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Jazz Blues Guitar Lessons

Posted by admin2 on August 24th, 2010 Comments Off



The histories of jazz and blues have a lot in common. Both originated in the African-American communities at the beginning of the 20th century in the southern United States. Since then both evolved in similar manner developing with the music facilities and interactions with other art forms. Both are expressive music genres and focus on life processes and experiences. In terms of musical structure, jazz has significantly borrowed from the blues. The blues chord progressions have acted as a dominant platform for a lot of jazz improvisation. So, if you have developed curiosity to find out how the two relate musically, going for jazz blues guitar lessons will be great.

The understanding of jazz becomes significantly easier if one learns the basics of blues first. Two most commonly used scales in the blues music are the pentatonic scale and the Mixolydian scale – with the added blues notes. When someone refers to the blues scale, it normally means the pentatonic minor scale with a b5 (or blues) note. It is this blues note that creates a certain tension, which provides the “blues” touch the music.

Mastering these scales will prepare you to understand the foundations of jazz in a better way. The first step towards learning jazz will be to learn some new chords. The most common chords in jazz are the seventh chords rather than the basic minor or major chords. You will need to develop command over the five basic types of the seventh chords. Your jazz blues guitar lessons will teach you how to master them.

For playing solos, the basic guitar techniques are hammer-ons and pull-offs, bending strings, palm muting, etc. For jazz blues music, you will also learn how to mix scales; for example, the Mixolydian scale with the blues scale.

Practically all jazz guitarists have some blues in their repertoire. Over the period of time, many different sets of blues progressions have evolved – from the original blues to the modern variants such as bebop and Coltrane blues changes. Listening to both blues and jazz from different periods can provide you valuable insight about how artists have been improvising. This will also motivate you to think in terms of various elements of music and to use them to create good music.

The jazz blues interface offers you a tremendous opportunity to test your musical creativity. It also offers you a great channel to vent your feelings and emotions in melodious ways.

By: Paul Gian

Posted in Jazz Festivals

Where Can We Listen Live Big Band Jazz Music?

Posted by admin on December 10th, 2009 No Comments

Jazz–A musical art form was originated in the African American communities in early 20th century. It is one of the most tantalizing and distinguished forms of music and has a unique American flair to it. It embraces all other forms like rock, hip-hop. But the irony is it has now become less popular than the latter ones. The big band- also known as the jazz band, jazz ensemble, dance band, stage orchestra is an ensemble associated with playing the Jazz music. The typical instruments used are Saxophone, Clarinet, Piano, Guitar etc.

Jazz is one of the most significant contributions to the music world. Still there are many people who value its worth and love listening to it. No matter how old it grows, this is something which is agile and will always persist in the hearts of its admirers. One reason that jazz remains popular and alive is its ability to adapt to the world it lives in and yet being able to maintain its originality and touch.

There are a host of options available for the Jazz music lovers. In Chicago, you can hear some great musicians playing Jazz on nearly every street corner. Kansas City, Boston and New Orleans have great Jazz clubs where there are splendid performances of the original big band Jazz music the magic of the renowned artists is recreated. The idea is to go back to the period to feel and relive that pleasant light and easy music. They are like a holy spot for those who are passionate about this music.

For the music lovers who do not want to leave their homes want to find an economical way to live their favorite Jazz music, here is a shortcut- The Radio. Tune into some great Jazz radio stations. It may not be as mesmerizing and scintillating as hearing them live in person but close your eyes, flow with the music and imagine yourself with your favorite artists at a concert. That is the best way to enjoy it and pretty reasonable too.



By: Akhila Choudhary

Posted in Jazz Festivals

All About Jazz Music

Posted by admin on November 30th, 2009 No Comments

Jazz music is the American musical art form originated in earlier twentieth century. The African American communities of the Southern United States from the confluence of European and African music tradition were responsible for its beginning. The West African pedigree style is evident in the use of polyrythms, blues notes improvisation, swung notes and syncopation.

From the early development of jazz music until the present, it has also included music from the nineteenth and the twentieth century American popular melody. The word jazz music began in the form of a West Coast slang expression of tentative derivation. This term was initially used in order to refer to the music in Chicago in around 1915.

From its early twentieth century inception, jazz music spawned a huge variety of sub-genres from New OrleansDixieland including the early 1910’s, bebop from middle of 1940s, big band jazz music style swing from 1940’s as well as 1930’s, Brazilian jazz from 1960s and 1950s. Besides a fusion of the Latin jazz fusion like the Afro Cuban, jazz rock mixture from the late 1980’s and 1970s developments including the acid jazz that blended the jazz influences into hip hop and funk are several other melody types that constituted jazz music.

In jazz music, the trained performers interpret a tune in different individual ways and never play the same melody. Depending on the mood of the performer as well as personal experience and interactions with the fellow musicians or the totals number of audience, the jazz music performer might later the harmonies or melodies. The European classical music is said to be the composer’s medium.

Today as well, straight ahead jazz music continues to appeal a large amount of masses. The well popular jazz musicians whose career span decades like the Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, Wayne Shorter and Sonny Rollins continue to record and perform. In the beginning of 1990 and 2000 various young talented musicians emerged such as Brad Mehldau, Jason Moran, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Stefon Harris, Roy Horgrove, Vijay Iyer, Terence Blanchard and Joshua Redman. While Bugge Wesseltoft, Christian McBride, St. Germain are several other renowned names in the world of jazz music.



By: Akhila Choudhary

Posted in Jazz Festivals
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