Category: c) Musicianship
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Some Thoughts from the Piano Chair of a Jam Session
Jam sessions are a fantastic tradition, and I don’t think I know any decent jazz player that hasn’t frequented them, or even run one. These sessions fulfil so many different functions and needs. They are social events. If you’re new to town, jams are where you go to check out the scene and make contacts.…
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Flim Flam Sauce – Lies, Damn Lies & Marketing
Music has what investors would call very low “barriers to entry” – in plain English, anyone can do it. Although it takes talent and many years of perseverence to do it well, and a heavy dose of luck to get to the point where you can do it exclusively for a living. The marketing side…
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To Lick or Not to Lick…
So everyone’s agreed, right? The way to learn jazz is to learn loads of licks taken from recordings of our favourite players and take them round all the keys. Hmm (a big hmm). While I do agree that you can learn a lot from transcribing (licks are nothing more than mini-transcriptions that have become part…
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The Secret of Jazz? Mathematics
Forget technical studies, listening to the greats, learning licks, advanced harmony, playing out, networking and “living the life”. Well, don’t forget them at all, actually. But those are the obvious bits, and there’s a very simple principle that most learners completely overlook as they strive to progress in jazz. They’re usually too busy with the high-flown…
Jason Lyon Music 