Jazz Festivals » Melody

Music Therapy and New Age Piano

admin2 — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:26:26 +0000

If there were one genre of music that’s perfect for music therapy, it would have to be New Age piano! Soothing and relaxing, the piano offers many benefits to those in need of respite. The wonderful thing about this style of music is that it’s also easy to learn how to play!

A few chords, a scale, and you’re able to make music. And not just any kind of music, but one that’s conducive to alleviating stress. Let’s look at how one might go about learning how to play piano in the New Age style.

First, it’s best if you learn one chord position that will give you a nice modern sound right away. The open position chord structure accomplishes this. It’s easy to learn and can be used by the beginner right away to make music with. And it uses both hands as well to cover more than 2 octaves of the piano keyboard!

Once this chord structure is practiced, it’s time to add in a few chords. Just a few chords is all that is necessary for the beginning adult to experience the joy of improvisation. The hands are placed on the open position chord structure and the fingers move around creating melody. Nothing more is required than an openness to explore the possibilities.

And once students get started, they find that they can’t stop playing. The therapeutic aspect of this comes from the free-form improvisations students are able to play only after a few minutes of practice. They begin to unwind, relax, and forget about the problems and cares of the day. It’s a music therapy that goes one step above just listening to music.

By: Edward Weiss

Learn to Play Jazz Guitar

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:35:09 +0000

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.

By: Rich Matthews

All About Learning to Play Jazz Guitar

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:36:27 +0000

Let’s get rid of one myth right here! One common myth floating around is that jazz music is complicated. Some people have the idea that it can only be learned by unraveling the deep mysteries of the inner being – like it’s some sort of mystical experience that requires years of learning theories, scales and chords. That thought alone is overwhelming and as a result, we need to refocus our attention to one thing – keeping it simple.

If you seriously want to become a better jazz guitar player, then keeping it simple is all you need to get where you want to go. Start with the basics. You already know that you’ll need some knowledge of jazz guitar scales and chords. You’ll also need a mentor or a teacher who can help you develop your talent and skill and lastly, you’ll need to begin developing confidence in your playing ability (this means practicing what you’ve learned). For the new player, these basic activities will help you progress in your learning and soon, you’ll be looking for the intermediate and advanced teachings in jazz guitar!

The first step to learning how to play jazz guitar is to invest in some jazz guitar lessons. In the basic type of lesson, you should be learning the different scales and chords from a teacher who isn’t trying to impress you with his or her blinding knowledge and ego. Instead, find a teacher who keeps it simple so that you can grow as a student.

Know that you have to invest some time into your playing and practice! One of the players I met used to avidly videotape his playing the gypsy jazz guitar so that he could improve his playing technique. Another woman I met used to listen to a melody over and over again until she had it solidly in her mind. As she listened to the melody, she attempted to memorize it and recreate it on her guitar. In fact, she’s memorized a lot of tunes that way. A few years ago, I knew of a student who used to go over the lesson he just learned for hours, and I literally mean hours, until he knew it inside and out. I think he was just looking for an excuse to play, though, because even after he knew the lesson, he didn’t quit.

Before you get out there and start buying your jazz guitar amps and other gear, consider if you’ll have the time to do the basic things you need to do to learn all about playing jazz guitar. Set your learning and practice habit up for success by keeping it simple and you will reap the results of your investment!

By: Logan Young

Jazz Piano and Style

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:42:34 +0000

The piano or keyboard is an instrument that can be played in a solo performance or it can be part of a band. Jazz bands make heavy use of pianos since jazz began. The reason for this is that pianos along with guitars are some of the few instruments in a jazz band that can play chords in addition to a melody or counter melody.

In the past, a jazz pianists main role was to keep tempo with a combination of repetitive chords, but in recent years this has changed. Jazz pianists now days are able to select from a multitude of styles and techniques that they will use to accompany a band or singer. Short and sustained chordal or melodic fragments are used.

Experienced jazz pianists are not only great at sight-reading, but can also improvise chord symbols and adapt to the various playing styles of jazz bands. A jazz pianist must balance this improvisation and interpretation with the music style of the band.

The extended range that the piano provides also helps a jazz pianist with creating unique sounds that other instruments in the jazz band can not create.

Jazz pianists have 3 goals that they aim to achieve while they are playing. The first is to provide a clear rhythm and swing. The second is to play a melody or improvised solo with the right hand. Jazz pianists are also expected to help guide the band into chord changes with the help of notes leading up to the chord change.

It is quite a challenge for pianists to meet these 3 demands at the same time. Most jazz pianists are quite skilled in this art and are able to maintain this while planning unique improvisations.

If the intend to be great at playing the piano in a jazz band, you need to master these styles and techniques.

By: Mary Nicole Hicks

Learn to Play Jazz Guitar

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:35:39 +0000

By: Sam Bateman

Intermediate Jazz Tools For Jazz Practitioners

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:12:42 +0000

Jazz’s popularity stems from the factor of its innate harmony and balance that this genre of music comes to present with. No wonder, it enjoys a wide base of fan followers all around the globe. If it is just an obsession for numerous, lots of people constantly try to gain knowledge regarding the intermediate jazz tools so that they become the master of the music form.

Intermediate jazz tools comprises the set of all compatible appliances that make a jazz performance complete – all other than the ears, eyes, fingers, the intelligence of the players. One of the main tools for teaching jazz is a hassle panel scale, which shows how to position the fingers in the proper way when the authentic guitar is facing you. Performing with the jazz tools is necessary for becoming a world-class performer in the subject matter of jazz music as you turn into an expert – of course all along with the knowledge about the basics of jazz.

One truly outstanding way in which you can get that exactness in your hands as you use the strings and pluck the drums is by coaching the genre. Even if you have a little basic information about the art outline, you will be able to commence giving the lessons of tools for teaching jazz. This is very helpful, when you educate, you add a deeper imminent and learn the congenital details of the art as well. When you take up a variety of tactics and techniques to train your students, you automatically clear loads of your personal doubts and in this manner recognize the concepts in a clearer and deeper manner.

If you are dedicated on learning some extra form of melody then there are online ballet tools obtainable to marvel the art. Gaining knowledge about the intermediate jazz tools on the web can be one of the most excellent ways as you can pander the lessons at your own convenience. There is no time restriction and no place that you have to hurry to, you can just loosen up at your residence place and gain knowledge of the music whenever you like and whenever you have spare time. The web programs that offer the tools for training jazz comprises the instructions teaching the playing of a variety of melodic jazz instruments like the guitar and the drums.

By: Akhila Choudhary

Jazz Piano and Style

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:38:55 +0000

Jazz Guitar Theory – What is It?

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:57:41 +0000

Jazz as we know it now grew from a form of music that was passed directly from musician to musician without too much theory being involved. Jazz guitar theory is a collection of ideas and traditions that has grown over the decades of jazz playing.

The original jazz players did not need theory. They needed to know their guitars well enough to be able to provide part of the rhythm for other instruments in the band or to play solos if they were needed. The nature of guitar playing in jazz bands varied over the years and depended on whether the guitarist was in a big band or a small group.

Jazz guitar theory is the product of the need for jazz players to communicate musical ideas to one another. To pass these ideas on a guitarist needed to be able to read standard musical notation and, as jazz playing became more sophisticated, he needed the technique to play the exotic barre chords that became the norm in jazz guitar music.

A part of jazz theory is what we could loosely call traditions of jazz – ways of approaching music that have become standard practice for jazz players. None of these traditions is set in concrete, but the use of the electric archtop guitar has become widespread over the years as is the use of barre chord voicings rather than open chords.

If you learn jazz guitar theory you will learn to rely on the seventh and third notes of a chord and how interest can be added by the use of the ninth, eleventh or thirteenth notes. These notes may be totally foreign to the original melody the guitarist is improvising over, but jazz players have the work of guitarists from previous generations to draw on when they make use of these unusual voicings.

A big part of jazz guitar theory is the types of techniques used to express musical feelings. Jazz guitar players have their own strumming patterns and chord progressions that may vary greatly from the ways of playing the original genre they might be interpreting. Also, although rock and blues guitar players of the past thirty or so years have left their mark on jazz, there is a tendency among jazz guitarists to use electronic effects rather sparingly.

To examine the basis of jazz guitar theory we need to be aware of the founders of modern jazz playing, like Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Barney Kessel, Joe Pass and Herb Ellis as well as the founders of guitar tradition like Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian. Jazz guitar theory has been shaped by modern players who have departed from tradition, such as John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola and Pat Metheny.

By: Ricky Sharples