Jazz guitar

r1p32 · #1 January 5th, 2007

im planning to join to my high school's jazz band. i was wondering wat are some things i should begin working on or things to expect to see. i do know a little theory and can sorta read music (not that well). thx a lot!

allthumbs · #2 January 5th, 2007

Jazz has a lot of extended chords. 9ths,11ths,13ths, suspended and augmented chords. Your bound to run into some of them.

Justapicker · #3 January 6th, 2007

Freddie Green style rhythm playing!
This site has a really good tutorial on his style, the voicings he used etc. The odds are pretty good this is the type of stuff your band director will want you to learn.
http://www.freddiegreen.org/style.html

coldethyl · #4 January 6th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by r1p32

im planning to join to my high school's jazz band.

That looks like it might be fun!
I hope you enjoy it, and you'll gain some experience in the process.

scotty_b · #5 January 6th, 2007

hey
Learn to read as well as you can read a newspaper!
Playing in a jazz setting like that involves a lot of reading. Also becomg very familiar with extended chord shapes, and consider how the tones you use complement the other members of the ensemble.
All the best with it!

allthumbs · #6 January 6th, 2007

If your going to be playing with brass instruments, be prepared to play in flat keys.

Hey · #7 January 6th, 2007

Lots of scale playin in jazz... So get your scales down!

r1p32 · #8 January 7th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justapicker

Freddie Green style rhythm playing!
This site has a really good tutorial on his style, the voicings he used etc. The odds are pretty good this is the type of stuff your band director will want you to learn.
http://www.freddiegreen.org/style.html

what are voicings?lol

thx for the replies!

r1p32 · #9 January 7th, 2007

Oh yeah I forgot to ask... Should i practice more with finger-picking or will using a pick still be ok for jazz. thx!

Hey · #10 January 8th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by r1p32

Oh yeah I forgot to ask... Should i practice more with finger-picking or will using a pick still be ok for jazz. thx!

Im not a exspert on Jazz, but the ideal Jazz guitarist useally uses a pick, but then theres always exseptions... But ya, enless your playin a folk type of Jazz, your useing just a pick.

But just saying, I dont know how old you are, but if your trying out for the high school or late middle school jazz band, you should be more exsperence, and not to put you down or anything, but Jazz is probally the most complex music out there, take it from the guy who composed both

so its not a good idea to go out there and exspect that you could pick up this thing in a mounth or two.

And start lisining to some jazz to if you dont already, got to get some of thoes classic jazz guitar riffs in your playin and that feel, a lot of jazz is feel, and knowing how to paly on the top of your head, but it depends on what type of Jazz your playin.

Anyway, good luck

scotty_b · #11 January 8th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by r1p32

Oh yeah I forgot to ask... Should i practice more with finger-picking or will using a pick still be ok for jazz. thx!

Playing in an ensemble setting you will generally be using a pick. Traditionally a jazz guitarist will use a heavy pick to help produce the darker tones often associated with jazz guitar. There are always exceptions to that though.
For years I used the red Jim Dunlop Jazz 3 picks, that are around 1.25 mm thick and very small. Recently I went up several gauges and started using Jim Dunlop Gypsy picks, that feel like a 50 cent piece in thickness. They transfer so much more energy into the strings I don't really feel the resistance from the string.
Freddy Green is a good player to track down and have a listen to, and study his approach. There are a few sites on the web discussing him, well worth doing a search.

r1p32 · #12 January 9th, 2007

The thing im not understanding about guitar notation is where to find the notes. I can figure out the notes on the fretboard, but idk where to play it. um... say for example the notation says to play a c then f then g. i can find a c but then theres many f's and many c's. so that aspect confuses me. if that makes any sense

scotty_b · #13 January 9th, 2007

Sometimes the composer/arranger will indicate the position or string to be used, but in my experience with playing in a big band setting, it is up to the player to navigate their own way through the positions for these notes ie your discretion as to whether you play in open position, or perhaps 5th or 10th position. There is no great mystery to reading, other than discipline, and the benefits are many.

Justapicker · #14 January 9th, 2007

Eventually you learn to read ahead and figure out "I need to go from here to there" so this is the best fingering at this point. There's an art to fingering that comes from experience.