Alternatives to JazzAdvice.com?

[Tom]

So yeah, as per usual disclaimer I have no affiliation with this site but hope I can help you out. I say this because JazzAdvice.com has become my go to site for free advice on playing my accordion.

Basically, it’s advice for musicians on how to advance jazz playing skills, with both free and paid lessons. It’s written for jazz players but the advice is applicable to any style when it comes to breaking myths and giving straight forward advice. Here’s an example:

15 Mistakes Beginner Jazz Improvisers Make • Jazzadvice

Beginners learning to improvise jazz make commonly these 15 mistakes. Use this player's guide to fix these jazz improvisation mistakes and improve fast!

www.jazzadvice.com

The site basically puts forward the idea that one should listen to tunes, learn them by ear, ingrain them so you have a repertoire that you can play easily and improvise by playing what you hear in your head. Simple? Not!

I try to follow this approach in my repertoire of mostly Italian and Americana traditional tunes but you could apply the advice to jazz, gospel, pop, musette, classical, anything you want!

So, I hope you find this interesting, and I would be interested in your favorite sites for advice on learning, building repertoire and communicating (performing). Thanks!

….and the picture that illustrates ascension by focused study and reflection…..

 

[Nico.nico]

Hi,
I'm subscribed to www.learnjazzstandards.com and find it to be a great place to start dipping your toes into jazz improv.
It assumes you're proficient with your instrument as is "instrument agnostic", so while it has some specific lessons for the most common jazz instruments, the majority of lessons are for all instruments.

I started with the most basic courses about theory and then moved up to a course of ten classic jazz standards, where with every song you learn some concept related to improvisation. It's been on the back burner for now as I started learning the accordion
.

The site has a nice community of people playing many instruments and each month you have the monthly tune, with an explanation and etudes to practice. Is a nice concept as you see the take of many people for the same tune and you get to have a fresh start every month so you wont get fixed with any one tune, but with the process of improvising per se.

I've payed for some extra courses, but tbh the core subscription is more than enough to keep you busy a lifetime.

 

[Tom]

Hi,
I'm subscribed to www.learnjazzstandards.com and find it to be a great place to start dipping your toes into jazz improv.
It assumes you're proficient with your instrument as is "instrument agnostic", so while it has some specific lessons for the most common jazz instruments, the majority of lessons are for all instruments.

I started with the most basic courses about theory and then moved up to a course of ten classic jazz standards, where with every song you learnt some concept related to improvisation. It's been on the back burner for now as I started learning the accordion
.

The site has a nice community of people playing many instruments and each month you have the monthly tune, with an explanation and etudes to practice. Is a nice concept as you see the take of many people for the same tune and you get to have a fresh start every month so you wont get fixed with any one tune, but with the process of improvising per se.

I've payed for some extra courses, but tbh the core subscription is more than enough to keep you busy a lifetime.

Thanks Nico, seems like a good site to check out…..

 

[losthobos]

Open Studio .....love this guy....

 

[Tom]

Open Studio .....love this guy....

Thanks Terry!

 

[JeffJetton]

The advice on JazzAdvice is pretty solid and tough to beat. I studied for a bit at a music college, and the first thing you did at the time was track down a copy of the Real Book (which was not legally published in those days as it is now).

That was both a blessing and a curse. It was great to have all those tunes at your fingertips, but it was also a tempting "crutch" that gave you an excuse not to listen to the source recordings and figure this stuff out for yourself. Same with those books of transcribed solos, like the Omnibooks. Handy for analyzing and discussing solos, but they can be a disservice to building your own soloing ability if you're not careful.

 

[Tom]

The other one I subscribe to is Julian Bradley. A slightly different focus but interesting nonetheless.

Time to think about pesto! Someone was talking about using nutritional yeast and almonds instead of pine nuts and cheese. Almost considered illegal here but what are you gonna do if you don’t want, or can’t take that dairy?

 

[losthobos]

I used to watch Julian Bradley some time back....best piece of advice he gave was...
Only play in one key for a good year or so.....get to know the sounds of all the changes before moving to other keys....too late for me by time I heard this but invaluable advice for someone starting out.....
I like Christian Fuchs if I just wanna steal songs or blues ideas....
Sam Tolbert for gospel..
Tony Winston....cool end of jazz...
and Open Studio for shorts....
I tend to throw donations at these guys here and there or buy a sheet music or two to support them.... appreciated