Monday, June 23, 2014

我的結他雜記: Jazz tunes to learn

This is one learning experience I really would like to share with everyone starting to learn jazz improvisation out there. I remember the first tune I tried to learn was "All the things you are." I love this tune and almost every version of it by every jazz great. I knew it's one of the must-know tune for jazz musician so I figured why not learn it as my first tune? Well, with many key changes, it's certainly not the easiest tune to improvise on. The first chord-melody arrangement I learned was "Autumn Leaves." Again, it's a must-know. Still, it has its fair shares of key changes when it comes to improvisation. From Jimmy Bruno and Robert Conti's lessons, it seemed to me that Satin Doll should be the first tune to learn because of its simplicity. Now I changed my mind after my first "Guided jam" session at Stanford Jazz Workshop. The first tune we improv on was a F blues (12 bars) on which one could use just 1 scale (the blue scale or 2 if you're more adventurous) In fact, now I remember the instructor started us with the same concept at a viola workshop I attended years ago.

Other tunes played at the first jam session included:
  • Sidewinder (Lee Morgan)
  • Mr. PC (John Coltrane)
  • Blue Bossa (Kenny Dorham)
  • Freddie Freeloader (Miles Davis) 

All could be improvised on using 1 or 2 scales (C blues and Db major in the case of Blue Bossa)

And I have to recommend reading yet another insightful post from jazz instructor Jamie Holroyd. His Top 10 has a few common tunes with Stanford's list.