Jamsterdam Jazz

Some help on playing jazz in a jam

Playing

Here is what I have in mind. I will choose two jazz songs to play. I will post the cheat sheets here so that people who want to join can learn the chord progressions. Usually a jazz jam works like this:  - We play the theme (with melody) together 1-2 times- Then everybody who wants to do a solo can do the theme once- Nice combinations: bass + drums (2 measures each), cello + piano, guitar + clarinet, singing + flute- We play the theme one more time- We cheer   Lets practice when somebody plays a solo that the rest of the musicians turn their volume down so the solo player can be heard well.

Theory

So, here are some videos for the people who want to learn a little bit more about the theory behind jazz and get some tips on how to play jazz on your instrument:  - 7/9/11/13 chords: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c6IsNbh5FI

• 2-5-1 progressions (they are used a lot in jazz): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3QhsyHGdQA

you can find a lot of info on the internet on 2-5-1 (or ii-V-I or ii7-V7-Imaj7) progressions. They form the backbone of jazz. You can look at the lead sheets of the songs I posted and see if you can find these progressions. After listening to jazz songs a bit you can also start to hear them.

• Some tips on improvisation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVvF7S2hW5U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFfkPQKGE7c

One thing that is great to use when practicing at home is to use a backing track. This usually is some drums, a bass and maybe guitar/piano playing the chord progression of a song over and over again, so you can try out your solo skills. Here are some:

Backing Tracks

• Autumn leaves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8ydEc92eJE / xWiki Entry
• Blue Bossa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6KcHn0dvU / xWiki Entry
• Fly me to the moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TQmts_MxyQ / xWiki Entry
• Summertime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMcxOLRM1Bk / xWiki Entry

You can find a lot more on Youtube. Good luck! And let me know if you want some more help or info.

Lead Sheets

Jazz lead sheets give you the basic chord pattern and melody. Here are a couple of lead sheets for some jazz standards:  

Autum Leaves: http://www.jazclass.aust.com/articles/autsoc.gif (source)

Blue Bossa: http://www.lalezionedichitarra.it/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/BlueBossa.gif (source)

Summertime: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk244/guitarroker/Summertime.png (source)

When reading a lead sheet you can sometime encounter chords like B#maj7 or Cm11. These are typical jazz chords with some extra 'colour'. When you don't know what they mean, that's ok, just use the basic minor and major versions of the chord. The 7/9/11/13 numbers give the chord a richer sound. I will post some more videos where the basic ideas of jazz are explained! But don't worry, jazz is as much about experimenting as using theory.