Advice on learning Jazz and Blues please...

[dkstott]

My preference is that you search for a jazz player in your area that teaches. A good guitar teacher with knowledge of jazz can easily guide you through a lot of blues.

Then when you decide on a specific realm interest of blues. Such as; early, (Piedmont, Rev Gary Davis), electric ( BB King, T Bone Walker, Buddy Guy) you can utilize DVD's to fill in the blanks.

I highly recommend Homespun... When I was using DVD lessons they were great and accurate.

Stefan Grossman is okay... More often his video's and the accompanying sheet music/ tab don't match. The artists play it one way and the sheet music / tab are different.

I had to stop using DVD's because of the lack of feedback aspect of the DVD. There was no one stopping me when I missed a note or developed a bad habit / technique. Those issues then became imbedded in my playing. It took a year of one on one with a guitar teacher to finally break me of my habits.

Dave

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by dkstott

... often... video's and the accompanying sheet music/ tab don't match. The artists play it one way and the sheet music / tab are different.

...

One of the big take-aways from Jazz Camp for me was the improvisational nature of jazz music, and the near to impossible challenge to capture the notation with the personality of the performer.

I started to learn how to 'hear' what was taking place in jazz music. It was the knowledge of scales that the players have, and how to work those scales moving from chord to chord through the song.

The 'trick' that connected this knowledge with my ears was when music was projected on a screen, and a laser pointer followed the notes while they were played. THe music was marked up with additional notes to show how the improv was often nothing more than a piece of a scale, or an arpeggio,

THere are a bunch of free resources on the summerjazzworkshops website (jamey aebersold's site) and if you can scrape up the cash and get time off - the camp in louisville is a great starting place for serious students.

best of luck!

[Arthur Blake]

This will give you the basic positions for the song. I've found I improvise a bit and primarily use arpeggios around them. Very nice. I also change some of the chord shapes, but this should get you started. Some of the sounds are so beautiful they can be quite captivating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0m6bMnKBu4

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by Arthur Blake

This will give you the basic positions for the song. I've found I improvise a bit and primarily use arpeggios around them. Very nice. I also change some of the chord shapes, but this should get you started. Some of the sounds are so beautiful they can be quite captivating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0m6bMnKBu4

A bit stiff and crude for jazz, IMO. I'd look (listen) for a freer approach more focused on voicings, phrasing and interior movement.

https://youtu.be/3qEMVUMFX4s

[AX17609]

Originally Posted by dkstott

I highly recommend Homespun... When I was using DVD lessons they were great and accurate.

Stefan Grossman is okay... More often his video's and the accompanying sheet music/ tab don't match. The artists play it one way and the sheet music / tab are different.

I would have said that the opposite is true. I find Homespun's TABs to be bare outlines of what is actually being played. Grossman's are generally an exact match.