Over the last few years I have found that the Internet is a great resource for developing musicians. In grad school at the University of Northern Iowa I found it to be invaluable to practice in front of my computer. Here are some websites you should check out to help make your practice time more effective.
In no particular order:
eMusic – eMusic is an invaluable resource for affordable DRM free music. As a jazz major in college, it was very useful to use eMusic to find rare and hard to find tracks for transcription, study and analysis. No other online music resource has as deep of a jazz catalog as eMusic.
I Was Doing Alright Ear Trainer - This is a great Java based ear training application aimed at not only learning intervals and chord types, but chord progressions, jazz scales and even blues and rhythm changes. This website was developed by a trumpet player from Atlanta who happens to be a web developer. Easily one of the best free ear trainers I have ever seen.
Ricci Adams’s Music Theory – Ricci Adams’ Music Theory website is a great place to start learning the nuts and b0lts of how music works. Covers scales, chords, intervals, progressions and a lot more.
Pollstar – I would also recommend JamBase – The reason we all are musicians is because we had a meaningful live music experience. GO SEE LIVE MUSIC!
Eythorsson – A great site for free high quality PDF’s of classical guitar literature. I know many of you are not classical players, but being able to read music and play without a pick are important skills to have no matter what style you play.
Blank Music Paper – A great site for different formats of blank sheet music. Reading music is such a valuable skill. I didn’t know how valuable it was until after I could read.
To have a unique voice on an instrument is the goal of every artist. The ability to identify a musician by how they manipulate their instrument is something you don’t need inherent musical talent to be able to do. You just need to have an emotional connection to a certain sound that triggers something in your mind. When I began to seriously study jazz guitar I made sure to check out all the great players that everyone told me I should hear. Jim Hall, Grant Green, Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell and Barney Kessel all contributed to my early education in jazz guitar. After investigating the styles and history of those players, I did what most serious music students did, I started to look for new and intersting musicians.
Kurt Rosenwinkel was the first jazz guitarist I heard that made me think that it was ok to use non-jazz influences in a jazz style. The first album I heard from Kurt was “The Next Step“. This album (unknown to me at the time) was a pretty big departure from his previous album on Criss Cross Records called “Intuit”. “Intuit” was a collection of bebop tunes and standards performed in a straight ahead style with Michael Kanan on piano, Joe Martin on bass and Tim Pleasant on drums.
“The Next Step” opened my ears to different influences in a jazz setting.
Not everything has to swing.
Later on when I discovered Dave Holland’s music, I went though a phase where I did listen to any jazz with a swing feel. The straight eighth feel spoke to my rock influences and Kurt’s tone used distortion, delay, chorus, and many other effects that were normally reserved for artists who played much fewer chords.
I have a recording from a workshop Kurt did in ’06 where he discusses his tone and then proceeds to play a blues for about 15 minutes and with each chorus exploits a different sound from his arsenal of pedals. Not only does Kurt have a mastery of harmonic and melodic devices, but he knows how his instrument works in an intimate way that allows him to further express himself.
Many young jazz guitarists are becoming a part of Kurt’s tribe the same way they flocked to Metheny in the 80′s. Here is a new, young, fresh voice on the instrument who not only knows the historical lineage of his instrument but is open to influences of his generation and beyond.
I just booked Pat Martino for a clinic at our McLean, VA campus. He is going to be a guest in Tom Dempsey’s Giants of Jazz Seminar. Pat will be available for private lessons while he is on campus as well.
I think our jazz lineup this year for National Guitar Workshop will be the strongest it has been in a while. For our Jazz Summit we are looking to have a LEGENDARY guitarist who hasn’t been to the east coast in close to ten years. Look for that announcement soon.
Since the NAMM Convention is coming up, I thought Derek Siver’s article on attending a music conference is very timely.
I get asked by students all the time about how to find the right teacher. This article does a great job explaining how to do that.
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