iJazzed

I'd really like to hear some of your jazz licks. 8)

Wow :!: I'm really impressed :D I love jazz but really don't understand it that much. We have another member (teleplayer) who really got into and learned how to play some jazz guitar pretty well :note2: :note1:
http://www.myspace.com/rvrowe

My first lesson overran by an hour! Tony's really easy to get along with, and I'd been practising a few scales and arpeggios so we covered a lot of ground on ways to improvise over ii-V-I progressions really quickly. We also discussed ways to practice scale and arpeggios to get the most out of it, and he gave me a few tips and also gave his agreement to my recently adopte new approach to practicing them (eg going through scales using chord progressions, harmonising in thirds, etc).

He liked my playing - thought it really melodic. I'm hoping with the lessons it'll evolve into something more, uh, complex and thorough, but retaining strong melodic elements. He also thought my standard already fairly high, and the fact that he can notate new scales and arpeggios in standard notation and talk theory to me means we cover ground fast (mostly just going over new ideas and testing them briefly - it's up to me to practice these and develop them into my playing in my own time, with progress to be reviewed at the start of future lessons). He seemed pleased to be able to teach in that manner.

We agreed that next week we'll do jazzy over a blues progression, then move on to learning various jazz standards - the idea being I get to learn the head and chord changes for use in jam sessions, but also use that material to work on improvising skills and using the scales and arpeggios I've been practicing in 'real world' settings.

Basically, a huge amount of how well and how quickly I develop will depend on the private practice hours I put in, and how inquisitive I am and self-disciplined about that practice, but working with Tony gives me someone to bounce ideas off, and it cuts down the time I'd otherwise have to spend trying to figure out how usefull a new scale/technique/etc is before learning it. As he's a professional jazz guitarist (recording and gigging) I also get to figure out if I have any deficiencies in my playing/skill set that I need to work on if I'm to take this further.

Really really really looking forward to a couple of week's time, when I'll start playing the jams (I gotta do a little practice of some new ideas and new tunes first lol). I'll def get some jazzy recorded and posted up soon tho.

The past month or so, between tapping into local jazz, jamming with and learning from Dave and Greg while I was stateside, and actually practicing (instead of spending lots of time faffing and/or winging it), I've noticed my playing and confidence grow a lot, an I'm really optimistic about how I could progress over the next year or two. If you'd asked me a few minth's back, I'd have told you I was frustrated at the playing time lost while I was ill, and overwhelmed by the work I'd have to put in to "get good", but now I'm seeing it all as an achievable challenge. Props to everyone who's helped me develop with my music, it's appreciated (and that classical book is being put to daily use for sight reading too!)

you'll be ready to hold a jazz workshop at RSJ2010!