08
Jan
Author: bmusic // Category:
Jazz Band
So you have decided that you want to be a drummer but is at a loss as to which genre of playing style you want to master. Have you considered learning how to be a jazz drummer?
As you probably know, jazz is one of the most artistic and intriguing genre of music and especially so for the jazz drummer. Playing jazz music gives the drummer the opportunity to exhibit his amazing technical drumming skills and capabilities. However, most drummers choose not to take the time to learn how to play jazz drums properly which is partly due to its wide range of technicalities unlike most other forms of music.
Although jazz drumming seem to look very complicated, in reality, it is not that difficult to learn. The main difference is that most drummers are used to the 4/4 tempo of drumming where jazz is played with plenty of triplets and has a different feel from most other types of music. So the drummer may have to relearn some drumming techniques. Furthermore, most jazz pieces are relatively fast in tempo and thus most drummers also need to make improvements on their stick speed.
The first thing a new drummer needs to learn when playing jazz pieces is the basic jazz swing tempo or sometimes called the “swing groove”. A jazz drummer’s main role is to keep time for the rest of the band just like in any genre of music. The drummer should never overpower the rest of the band unlike when playing rock songs. To do this, simply use your hi hat and ride cymbal.
Ok. Let’s start with your hi-hat stepping on the 2 and 4 count to a piece of swing music. It is critical to keep this count over top of everything else that you play. Next, add ride the cymbal with a triplet tempo and feel. Practice these moves to perfection before going further with your drum lessons.
Now that you have mastered how to keep the swing tempo with the hi-hat and ride cymbal, let’s move on to the bass drum or sometimes called the kick-drum. Jazz drumming techniques are sometimes very subtle and because of this, the bass drum should not be too dominant. So do make sure that you do not play the bass drum too loudly. This again is unlike most other form of drumming. A good technique for this is keep your heel down when playing the bass drum. In this way, you are more in position control the strength of the kick more easily. A technique jazz drummers often use is the feathering the bass drum. This is done by lightly tapping the bass drum on the quarter or eighth notes.
You will probably know that is highly common for the bass drum to follow the bass guitar player. So you may need to know what kind of rhythm progression the bass player is playing and try to follow him. The bass drum should be played with more of a feel rather than powerful thumping like those in rock music.
The snare drum can be used to help as an accent for the band or can be used to play straight quarter notes.
Another common rhythm in jazz music is the shuffle and every jazz drummer must also master this form of drumming. Furthermore, since jazz music usually have musicians doing solo runs, the jazz drummer must also learn how to play drum solos. By developing these common jazz drumming styles, you will be playing jazz drums like a pro pretty soon!
Chris Chew has a music education website at Learn How To Play Piano Jazz Style and
Learn How To Play Drums Lessons
01
Jan
Author: bmusic // Category:
Jazz Band
One of the reasons that people devote their time to learning the guitar is that they love the idea of making up their own songs and music. Simply by sitting down at an inspired moment, a guitarist might come up with a great song in only one session. Some guitar styles differ greatly from another, but it is by learning the jazz guitar that many musicians have experienced the liberty it brings. The deviations in styles that somehow hold to one rhythm and work together in the name of improvisation are why jazz musicians are said to be filled with “soul”.
When training your ear or your mind to learn how the jazz guitar fits into an entire ensemble of musicians, it is important to first know how jazz music works, at the root level. Much like an athlete prepares for a race, a jazz musician also prepares for a performance. The jazz musician needs to warm up, have an introduction, and be allowed to have some time to get used to the atmosphere of a place and an audience. Some musicians, however, especially those who have played a long time together will jump right into a tune without warming up, giving listeners an awakening into what’s about to take place.
A jazz guitarist in a band may or may not lead the group through a melody. Many jazz performances may not have a singer, but instead a trumpet, or some other horn instrument will take this lead. If a horn isn’t present in the ensemble, then the guitar or piano might work to lead a session. Since jazz music is made up of a band, each person in the band has a certain role to fill before they begin their improvisational role. The jazz guitar tends to hold the players together within a certain chord so that other band members can stick to what’s being played. A jazz guitarist in this role, will not necessarily strum a rhythm such as in other forms of music, but will instead move rhythmically with the rest of the players involved.
In the game of jazz music, improvisation is key. If you know how to play another instrument, learning the jazz guitar might be a little easier. And, if you love improvising on the piano, for example, then you might love it on the guitar. “Improv” as it is sometimes referred to, is one way music can be highly addictive and liberating. When that liberation happens with a group who is playing together, the soul and reaction from the audience involved can be magical. Overall, learning to play the jazz guitar will be rewarding on many levels. Learning to play the necessary chords and knowing when and how to strum to the rhythm of others in the group takes time and practice. Give yourself plenty of time and dedicate yourself to listening to and learning how jazz music works and you’ll be on your way to playing along with a jazz group in no time.
To read more about how to Learn to Play Jazz Guitar, take a look at Learn and Master Guitar Review.
03
Dec
Author: bmusic // Category:
Rock Band
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28
Nov
Author: bmusic // Category:
Jazz Band
Jazz music is one of the most popular music forms, and there is a huge mass following of this kind of music than any other kind of music. Most people have started to admire the beauty of jazz music and even youngsters are in love with it. Moreover, there are many online service providers who offer a huge range of Jazz Midi Files of renowned jazz bands and artists. If you are thinking to learn some jazz music by your own then you can seek the help of these online service providers and get your favorite Jazz play alongs that will allows your to practice jazz quite effectively. Jazz is primarily an American musical art that originated during the early 20th century in the African American communities of the southern part of the United States. Jazz music mainly comprised of blue notes, poly-rythms, swung notes, improvisation and syncopation. It is also very difficult to define Jazz music as it has many facets. Jazz music has gone through an evolutionary process and there are many types of Jazz that include Latin Jazz, Cool Jazz, Bebop jazz, Free Jazz, Modal jazz, Hard bop, and Dixieland Revival. Improvisation is one of the most important features of Jazz music and higher the rate of improvisation the better will be the quality of the jazz music. Jazz music is played with instruments like bass guitar, saxophone, drums and piano. However, many new sophisticated instruments have been introduced to offer greater improvisation to the music. By locating an online service provider, you will be able to get most famous jazz midi files loaded with many helpful tips for learning to play it at your home. Some websites also offer instructional videos for guitarists, pianists and bassists who are learning jazz music. Jazz play alongs, offered by online providers, are also very useful in building your improvisational talents. Many jazz play alongs track are available with different combinations of jazz instruments. It is also very easy to get started with these midi files and jazz play alongs tracks as they provide step to step procedures and detail information on how to use it. You can easily download them to your computer or store it in your iPod.
Myself webmaster of http://www. studiobypass. com – find tools for learning jazz music, jazz midi files, intermediate jazz tools, jazz play alongs, Big Band jazz music and more about jazz music.
27
Nov
Author: bmusic // Category:
Jazz Band
The piano is an important musical instrument for jazz bands since the origin of jazz music and it can be played in the style of a solo performance or as part of a band. Like the guitar, the piano is one of the few musical instruments in a jazz band which can play chords as well as notes instead just single notes only instruments such as the saxophone, trombone, trumpet or even the vibraphone (1 or 2 notes together).
Gone were the days when a jazz pianist’s role is just to keep tempo with repetitive chord combinations. Nowadays, the pianist is free to choose any technique or style to accompany a band or a singer using both short and sustained chordal and melodic fragments called comping.
An accomplshed jazz pianist must not only be good at sight-reading as well as good at improvising chord symbols but also must be able to adapt to the different playing styles of various bands he jams with. Jazz pianists must balance this interpretation and improvisation to the musical style the bands are playing.
The jazz pianist is indeed a happy musician because of the extended range of the piano. The piano offers the pianist with a much greater number of choices and techniques for improvisation, much more so than any other instruments in a jazz band.
In a jazz musical style known as “striding”, the left hand of the pianist alternates positions very quickly playing notes in the bass register and chords in the tenor register. The right hand will usually play the melody, but might also play harmonic content, chordally or even in octaves.
Jazz pianists play the solo with 3 basic objectives to fulfill simultaneously. The techniques are as follows :-
a) To provide a clear and swinging rhythm. This style is usually done by striking a beat with the right hand just after a weaker beat with the left hand. The objective of this technique is to mimic the combination of a cymbal ride as well as the walking bass. This technique can also be executed deftly with the left hand alone, by imitating the weaker beat preparatory swing note that is played by a bassist just before he strikes some of the notes of the bass phrasing.
b) Play the melody or solo improvisation with the right hand.
c) Establish the guide tones for chord changes.
One method commonly used by jazz pianists for tackling this triple situation simultaneously is to hold the hands together in a fork-like shape with the index and the third finger joining the thumbs to form a central group, whilst the fourth and fifth fingers are spread outwards.
This is done so that the pianist can use the left branch fingers to play bass notes, the middle fingers to moderate the guide tones and the right branch fingers to play the upper lines of the melody.
It is indeed challenging for the pianist to meet all these demands at the simultaneously. However these skills are inherent in most competent jazz pianists.
What is commonly called the ‘circle of fifths’ is also an important element in playing jazz piano because it provides harmonic diversity through a well guided harmonic phrase. Playing the circle of fifths technique is very much related to chord “planing” techniques which shift a chord, often voiced in fourths, up the scale, while implying a repeated harmonic pattern of tonic-dominant-tonic-dominant.
If you intend to be a good at playing jazz piano, then mastering these styles and techniques is a required skill.
More music articles by Chris Chew at Become A Jazz Pianist and
Learn To Play Piano By Ear
26
Nov
Author: bmusic // Category:
Jazz Band
The piano is an important musical instrument for jazz bands since the origin of jazz music and it can be played in the style of a solo performance or as part of a band. Like the guitar, the piano is one of the few musical instruments in a jazz band which can play chords as well as notes instead just single notes only instruments such as the saxophone, trombone, trumpet or even the vibraphone (1 or 2 notes together).
Gone were the days when a jazz pianist’s role is just to keep tempo with repetitive chord combinations. Nowadays, the pianist is free to choose any technique or style to accompany a band or a singer using both short and sustained chordal and melodic fragments called comping.
An accomplshed jazz pianist must not only be good at sight-reading as well as good at improvising chord symbols but also must be able to adapt to the different playing styles of various bands he jams with. Jazz pianists must balance this interpretation and improvisation to the musical style the bands are playing.
The jazz pianist is indeed a happy musician because of the extended range of the piano. The piano offers the pianist with a much greater number of choices and techniques for improvisation, much more so than any other instruments in a jazz band.
In a jazz musical style known as “striding”, the left hand of the pianist alternates positions very quickly playing notes in the bass register and chords in the tenor register. The right hand will usually play the melody, but might also play harmonic content, chordally or even in octaves.
Jazz pianists play the solo with 3 basic objectives to fulfill simultaneously. The techniques are as follows :-
a) To provide a clear and swinging rhythm. This style is usually done by striking a beat with the right hand just after a weaker beat with the left hand. The objective of this technique is to mimic the combination of a cymbal ride as well as the walking bass. This technique can also be executed deftly with the left hand alone, by imitating the weaker beat preparatory swing note that is played by a bassist just before he strikes some of the notes of the bass phrasing.
b) Play the melody or solo improvisation with the right hand.
c) Establish the guide tones for chord changes.
One method commonly used by jazz pianists for tackling this triple situation simultaneously is to hold the hands together in a fork-like shape with the index and the third finger joining the thumbs to form a central group, whilst the fourth and fifth fingers are spread outwards.
This is done so that the pianist can use the left branch fingers to play bass notes, the middle fingers to moderate the guide tones and the right branch fingers to play the upper lines of the melody.
It is indeed challenging for the pianist to meet all these demands at the simultaneously. However these skills are inherent in most competent jazz pianists.
What is commonly called the ‘circle of fifths’ is also an important element in playing jazz piano because it provides harmonic diversity through a well guided harmonic phrase. Playing the circle of fifths technique is very much related to chord “planing” techniques which shift a chord, often voiced in fourths, up the scale, while implying a repeated harmonic pattern of tonic-dominant-tonic-dominant.
If you intend to be a good at playing jazz piano, then mastering these styles and techniques is a required skill.
More music articles by Chris Chew at Learn How To Play Jazz Piano and
How To Play Piano By Ear
21
Nov
Author: bmusic // Category:
Popular Band
Music. It has the power to inspire the guests at your wedding reception to get out on the dance floor and boogie. It has the power to make your first dance as husband and wife emotional and unforgettable. It can be used to set a quiet, romantic mood during dinner and to create memorable moments on the dance floor that your guests will recall for years to come.
So choosing the person or people who create the soundtrack for one Read more…
07
Nov
Author: bmusic // Category:
Popular Band
If you choose to have weight loss surgery, it’s clearly an important life-changing medical decision and a significant financial decision too. There have been significant changes in the lap band type of surgeries. One difference is in the early days of the surgeries between the LAP BAND system and the Swedish adjustable lap band is that the SAGB didn’t have a self-closing mechanism and had to be closed with sutures. If the bariatric or lap band Read more…