it on the root of the chord I am playing on, which is alright, but its too easy. I have to, and want to learn how to solo over the changes, i.e. to be a semi-tone away from the next chord tone I have to play at. That sounds really jazzy!

Thanks to all who actually read this, you're the ones that keep my motivated and encouraged. I have been getting a lot of kind words from fellow musicians or music lovers alike. Thank you! Now, lets tackle these next 3 Months!