Thanks to Paul Gibby for these: Skills to be a professional jazz or GJ player: 2:18 - Single-line players: ability to play themes and solos, great lines 3:21 - Chord players: know chords, voicings, ability to swing 6:20 - Ear training "parlor tricks" great lines 10:29 - Recognizing intervals great solos 11:07 - copying notes great solos 11:34 - Must be able to hear dynamics 12:03 - Ability to hear Form 12:53 - Rhythmic Comprehension 14:35 - Learn to sing Bebop lines 16:34 - Know chord names 19:44 - Ability to verbalize the song Form (AABA etc.) 21:03 - How to train Form recognition 22:05 - Style conventions, intros and endings 23:23 - Know which lines are appropriate to style 24:35 - How to train and develop musicality

@starttherebellion9146

6 жыл бұрын

Yes. Nothing teaches like first hand experience. Very good, very practical advice for just jumping in and getting your feet wet. Love this video, and thanks for this index as well! - I think you really cut through the clutter of theory and nailed the core competencies one needs to actually get down to business as a player! +1

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

@Start The Rebellion Thanks man!

@johnrothfield6126

6 жыл бұрын

Don't forget "How to learn Ragas"

@JohnnyArtPavlou

6 жыл бұрын

Where does he teach us to djent? (Asking for a friend).

@donnaandgerry2480

6 жыл бұрын

Christiaan van Hemert ;

Great video Christiaan! 👍 Really down to earth and in touch with what it really is like to play and perform jazz 🙂

@ouroboricform

6 жыл бұрын

praise from jens is a great thing :)

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jens, I enjoy your videos as well!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

@ouroboricform It sure is!

@NotUrBiz

6 жыл бұрын

Jens is great, and I enjoyed this video. I'm not a trained musician, but I learned hundreds of songs. Learning hundreds of songs made it possible to play with other musicians live. Playing live is a skill different than practicing scales. Learning the "standards" in whatever genre you love teaches one about what most people accept as "tasteful" playing. Most people do not have the time nor inclination to become masters of their instrument. Most people buy an instrument and never get past the beginning because instructors convince them they must learn to play a certain way. If you're a teacher, don't kill the interest in music for the vast majority who just want to play some songs. Some of your students will want to learn everything you have to teach and then will move on to someone even more advance...but again, don't force everyone into that slot. You'll kill more love of music than you creat masterful musicians. If you do want to master if, that too is wonderful. Learn songs, play with others. Live life.

@guyduval2158

6 жыл бұрын

i know you MR LARSEN GOOD TEATCHER

A lot of sense spoken here. I've been playing jazz on the saxophone over fifty years and I find nothing to disagree with here. Well done.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Joe!

Good conversation points from Christian. I’ve been playing and casually gigging for 30 years and I wasted early years Over practicing scales and arpeggios and not going beyond just listening to solos of the great players but actually studying them . Refreshing to know that even great soloists have quirks and may not be able ,ie , to parrot back a riff in real time Jazz is a journey for a life time... Unlike sports or other activities that might get worse with age... jazz players can keep evolving to the end -and have a good time doing it.

@AidanRKelly

4 жыл бұрын

Do you have any tips for “going beyond just listening,” and actually studying, as you said?

Christiaan, I loved this video!! I have been trying to sound like a legitimate Jazz Guitar player for a long time (with no luck) You have outlined the true common sense and proven elements to being a good musician. I'm so grateful that I "stumbled" onto your site. Thank you for taking the time to communicate such valuable insights.....we do appreciate this, believe me!!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Steve. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know!

Very interesting take on ear training. As someone without perfect pitch, I find that ear training, whether I'm focused on intervals or polyphonics or arpeggios, is less about being able to name intervals or name the chords or copy the arpeggios (which is how it's practiced), but more about actually learning to hear. That is, for me at least, naming an interval is a means to an end, the end being having a better ear. I'm not sure how to explain this to someone with perfect pitch. It's like watching a carnival color wheel spin. If it's spinning slowly, you can name the colors one by one, very easily. But if it's spinning very quickly, it's just a blur. I do ear training to slow the wheel down.

I have the same guitar. Peerless monarch. I swap the pickup. Dig a hole in it and put a classic 57. Sound awsome. No tone pot, just volume pot. My favorite guitar since i did this. It was in the room collecting dust for many years. One day i fall on a 57. Did the swap. Wow. Amazing guitar

Hey Christiaan, Again a very great video! As I already said before I am just a below average guitar player and musian but I love videos like these! I really appreciate this video because it gives insight in what a real working pro musican considers essential and required knowledge. There are thousand of videos on YT about how to be a good musican but a lot of them are created by bedroom players that don't have any experience with real gigging and playing live. These videos also often suggest to learn all your scales, modes, arpeggios, triads, learning to read, train your ear for melody, harmony and rhythm to becoming a good musican. While this is all true and essential it is really overwhelming IMO. Technically the only thing you need to do to gig is being able to play great sounding songs. And your role in the band defines what you need to learn (chords, lines, rhythm etc) IMO you show a 80/20 approach to jazz musicanship :P. And since it consists of actually playing music its a lot more fun than learning to play all the scales, modes, arps, ear training etc. While these are essential to being a good musican they are not essential to gigging and making jazz music. It also depends on your goals IMO. If you want to be a super good musican, yes learn all your scales, arps, ear training, notation etc. But most people visiting this channel just want to play gypsy jazz in a group or in their bedroom. (I don't have any info/statistics on this but I just assume :P. myself included) They have a day job, kids, a family. Playing music is part of their life, its not their life. In this case, the most satisfying and succesful approach is probably to just learn lines, chords and playing songs. This gets you to the gig. Only thing I disagree with is ear training. How do you learn lines if you have bad ears (like me?) How do you know the chord that the line is played over if you can't hear the chord? In my opinion having great ears, being able to play everything by ear is the epitome of musicanship :P. Perhaps this a fascibnation/obsession of mine because I have bad ears myself and having good ears seem like the answer while more time on the instrument is required. Can't escape hard work, even if you decide to choose the path/aproach described by Christiaan in this video. Lol, again a extreme incoherent piece of text written by me. I am sorry lol. TLDR; Great video!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Everyone can transcribe lines, just slow it way down and go note by note. That's how many people start and after doing that a hundred times it will go faster and faster, also because you start to recognize the general language of the style you're transcribing. Finding out the chords from a recording is not that hard, slow the music way down and keep repeating until you can hear the bass note. Now play the bass note on your guitar and sing other notes that fit with that bass note right after you pressed play on the original recording to again hear that one chord you're trying to get. You will get it this way eventually however long it will take you!

@Zenzodiene

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tips Christiaan! That tip to hear chords is a great idea!

Christiaan, while your opinions might be controversial to some, I agree with you entirely. I am a bluegrass fiddler, attempting gypsy jazz, and I would echo everything you said when it comes to playing bluegrass - especially the last part, about listening to known expert players. I can tell a rock or classical convert to bluegrass from a mile away. It is very hard for them to develop a "feel" for bluegrass music unless they've really listened to it - or even better, seen it live. Many kickoffs, endings and chord progressions become familiar over time. Songs are easier to play when you have a familiar sense as to where they are going. Many folks I play with have no understanding of theory, intervals, or any of that - but they know very well how their instrument is supposed to sound in a band context. They know when to back off, when to punch a beat, and most importantly, how to play in time. Maybe a future video can suggest good stuff for us to listen to, and why (violin and guitar). Thanks, again.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks and a good idea for a future video!

Groundbreaking video. Nobody speaks of these topics so honestly. Thank you!

Hi Christian Van.. I am quite impressed the way you have perceived the Jazz genre and in all practical way the needs of items listed to play Jazz, be it Bebop or D'jango or fusion etc., on solo lines, comping, chord voicing , listening to standards and getting the theme lines, intros, bridge passage, endings and then basic theory like, ii - V7 - I and Improvisation with dynamics, embellishments for good musicality.. You have made it transparent in some items like the knowledge of perfect pitch or relative pitch or complicate chords and progressions are not a must for soloing as they may not instantly make use of that knowledge.. Quite an encouraging dialogue dude.. Thanks so much.. Please keep it up in the same lengthy dialoguing style.. God bless.. Warm cheers.. 👍🙏🎶🎸😊

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much GuitSiva, I really appreciate the comment!

I agree with all the points that you have articulated so well. Especially when you rightly berate the endless succession of “parlor tricks” found in so much online instruction today. Transcribing and learning from the players I admire has taught me more than I ever learned from studying techniques and scales, not to diminish the importance of such studies as you also point out. The parallel in computer circles is GIGO. Garbage in, garbage out. Stuff yourself with fancy tricks, and the result will at best sound tricky. Stuff yourself with great lines from great players, and the results will trend more in the way that we all aspire to understand and acheive. Thank you for an inspirational video.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Hi Tom, thanks so much!

I'm able to recall music I've learned by ear much easier than things that I've learned out of a book. Even many years later. Hearing a melody, line, chord voicing, riff, harmony, etc. over and over in the CONTEXT of 'real' music has always been the best way for me to learn any type of music. It's almost a meditative process. Yes, I think reading is an important skill to possess but transcribing provides all those little human elements that often get lost on the page. I remember back in my early '20s I used to learn lines and patterns out of books and I noticed my playing getting gradually more and more sterile and boring. Very non-musical. When I went back to transcribing 'real' music my playing immediately got more interesting. It suddenly sounded like I was actually making coherent musical statements (speaking the language), rather than stringing together a bunch of unrelated patterns that ended up sounding like gibberish. Personally, I think learning music through imitation (transcribing by ear) will always be the simplest, most effective and natural way to become a well-rounded musician. And then you can go have fun 'learning while you earn'...on the bandstand!

@Krisselbee

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this comment

Hey Christiaan - Thanks for posting. You accomplished playing jazz guitar in so few years' time! Awesome. Good advice!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thnks Timothy!

I love your jazz guitar approach, I hope to join a class when lockdown eases up but I would definitely love to see you do stand up comedy, your one liners are as good as your musical lines.

Thank you for a very thought provoking vid. Had no problem with the content or it's duration.!!! You are clearly passionate about music and happy to share your insights. Why other people in their comments would be negative about a presentation with such information and say it should be made shorter is beyond me! I looked forward to every topic you discussed. Made perfect sense to me as a band player that's always looking to improve their jazz skills. Especially liked the confidence booster I had about the "ear meisters" who scoff because you can't recognize a sixteenth note diminished 9th interval at 160bpm + at a full on amplified rehearsal.......and yet you ask them to take an intro on a ballad!!!! Keep posting and forget the idiots who fail to enjoy your generosity.

you have a GREAT balance in understanding music, not over emphasizing on "theory" or anything else but using it when its necessary.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Sam!

Great video, Christiaan. I play flute, learning blues and jazz, and this was very helpful. Thanks !

This is probably one of the best advices I have listened to. Someone may argue about learning great lines, but great lines mean playing melodicly with great rythm and harmonic understanding. To be able to do that is not the same as copying, it mean that you understand the language of jazz.

What I am getting from this is that we learn a lot just from playing with other musicians in both rehearsals and performance. Thanks for bringing your insights in this video Christiaan. Learning never stops!

A great video Sir! Thank you! I've just started learning Jazz and this video was a great uplifting moment for me! I'm a subscriber now!!!

Wow, very nice talk and information. I don’t need to say anything negative because my own experiences support what you are saying. Thank you!

You make a great work with this channel, thank you very much!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

11.50, dynamics..... Nothing makes me want to put my guitar in it's case like people who won't respond to dynamics. And musicianship, almost never discussed for fear of offending the cloth eared. Give me a guy who plays three chords all night sensitively and I'll have a great night. Great list Christian. I come from a science background, any postulate which is contradicted by experiment has a short life. Yet with music bad advice becomes orthodoxy and never goes away. Like textbooks claiming to describe how to build a line and the first quoted line contradicts their formula, and so do all the others!!! Then the authors written solos are almost impossible to render musically. Theory should be descriptive,not prescriptive. Much better to go to the source and try and understand what is done rather than what someone who can't really play says should be done.IMHO singing whilst playing rhythm guitar along with a recording fixes most of the skills you correctly prioritise. I hope you keep these coming, as for length since you are always concise and clear the longer the better.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks David, these 'rambling' style videos can run a little longer but I do try to hit as many relevant points as I possibly can. Good to hear that you are enjoying them!

@videnteloco

6 жыл бұрын

100% agree with you my friend. In many cases, theory can a burden instead of a tool.

Thanks for sharing the details! Wow , perfect pitch! You're such a good musician and guitarist.🎊🎉🎈✨🎇🎆🏞️🎸God bless

Really nice put together, Christiaan. Interesting subject. First video I have come over addressing this. Thanks.

Intelligently explained why jazz is a truly universal language. Extremely relevant in our current global situation. Thanks bro.

Really good. Music has so much details ... you never can know everything ... only specializing in your desired parts ... and even one part can have so much variations ... this is the wonderful part of music ... and we don't need more copies ... we need new creations ... that's where the fun and also the success lies ... you understand your business 😉👍🏼

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Matthias!

very practical and reasonably put...helps me in my jazz studies going forth as a gigging musician myself.

Christian, I appreciate your points in that it is better to study things that help you play better. I like your views about rhythmic acuity, learning good lines, and being adept with form - good stuff! Where I find your viewpoint limited that it is restricted to surviving the gig, which is important, but there is so much more to being a good jazz musician. The reason why we love jazz is that there are levels on top of levels, and we can see them in the different players we love. Things like ear training are boring and tedious, but its mastery allows one to gradually become more free in truly creating lines on the spot, instead of regurgitation of vocabulary. You don't have to cross that threshold to get gigs, but if you do, guaranteed you will be a better player than before, and more able to innovate on your instrument. That is the kind of player I want to listen to. I believe the really compelling part of your ideology is that if people get started with your "minimum price of entry" into jazz performing, they can then progress to higher levels, or just stay there, but at least its better than being frustrated and not getting anything happening. Thanks for your take on things.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your elaborate thoughts J ETN. The thing is that I encountered very few professional musicians that actually have the ears people think they have. I'm without fail much quicker at hearing things than most of them but some of them they might play much better than me. I'm talking world class famous musicians here. I just know that playing a great sensitive solo is infinitely more connected to studying the masters than doing any kind of ear training. What's important to train is to listen to the other people in your band while also listening to yourself so you can adjust when needed. Those kind of ears are much more valuable than the ears that can hear minute details in harmony and melody (which I actually can do but find very little use for).

@jetn8654

6 жыл бұрын

I genuinely appreciate hearing your take on things, Christian. So true that listening to others while listening to yourself is important. Its still listening, and yes, some listening may be parlor tricks, but part of it is really important. I have a question for you. Can you faithfully play back a random or inspired musical line you hear in your head at a reasonable tempo? I am guessing you can if you have perfect pitch, and if so, you don't really need ear training. Most musicians, even many good ones can't do this, but it is a good thing to aim for. Why? Because otherwise you are mostly just curating the music you practiced, and not inventing as much as you could otherwise. Will being able to play what you hear inside make you a great musician? Not anymore than knowing the alphabet will make you a great writer. You have to hear nice things inside, and that is a whole different story. For example, I love hearing Bird play, and when I do, I am aware he had 1) amazing ideas and imagination, 2) Amazing vocabulary and encyclopedia of lines 3) amazing ears to execute and bring it all together. If any one of these were missing, the playing would be noticeably weaker. I want to work on all three.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

+J ETN I can play anything I hear immediately. At least in violin, on guitar I don't know the location of single notes, only location of phrases. But here's the thing: the most interesting things I hear are lines I transcribed or combinations of lines I transcribed!

This is the sort of thing I am working on as well. My personal favorite Django era is the Rome sessions and I am trying to learn bebop heads as a way of expanding my vocab. It is encouraging to hear as someone who is playing catch-up that transcribing will yield some decent results. I don't mean to minimize this video to just that point, but I was reluctant and too lazy to transcribe up until a few years ago. This is my primary means of studying these days. Also, there is no need to change this format at all. Your top ten video series with Brad and your artist profile videos were separate series. These are well organized and appropriately timed. Thanks for these again.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks again Jim!

The thing that stops me getting involved in jazz (as a double bassist) is present in many of the comments here. I just don't have time for that elitism rubbish. We learn so much by interaction, always. How do we learn to read? Well for me the answer was playing in community orchestras (Playing with others). Or I could sit home until I _think_ I am ready and know enough....when would that be? Bravo Christaan van Hemert. And thanks for this post.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Will B. Don't let the haters stop you, just go for it!

Very practical and helpful video - its very easy in jazz to see the trees and not the wood! This video reminds us to focus on the big picture - learn the tunes and the lines and get playing! Stop learning every mode in your bedroom and just try to get playing! You will never learn a tune as well as when you are going to a jam session and you know it will be called. You will have to learn a few lines to get going with a solo - this is great experience. Thank you very much for this pragmatic approach. Keep doing what you're doing! These videos are great.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much conormckenna!

I forgot to mention that your part about hearing form is huuuge so thanks for including that. That could even be first on the list if we are talking about how to be a functional jazz musician. I think that using your ear to follow progressions or keep the melody in your head can help in a large way with that but just the mention of needing to know form makes me happy. It seems to be underemphasized sometimes and I don’t know why because it is so essential.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Paul!

Thanks so much for the tips and valued information Christiaan!

People fight to avoid learning the basics but after years as a professional (although I'm more conductor.) Just breaking things down is so powerful. Thanks.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

You're welcome andocrates!

very well put.I have played guitar for years . but am a complete bluffer when it comes to jazz ,though I love the music.At this stage my life I have no hope of being a professional jazz player .Jazz guitar still interests me. Finding a teacher who could help me would be problematic for various reasons. Meanwhile thx for your great videos

I just heard about this on the Jazz Violin Podcast. Great talk with Matt. This video is great 🤣 especially the part about rehearsals with people that can’t hear rhythms.

Great! Thanks, Christian!

Wow, great video! The things you say here make me feel so much better, because I have some of the necessary skills, and I don't have some of the unnecessary skills. None of the skills you highlight as necessary seem out of reach, but it often does seem that there are necessary skills that are out of reach -- inadequate interval recognition would be the big one. I have watched hundreds of jazz instruction videos now, I am a guitarist, and this one, which I came to by complete chance (I was researching a guitar I own, an Aria Pro II PE-180), is perhaps the most helpful *to me* of anything I have ever heard or watched. Because the bottom line is that this video makes me feel that someday, although I am already old, I will be able to say that I am a real jazz musician, and you have told me exactly what I need to know and what I need to do to get there. And I know enough about this subject to know that, although what you say represents opinions with which many professional jazz musicians and teachers would not agree, yours are still well-founded opinions, and they make perfect sense to me. Thanks, Christiaan.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Wow, thanks Harvey. It's really good to hear this video gives you inspiration. That's what I set out to do!

Thank you! 42,176 practice hours and counting, always ready to learn new stuff. (My main style: learning new styles) 16:45 If they are great musicians w/o knowing music theory, they'd be even better if they knew more music theory. A well rounded musician should learn everything they can and never stop learning ; )

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

You're Welcome Jari. About theory knowledge: they wouldn't necessarily PLAY better but they would be quicker to express their ideas to other musicians in rehearsals. Also it's obviously good for teaching theory matters!

Great video, and your theory is proven to me anyway. Two young people I know who feared learning Jazz because of the stigma it falsely carries; which is, if you wanna become a great Jazz musician, or even play it, you must be advanced at theory, chord construction, scales, etc. After seeing your videos Christian they became hooked on Jazz, and are on their way to becoming really good. And you know what? After compiling and using the line vocabulary method, it actually made them wanna sit down and start learning the simple things you mentioned Christian. And when they look back at how daunting a task they thought it would be they both laugh at themselves. I myself was a backwards learning theory person I learned how to play first, instinctively, and started out as a Rock player. I grew up in the time when there was no youtube. We had to sit and keep dropping the needle on the stereo over n over and over. But this did have its positive. It developed for me a way to hear tunes and hear the melody, harmony, rhythms, etc, the things I needed, like you said, to be a musician. I don't know if this came natural to me or I worked on it because I Loved and really wanted it? Other people still tell me its a gift, but I really worked on it, and still do. Oh what I would have given to have grown up in these AMAZING guitar, and ANY instrument perfecting times. The men who invented instruments didn't invent the theory. It was the church monks that started writing down the theory so they could teach it to their students and save the music that was created from extinction.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

4 жыл бұрын

Wow Lorne, so great to hear about these kids taking up jazz guitar because of my videos. Makes me happy!

You are very good and I can't believe you have been playing for six months. Maestro!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks, but it's actually 6 YEARS!! :)

Good work Christiaan thanks : )

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jimmy!

Great Video..To me any one who learns Guitar aught to learn Classical and Jazz and then move up to Blues ..blue grass country then Rock..as History of music grew from the big band ,,jazz and classical to the blues mixed ..add a little old folk and bluegrass ..to the 50's do-wop ..then on to early rock such as the beatles and surf like the beach boys ..to even disco.. I LOVE Jazz and Folk ..bluegrass country and classic rock myself..and Jazz is so classy ...to the guitars to the clothing ..to me its just what i call ...intelligent music ..which is aw inspiring and even magical ...and relaxing ..like sitting on the beach with some coconut juice ..and waves crashing in.. Really, Meditative love and Romance ..all wrapped into one scene...and now it's time for " take 2" ..and on stage ya go. Edit i love your down to earth style ..the mini humbucker " love the Gibson Mini" T-tops ...and trapeze rosewood bridge ..to the Jazz talk and scene..of real world experience..thanks.. and Yes i know what you're talking about.. '' not labeling everything.." it helps in real life also,.. with racial stereo typing, etc also" and forms your character ...me.. i learned every chord there was from a chord chord sheet wallmart sold/sells and hung on the wall..."forgot most of the names" ..but i remember the Sound..and go Wow..I remember that !!..and flash back And THAT helped me a lot ..with Ear training and when someone shows you a chord or you have to follow finger placements ..on stage "live" ..been there !!...everyone should start with that old chord finger chart ... i was about 15 at the time..46 now...and it looks cool on the wall... but yeah thanks...

thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts; they resonate well. you have a great skill of not offending anyone when putting in controversial ideas, I wish I was good at that :) this was very insightful and obviously from someone with profound and deep understanding yet very measured in delivery and explanation how something isn't crucial but can be very useful. Thank you again, you shared wisdom and calmness along with the information.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Luciano, I really don;t want to offend anyone. Just trying to give my honest opinion as carefully as possible. So glad you noticed!

Great video and lots of inspiration to add stuff in my daily practice. I will start to listen to Charlie Parker to learn more about rhythm. This might be hard for me as I don´t like that Bebop sound but the rhythm is great. - I´ve learned that ear training (harmonic and intervall) helps me a lot to understand my instrument and the music I want to play. As you mentioned, it is a good idea to listen to great players. But what can I hear if my ear is not trained. It is not about hearing every intervall or recon every chord. But it is about the general idea of what is going on. So 15 Minutes of ear training is in my daily practice. - Keep it up!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Ear training is of course never a bad thing, I just think that a lot of mediocre players think that lots of ear training will make them play great solos all of a sudden. I was just trying to show that I know tons of great soloists with mediocre (and sometimes out right) bad ears when it comes to hearing chords/intervals. Instead they trained their ears to hear more relevant things like dynamics and swing!

@erimsee

6 жыл бұрын

I´m a swing dancer so I listen to dynamics and swing a lot. - I agree that ear training is just one step one has to take. Actually I´m hoping to be a mediocre soloist some time.

Being able to recognize chords and progressions instantly helps me immensely when gigging (I play rhythm guitar mostly). Because there are thousands of songs that we play and it's impossible for me to know them all. But I agree, I can't improvise over jazz tunes to save my life.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

I understand but once you know the basic formulas learning new progressions is quite easy, even without being able to recognize them auraly!

Yes! Straight talking. Go to the source and learn from the jazz heros YOU like

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Yes Paul, that's the best way!

hes spot on-= the best players are repeating lines over chords that they worked out over and over- in moments of communication on stage those lines can change when bouncing back and forth between the other musicians-and thats when its fun

I agree with everything you just said! Great video as always Christiaan!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Danilo, great to hear!

I mostly agree with you! I'd only nitpick that you're talking about the only skills needed to "just survive" as a jazz musician. That's fair enough! Certainly form and dynamics especially are overlooked far too often. The other stuff you mentioned might not be "essential", but it sure makes life a lot easier. Either way, it's nice to hear someone not just saying the same things everyone else says. cheers!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks sub khz!

Thanks very much. That's very helpful and understandable.

Great video as always. Very good practical and pragmatic approach. I guess it all has to do with the traditional classical way of teaching/learning. The problem with that (in general not just with playing music), is that people quickly loose focus and interest. Mostly because I think the focus is on the things that are necessarily the most import, like you said in the video. The traditional way is more like killing a fly with a cannon, instead of using more efficient ways.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Piet, I think you are right!

Thank you for your thoughts! As a self-taught musician I always feel like an underdog, so I try to learn everything I can and expose myself to many styles. I think your advice is good and goes together with my experience. I often wonder what skills other musicians have, but I have started to become more confident and I believe I have a quite good skills and many times things go as you described. It's not necessary to know everything, but of course that would help! :D

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah man, just go out there and play!

Sorry Christiaan, but as a horn player, i do need to know and hear everything that is going on with the other instruments i am playing with at all times. I study all the great players of all the instruments. A solo is not a solo. It is an interaction with the other musicians. Listening is what seperates the real creative players from the lick players. But i enjoy the lick players equally! Bright Moments!

@ozzoid

6 жыл бұрын

I second that! How can anybody play a meaningful solo without listening to the bass, the chords' progression and their movement and the rhythm group at the same time, and respond to them as they respond to you. 1) there is a big difference between soloing on 'Bei mir bist Du scheen' or something like 'Round Midnight' or 'Giant Steps'... and 2) there is also a bit more to 'jazz' (or rather 'improvisational music') than just 'Gypsy jazz'. Nobody will just play 'great lines' on their very own without listening to and interacting with the others at the same time. (e.g. Cannonball Adderley was a master of interaction). Of course a Gypsy kid growing up among musicians from early childhood learning the same established lines by ear over many years doesn't need any 'theory' - but learning an instrument from scratch including reading music and then to be able to improvise involves hard work , listening to the greats basically day and night, and knowing and learning and practising how your 'building blocks' like chords and scales etc sound. Training your ears and being able to 'hear' intervals or a chord quality and have you creative mind doing something with it in an instant (!) are not 'party tricks'. That a soloist just needs to play 'great lines' and doesn't need to consider any feedback from or what the others are doing and why - this kind of advice I consider downright dangerous for a beginning improviser, sorry.

@Ayo.Ajisafe

6 жыл бұрын

Dangerous is a strong word. Would u really tell a beginner improviser that they need to read music, listen to the greats day and knight know intervals and chord qualities..etc etc? As a teacher I might consider that dangerous. I for one really like this practical approach, start with the minimum you need. On the bandstand, interacting with other musicians you can then learn or decide what else needs to be learnt rather than spending years and years in the shed trying to get that holy grail. As he mentioned i'm sure there are musicians that can do all that stuff and still dont play great music.

@Ayo.Ajisafe

6 жыл бұрын

Interaction also does not need to be harmonic. I just (forgive me) I dont really buy into the idea of you blowing over changes and while you are playing your lines you suddenly hear the pianist hit a certain chord which then triggers not only the appropriate harmonic response from you while that chord is still ringing but also a line that is swinging, and is a continuation of the story you were trying to tell. And even if there are players that can do this. I'm not convinced that all the great players did this. Interaction can be rhythmic or dynamic or thematic as well as harmonic. I think the harmonic thing also comes from playing along time with certain people so your ear recognizes (from repeatedly playing) that the pianist will usually play a minor 11th for a min7 sound and you know what kind of sounds u like to compliment that with.

@gianlucapaul

6 жыл бұрын

He didn't say you shouldn't have those skills. He's outlining the basic necessities to be a guitar player in a couple different circumstances. It's a myth that improvised music is entirely made up. Free jazz might have lines that have never, ever been played before but otherwise people are treading in familiar waters. A lick or an idea might come out in a different way, but it's not entirely invented. Especially at speed that is impossible to do 100% of the time. I think you're ignoring the qualifications he makes so as to make his statements true so you can make a point. Yes, you have to listen but "lick players" in jazz are not lick players like in rock. I hear Chris Potter playing lines and ideas that I've heard him play before. Is he a lick player? There's some subtlety in Christiaan's statement that is being ignored.

@jetn8654

6 жыл бұрын

Bob, I had the same thought as you do. It felt like he was referring to how to get a gig and have a minimum of competence, instead of how to constantly grow and advance as a player. I think ear training is so important, I believe you can put your instrument down and just work on your ear, and still grow by leaps and bounds. The other thing that I notice is that teachers with perfect pitch are often good, but fail to address the subtle needs of students without it. That is because they process things a little different, and its harder to get into the students shoes.

I agree with you Christian. At the same time I would not be me if I haven't some additional words. You are playing technically at a decent level. You know how to play all the lines inside out, they are rhythmically and harmonic-wise well executed and now comes the small but: I always wondered what I have been missing in your guitar playing a little bit. It's the kind of spirit or musicality or soulfoulness that makes learned licks and lines alive.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Paul, I will work on my soulfulness! And if it never comes at least I know I tried my hardest!

What's great here is the various criticism and endorsing of your views in the comments (on what makes a great jazz musician), just what you asked for at 26.50. Very interesting views from you Christiaan ( then everybody who has commented) to a non-gigging player like me.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Stephen!

Very nice Sir, History behind my stuff, over Century, good stuff, wish your students good, I hope you are Happy, Respectfully, Goodluck,All math set aside, my friends were from 50s 60s etc. thus experience, Practise, Practise, Right on!

You have a great voice and teaching style. Keep going with this . Thank you.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Haha, thanks Anthony. Great compliment!

Your Right, Contribute, when you can, don't, always though, listen an learn as a hole, LEARN, WE start with respect, like your site, thank you!

So which book or songs do you recommend to learn jazz lines?

A good video. I think a lot of times we over think jazz musicianship. On an aside if you ever need a costume idea for a party I suggest Elvis.

helmutdeltablues Hello Christian, amazingly many musicians speak of practicing in all keys. And they say that's 12 keys. Some still remember the minor keys, then they tell 24. But that's not true. We have 30 keys. 7 major species have sharpes, 7 have flats, so together they are 14 major keys. The same for minor, then we have 28 keys together. If you take the two without sharpes and flats (C major and Am) there are a total of 30 keys in Western music.

Often I too wonder if we don't overcomplicate things as musicians. Especially if you are playing in an instrumental jazz group, being able to make something interesting happen together with other musicians is much more important than perfectly reproducing a well-known musical composition. I do improvised musical theatre, which is even more wide open in terms of what you are allowed to do and even more narrow in people's expectations (That doesn't sound like Broadway!) The most limiting thing about my form is that it's hard to find accompanists, and I wonder whether we really need anything more than someone who can keep a steady beat, slide pitches when needed, repeat and vary appropriately to create a form, and the bravery/foolhardiness to think that's enough.

i love the part about hearing form. A friend was playing keys in a well known jazz fest, and he told me that some of the "name" artists were blowing the forms of easy songs BAD - like not playing Impressions as AABA form

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah, that happens more often than you think!

It's amazing you've only been playing 6 years. What were some of the things that helped you make the biggest leaps in guitar practice-wise?

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

+chris ch Thanks, easy I only ever practice two things (For 4 to 6 hours a day): technique and lines/voicings I transcribe. And the stuff I transcribe I practice in two ways: with a metronome (1 and 3, 2 and 4, only 1 for two bars and mute two bars) and with backing tracks. Nothing else: no ear training, theory, scales or whatever you can think of. Result: I can improvise confortably up to 280 bpm but ONLY in a gypsy jazz/ jazz context. Of course I could learn another style but it would probably cost me two years of transcribing only that style.

@chrischen1756

6 жыл бұрын

Christiaan van Hemert interesting. So you only transcribe certain beats of each bar? I’m not exactly sure I understand

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

+chris ch No I transcribe complete phrases I like and practice them with a metronome set in specific ways!

piano players ALSO have to comp during their own solos, and play in different settings...as a solo piano, as a duet, as a trio, as a quartet, all require different piano approaches with and without bass, etc. Also accompanying a singer is very different.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your thoughts Maria!

@mariagandcompany

6 жыл бұрын

That said, I totally dig what you said in your vid...I have often had instrumentalists ask for different things...some want rhythm-heavy for the time (duets, trio w/o drums) others want a lot of space (usually quartets) so there are a lot of factors to consider as a developing piano player (like myself)...I guess what I'm saying is that piano is uniquely demanding.

Good vid - I like your candor. I think where people fall off track is the crazy jazz chords and shifting in/out of them quickly with the music. I know (as a blues-rock hack) that's where I lose patience. Maybe you could address this pitfall and some ways around those sorts of challenges... I mean other than simply memorizing chord shapes ad nauseum.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks. The best way to learn those crazy chords is like everything: transcribe stuff you hear and love and start using that all the time. You will build up a library of nice chords that you really love and know how to use. Alternative you could take a look at my video about it here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/c6Okksmhic3Oico.html and part two here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/oYRnspJ8n8yypps.html

Make more violin videos. Maybe about why jazz is fun on fiddle. Or is jazz violin worth learning?

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

I have to put the violin videos on hold for a while. I'm really trying to build up my channel with regards to subscribers and views and both slow way down after I publish a violin video. There's just much less violin players searching for videos than guitar players. When I hit the 10000 subs mark I'll try violin videos again!

@benjaminkaminski6496

6 жыл бұрын

I subbed because of the violin videos!

@marcmouries7937

6 жыл бұрын

I started following you when I stumbled upon your video playing your version of minor swing on violin. It would be interesting to actually explain how you approach improvising differs between violin and guitar. I am sure that keeping your videos below 20 minutes would increase the number of views.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

@Marc Mouries Haha, did you see my video about "the only skills you need to become a good jazz musican". It's just me talking for more than 20 minutes and that thing got more than 30000 views in less than 5 days. So apparently it's not the length!

but i think it cannot harm to learn the three main scales(MM, HM, Ionian) and some arppegios

@einemailadressenbesitzerei8816

6 жыл бұрын

to develop your own licks

Hi, thanks for this interesting explanations. However, I am still looking for a definition of what is musicality. It can indeed be seen from different angles. Here you describe it as someone who has great musical taste because he has knowledge of the variations of soloing in the gypsy jazz style. But musicality in a person, in general is, I think, based first on rhythm, then melody, then harmony, etc. - Something else: do not forget the female jazz people. I just started jazz study and feel/notice what a male world it still is. Jammer. Vriendelijke groet & Success.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Actually in the video I stop specifically mid-sentence and say: "...that guy...or gal..."!

Really great video man - I can tell you MEAN what you're saying, and what has worked for you. Thank you. Quick question, from an intermediate jazz guitarist: How do you divide up your practice time? It feels like I'm trying to learn so much at once, and have a hard time dividing it up to be most efficient. Thanks again

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

I've learned the hard way that you should practice things you want to practice otherwise you'll burn out quickly. Apart from technique (you should do that every day for 15 min) practice music/phrases/songs you love at that time. If you're bored find something else. But if you're working on stuff, work hard!

@Ev-eq8zn

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the quick reply. I suppose different ways will work for different people, so I might explore what works best for me and change it up for a little while. This is an estimate of my current routine: Listen to music, songs I'm working on (15%, or whenever I can otherwise) Maj and all Minor Scale/Triad/Arpeggio exercises with embellishments, many keys (15-20%) Understand theory, reading (5-10%) Work on Phrases in many keys (20%) Learn new Tune (20%) Play Tunes I already know (10%-15%) Probably something like that. Thoughts? Cheers

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Looks good to me but again: if you feel you need a change, change immediately. Don't let yourself burn out!

Timing, dynamics and swing. The essential basics.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

That's right Jeff!

100 thumbs up!......... fantastic video, very enlightening info!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks marcelin!

Thanks for the video. well done! I have some questions. 1) Which tool do you use when transcribing? - notebook and pencil or a program like guitar pro? 2) What's the difference between transcribing entire solo and one phrase that i like 3) You transcribe TAB too? or only standard notation?

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

1) Sibelius (paid) or MuseScore (free) 2) you can do either, just make you actually like what it is you're transcribing 2) both (as you can see in many of my other videos)

@ilikejazz

6 жыл бұрын

It's like I asked many questions to you. Sorry for bothering you. I think I became a fan of you.. I'll watch your vid continuously. Thanks from Korea

The chords you played around 7:10 were instantly obvious to me (not the specific voicings, but that it was a II-V-I). And I don't think I have a great ear by any stretch of the imagination...

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Nice!

Very thought provoking and challenges us to think about what matters and why. Regarding ear training, I think it might be useful to distinguish between "hearing and naming" (which might not be that important) and "hearing and imitating" which I think is really valuable. (The distinction is similar to that in cognitive psychology between declarative and procedural knowledge.) (Also, I wondered: if you didn't have perfect pitch are you sure you'd feel the same way?)

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

I make my points about ear training because I think there's far too much focus on it. Especially by good musicians! I've played with many good musicians who claim this but during rehearsals often I discover their ears ain't nothing like they advice others to develop. They still play good, so why are they giving this advice? It's because it's some kind of taboo to just admit you have no clue which chord the piano player is playing! I'm trying to break that taboo now. You'll develop all the hearing skills you need by diligent practice, transcribing and spending as much time with your instruments as possible!

Good advice, but i have known students who CAN tell you the notes in a chord (7.29), although it is a gift.

I've been a musician in LA for 30 years, 25 years performance and 20 years as an instructor. Music by real definition is 100% Emotion! Producing frequencies (sounds) produced by material man made objects. That said. There are non essential basics that are used in music schools that are a waste of time. When I hire a musician for a gig, musically speaking, I look for: feel, good ear, pocket, chops, and improvisation if the gig requires it. You can play a simple rhythmic G chord, but if you got no feel then it's questionable. If you know music theory and can read as well, then you're highly valuable in the LA, NYC, and Nashville scene. You can find lots of work if you have good network.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your thoughts Roland!

@RolandDeAragon

6 жыл бұрын

The most simplistic basic tip I can give any musician on how to improve the skills is on word. Transcription! It just means to just sit down with your instrument, learn, study your favorite songs and musicians. Yes frustration will kick in , but if you persist and are stubborn enough you will become great.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

+Roland De Aragon Yes, that's pretty much all I do; transcribing. I must have made 1000s of transcriptions at this point!

@RolandDeAragon

6 жыл бұрын

That's what all the greats did. They didn't have the vast amount of info that we have today. They had just to just sit there and move the needle on the record player and million times until they learned that lick. Mentors were also a major influence in their lives.

"if you want to produce great lines in solos, you have to study great solos"

Study great lines - in a musical setting, what does the word studying mean? I don't imagine it's like mathematics so what do musicians mean by the word study?

I agree to most of it. But you have to recognize intervals for single note soloing. In what other way do you play the lines you hear in your head?

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

I usually hear stuff I transcribed or combinations of stuff I transcribed, I do not need to recognize intervals to play that. I already transcribed it!

Hey man! I want to say that to me the melody is the most important part of a tune. The Melody actually teaches what to improvise on and what chords and chord voicings to use. I think you give good advice how someone could actually function on the bandstand....but you wouldn't be playing jazz. If you didn't know the melody. You would be just faking it. So i think your title is misleading. I do love your enthusiasm and your passion for the idiom .

Thank you so much!!! Very useful!!!

Doesn't it all depend on who you are, and where you're trying to go?

Occasionally, create holes, and know when to create them, Fill. or not, figure your on it, R. C. Douglas. Cool.

I think ear training is important in order to interact with the rhythm section as a soloist. Obviously, if a piano player plays some super out-there chord, the soloist isn't going to put their horn down and say "actually the piano is playing a sub-altered double diminished Xb minor-major" or whatever... but then they can play cool lines based using whatever the harmonic backdrop is. Good listening skills help everyone stay on the same page.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

I get what you're saying but let's say Bireli is comping you on 'sweet georgia brown', on the first E7 he decides to play 4 awesome sounding but completely different voicings in quick succession. You will never be able to react to that and also you don't want to, you want to keep the flow in your lines going. That's just one example but in general I could say: if everyone starts outlining the exact same harmonic extensions, colors or rhythms the music becomes really predictable and boring. It's much more interesting if everybody takes his/her own path to that I chord in the distance. I demonstrate this all the time in my workshops!

@jaconova

6 жыл бұрын

Christiaan van Hemert I agree. There´s are lots of unexpected things, specially in ensamble. In fact, the greats cherish those moments. But jazz schools often make this too similar to classical music training, and basically install fear in many upcoming players, instead of joy and relaxed exploration when playing. I wonder what´s your thought on "perfect pitch"? I find it useful but not crucial at all.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

@Casanova Yes, you are absolutely right. I have perfect pitch and other than to copy people instantly when trading and 'wow' people by being able to hear extensions in voicings very quickly (like a magic trick) I find very little use for it! Some of the best musicians I know do not have perfect pitch!

@SaveKlalz

6 жыл бұрын

Would you go as far to say that relative pitch is more important for a gigging musician than perfect pitch? Or perhaps it does not matter very much at all? Thanks for the responses, I see your points.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

I only care if the musician I'm playing is listening to the others to make sure we're not losing coherency as a band rhythmically and sound wise of which dynamics is a big part! He/she can have perfect pitch or relative or none. As long as he/she is sensitive to ensemble playing and understands the vocabulary and knows the repertoire many gigs will follow!

How can you improvise great lines without being able to hear intervals, or without being able to hear notes relative to the key centre? Surely if you can't do those, you are playing notes semi-randomly, without knowing how it's going to sound. Surely, to improvise well, you've got to be able to play what you hear in your head?

this dude's face resembles to me of Wayne Shorter, cool!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Great sax player/composer!

finally something usefull! Thanks

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Richard!

Excellent, thank you!

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

You're Welcome Tom!

Very interesting ! Thank you

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Nice take on musicality in general.

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ed!

Most good horn players can play some piano and/or guitar. You just aren't gonna understand the harmony without. In other news, learn tunes, and then learn some more tunes. Everyone. I can hear the difference like hell when musicians know the tune - regardless of instrument. Even drummers. Really.

ALso, thanks for underscoring the necessity of studying great lines, particularly Bird heads. I get more out of nailing the melodies , then translating the rhythms and movements to other apps than anything "ear training" related. For me "ear training" is not using any books, loading the mp3 into a slower downer software like audacity, and then really internalizing the material. We definitely are all guilty of overlooking the most important thing staring us right in the face - the actual music itself. When I used to teach people in person (used to) , I noticed students would develop their sense of swing way faster by playing the BEnny Goodman & LEster Young melodies, then applying them over other guitar oriented blues/rock songs for practical apps so they'd like doing it. I subscribed to your channel , and if you want to point people to learning or reinforcing really basic fundamentals, I have lessons called "jumpstart guitar" in a playlist for that

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks, that's an interesting observation about your students!

What do you consider ear training? Someone without an ear (and most people aren’t born with the ability to hear everything without training) can’t learn tunes by ear and is going to be learning from a real book or some other lead sheet. Without an ear they can’t transcribe solos, can’t transpose, can’t figure out the changes on the bandstand to tune they don’t know...maybe you mean something else by ear training so I wanted to check. Ear training and technical proficiency are the two absolute most important things for jazz musicians and it isn’t a stretch to say that the best jazz players have great ears. They might not have learned it in a traditional way but take Wes Montgomery for example, when you see him explaining changes to Pim Jacobs in that one video he isn’t formally trained in any way but he transcribed Charlie Christian solos by ear and his ear is good enough to be able to write and explain changes to others. What is a jazz player without an ear going to do, learn everything from a real book and learn how to solo by reading other people’s solos off a page or learning scales from books? I don’t want to say there is only one way to learn but I think in almost every effective way to learn jazz whether it be old school wearing records out memorizing tunes and solos to newer theory analysis and application on the instrument that your ear is going to get trained one way or another and if you can’t hear changes then you are going to get frustrated quickly once you start playing out. Of course having good ears won’t let you play good solos on its own, and that point you are making is true and where technical proficiency comes in. I think there are a lot of ways to skin a cat, so to speak, but having a finely tuned ear is pretty essential to every way whether it is on purpose or a byproduct of the other things someone is learning. (Edit: thanks for making this video - it has interesting points and I enjoy these kinds of musings and discussions)

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your elaborate comment Paul! You don't need good ears to transcribe, just patience and persistence. Explaining changes and writing changes doesn;t require a good ear either, just the right knowledge!

Are you a professional gigging jazz musician? If so where? Do you teach / give lessons?

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

I'll be teaching workshops in LA next week. At Django In June in June (near Boston), in Ireland in September, France in October, perhaps Sweden in May and more to come. Check my website for more info!

@clarkewi

6 жыл бұрын

Come down to Australia / New Zealand. Lots of jazz lovers down here.

Hah u re way different anyone who I watched :) I have been digging the chords , how they make melodies , why are they so important ? I tried to make melodies out of basic triads but always meaningless. I stil don't have any idea wht these people are talking about. Whts ur idea about that ? For example I wanna play nicely or make up good melodies , wht should I do ?

@ChristiaanvanHemert

6 жыл бұрын

Watch my videos in which I discuss and show lines. That's what you should be practicing: good lines which you transcribed from musicians you love!

Great tutorial