Use transcription machines, wav file editors, etc. to aid your listening. Choose phrases to learn, loop them or slow them down to aid your listening. This is the way that you could use a transcription machine, or a wav file editor, or a tape recorder that...

Listening to music with your peers is an extremely valuable activity. When you listen to music with someone else, there are many benefits and things that you can learn. First of all, they can point things out in the music that you may not hear. And then, ...

This basically means that listening should be worked into your practice routine. Each day, for example, in your piano practice routine, twenty minutes could be spent on scale patterns, twenty minutes playing classical pieces and thirty minutes learning a ...

You want to connect your listening sessions to your other practice efforts. If your current practice sessions are dealing with dynamics then your listening sessions should also deal with dynamics. Choose your listening material based on what you’re curr...

If you’ve listened to or read my other courses, you’ve probably heard this concept of being purposeful, practicing and rehearsing with a purpose. The same thing applies to listening. It is good to have a reason and a purpose when sitting down to l...

This is a continuation of using technology; a stereo is part of that technology. And recorded music offers some options, that live music does not, to study music. You want to exploit those. Now live music is incredibly important but there’s a lot to ...

Now this is another exercise that I got from my teacher, Hal Crook. Jazz is a tradition and it’s a long tradition at this point, over a hundred years. And everything builds on everything else. You must study as much of the tradition as possible. You...

Much of learning music, musical progress, comes from repetition, and listening is no different. Repeated listening to the same phrase will slowly uncover more and more of the nuances and details to you. You want to take a phrase in music, a line, a melo...

Whenever you are listening to music, whenever you hear or see live music or when you are playing with your band for that matter, always assume that your ears could be more aware and sensitive and you could be hearing things more acutely. Listening, like ...

Now this kind of deals with your attitude about music, it has to do with cultivating a positive attitude about music and learning and other musicians and about life. There’s always something to learn from any music that you listen to. Always seek ...

An ounce of preparation… The more prepared you are when you begin your practice session, the more productive the session will be. By a lot! Be sure to have a plan and a purpose for your session. Know exactly what you hope to accomplish that day. Gather...

7 Tips for Succeeding At Jam Sessions In a previous lesson we talked about the importance of getting experience playing music with other people. Learning to play jazz doesn’t happened in the practice room alone, and local jam sessions are a great pla...

I’ve had many students over the years who complained of being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of learning to play jazz. There is so much to learn and it can be difficult to know where to start. There’s instrumental technique, theory, the fundamenta...

Choose a purpose for the group When putting a practice group together it is important to decide upon a purpose or focus for the band. What does everyone hope to get out of it? What areas of music will you focus on? The clearer the group is on this the mo...

Many up and coming jazz musicians get so caught up in learning their instrument that they forget to play music. They spend all their time in the ‘shed’ working on the techniques and concepts of jazz and never play music with people. That’ akin to a ...