It is common for the beginning Jazz Musician to exasperate over attempting to become an expert or professional overnight. Overexertion learning scales, chord progressions, and degrading one's self through countless hours piecing the most intricate solos and licks together are all natural responses for beginners discovering the art of jazz. Years and years of experience is required in order to master every corner and crevice of the instrument, but this may be discouraging for someone just being introduced to jazz works. I will speak from my own experience how to gain speed in the right direction for musicians eager to learn and develop the skills necessary for playing jazz.

Many questions arise when face to face with the vast ocean of musical ideas, expressions, styles, legendary artists, chord progressions, etc. How do I approach the infinite rhythmic, melodic structures and theories of Jazz? Where do I start? Should I stress over learning major/minor scales? Do I need to know each chord progression, how it sounds and how it flows with the music? Do I need to study all day and night in Jazz Theory books? Well, to a certain extent, the answer to many of the alike questions will have to be yes in order to become a fully calibrated musician, diverse in whichever style he or she desires to play in. Although, to ease any frustrations or anxiety, I will give my knowledge and feedback to answer all of the questions a beginner will have being introduced to this extensive genre of music. I would like to start with saying that listening is an important factor of growth and is fundamental to someone starting out. There's always the option to learn scale degrees and chord progressions, but listening is one of the crucial keys behind the way music is constructed. By understanding the musical thoughts and ideas created in the solos of many Jazz Greats, will serve a huge role in the foundation for improvising depending on how thoroughly you listen to what is being played.

Some fundamental Jazz Artists who can be a starting point for listening are Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, and Charlie Parker to name a few. It is also important that I state, there is no right or wrong approaches to learning jazz, in the context of becoming better with learning to improvise. The things you choose to practice, the people who you decide to listen to are all part of the journey to becoming a professional Jazz musician. The suggestions given above are for a reference in order to gain a sense of feel and interpretation of the jazz language. Miles Davis' solos, "On Green Dolphin Street, Flamenco Sketches, and Milestone", are all great song selections for easy listening and to pick up on passing phrases by the artists featured, such as John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. One way to start to listen is by hearing the notes and imagining each phrase of notes in mind as the solo artist plays. The better you can hear the notes being played, the easier it will be to come behind and learn the solos. Even knowing exactly the pitches and sequences in the duration of the song will increase due to listening deeply. Through listening practice and ear-training, one day you'll be able to spot notes clearly without any reference because of the development and awareness of the note's pitch being heard more frequently. You will also be able to innately target a pitch for referencing in order to depict a solo from a certain break or midpoint, dependent on how you approach learning the solo. From my own experience, I have seen improvement in how fast I can learn a solo and memorize it from listening thoroughly than trying to copy it after I have just heard it.

In addition to developing the ability to detect notes throughout a phrase, the reverberation of the solos being transcribed or captured through listening will formulate. It does not take long after learning a lick or small passage that it becomes of substantial use during improvisation. So, therefore, it will do well to listen to someone you favor that plays stylistically in tune with what you feel making it easy to enjoy learning some of their solos. Some of the same effects of the notes great jazz artists are able to place in the right time of chords moving through a selection can be inherited and reinvented in your own way when improvising. Certain ideas and moving statements can be transformed depending on how creative you can be within the music and how well you recall those solos learned. It has been countless times where I have measured the amount of dexterity I had playing up and down my instrument from learning various solos and sometimes just hearing certain styles allowed the ability to build upon the ideas I already stored within.

As a Jazz Musician myself, I always try to find new ways of increasing my playing ability from reading articles, finding new artists, thwarting myself into the older Jazz Masterpieces made from the Jazz Greats of history, and connecting with people who have better skills and knowledge than I do for growth with improvisation. As I was told this information, its always love conveying it back out into the world providing a chance for people to interpret and better understand these concepts for learning jazz. In my next few articles, I will continue to share the information I come across to help any musicians eager to learn jazz gain insight into these levels of playing abilities established throughout the genre for the beginners' embarkment. In conclusion, what I have discovered for myself is that Jazz itself can be a form of improvisation. From finding resources, instructors, to which things to practice is all a part of an improvisation to your own song life. It is up to you how well and how far you go with what you know.