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Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

The LJS Podcast is the podcast where you get weekly jazz tips, interviews, stories and advice for becoming a better jazz musician! Hosting the show is the jazz musician behind learnjazzstandards.com, author, and entrepreneur Brent Vaartstra, who?s one goal is to answer any question about playing jazz music you may have. Jazz can be a challenging music to learn and play, but it doesn?t have to be so hard. Each episode features a specific musical challenge that jazz students may come across, where it is discussed and answered. Special jazz guests frequent the show, sharing their expertise on an array of different musical subject matter. Listeners are invited to call in with their jazz questions to the podcast hotline, where it could get answered on a future LJS Podcast episode. Join thousands of other listeners getting free jazz education every week!

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learnjazzstandards.com/blog/

Episodes

What I Think About The Future of Jazz

Today, on the podcast I wanna talk about the future of jazz. We're gonna talk about the future of jazz education, the future of the genre, the style, where it's going.

We're going to, of course, have to deal with the age-old question, "Is jazz dead?". And many of my thoughts about the state of jazz and the enthusiasm for the genre in this episode today.

So, grab your favorite beverage, grab your favorite snacks. Sit back and relax!

In this episode:

1. Is Jazz Dead?
2. Why Jazz Education Is Here to Stay
3. Where the genre of jazz is going musically
4. Why jazz doesn't need to be evangelized

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership



2022-10-03
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Quick Win: Turn ANY Song Into JAZZ (Reharmonization 101)

Today, I wanna show you how you take a simple song, like, "You Are My Sunshine", and turn it into jazz. We'll take up 4 levels of reharmonization.

In this episode:
1. The basic chord changes of You Are My Sunshine
2. How I play the tune with the basic chord changes
3. Level #1 - How to turn the tune into jazz
4. Level #2 - Spicing it up a little bit
5. Level #3 - How to get rid of redundancy and add twists
6. Level #4 - Use this specific tactic to add more harmonic movement and color
7. A cool thing you can do for endings

Important Links and Resources:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book






2022-09-30
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My Experience Going to Music School (How it Helped and How It Didn't)

So, because I know the audience that generally listens to this podcast, I know that a majority of you, or at least a good percentage of you have never been to a music school before, and so, you may be wondering, what was it that I missed in music school that would help me become a better jazz musician.

So, in today's episode, what I wanna do is just talk about my experience in music school and things that it really helped me with and how I was able to improve. But I also do wanna share some things that did not help me at all,

I wanna let you all on the inside, save you the 4 1/2 years it took me to get my degree, as well as some of the lessons.

In this episode:

1. Being Exposed to Advanced Players

2. Music Theory

3. Repertoire

4. The gaps that music school filled

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership



2022-09-26
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Quick Win: How to Learn Jazz Melodies by Ear

So, what's the best way to learn and memorize the melodies to jazz standards?

Well, today, I'm gonna just walk you through me learning the melody to a jazz standard that I actually don't know and show you my exact process.

In this episode:
1. What I prepare ahead of time
2. This is how I start
3. Why my guitar and the recording are not on the same pitch
4. The pick-up to the next section
5. How chord charts become helpful
6. The pick-up to the 2nd A section
7. The second ending
8. The final result - playing along with the recording

Important Links and Resources:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-09-23
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40 Jazz Standards to Know (Broken Down by Category)

Today, on the podcast, I'm talking about 40 jazz standards that you should know and I'm gonna break them down by categories so that you can see which categories you need to fill in some more jazz standards on.

In this episode:
1. Start-Up Standards
2. Advanced Essentials
3. Ballads
4. Bossa Novas 
5. Bebop
6. Blues
7. Brent's top 6

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership



2022-09-19
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Quick Win: 10 Biggest Lies About Playing Jazz

Have you been told any of these 10 mistruths about jazz? If so, you may have started believing things that are ultimately not helping you improve as a jazz player.

In this episode:
1. Mistruth #1: If you can hear it, then you can play it.
2. Mistruth #2: You don't need to know theory in order to play jazz.
3. Mistruth #3: You need to know a lot of music theory in order to play jazz.
4. Mistruth #4: You need to have amazing techniques in order to play jazz.
5. Mistruth #5: Learn jazz solos and you'll improvise better.
6. Mistruth #6: Great musicians don't plan out their solos.
7. Mistruth #7: In order to get good at playing jazz, you need to practice a lot.
8. Mistruth #8: You should never learn jazz from sheet music.
9. Mistruth #9: Master something that you're practicing before moving on to the next thing.
10. Mistruth #10: You need to know a lot of jazz standards in order to play with other
                                          musicians.

Important Links and Resources:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book





2022-09-16
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The Practicing Snowball for Multiplying Your Musical Results

Today, on the podcast, I"m gonna be talking about an important concept that I call, "The Practicing Snowball".

"The Practicing Snowball" is something that's going to leave you feeling super encouraged, I believe, by the end of this episode. And it's going to show you how the compounding effects of your practice really come into play from looking at this from a variety of different angles.

In this episode:
1. The Practicing Snowball and what it is
2. The many different skills you didn't know you were practicing
3. How the Practicing Snowball mindset shift will motivate you

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership





2022-09-12
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Quick Win: Jazz Improvisation For Beginners (How to Get Started)

If you've ever felt overwhelmed at jazz improvisation and unsure of where to get started, today I'm going to show you exactly how it works, make it simple so you get headed in the right direction.

In this episode:
1. How to start improvising over 2-5-1
2. The most basic notes you can play
3. The modes of each chord
4. The most important notes
5. The actual scale used  by jazz musicians
6. How jazz musicians actually play the chromatic and major scale
7. How a jazz musician might resolve to a chord tone
8. How jazz musicians approach chord tones to create melodies

Important Links and Resources:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book








2022-09-09
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Using "Restrictive Practicing" to Improve Your Jazz Solos

One thing that attracts musicians to jazz is the fact that the possibilities are endless.  When it comes to improvisation, really, there are so many different avenues to explore, so many different things you can play and after listening to some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world, you realize there's a massive amount of vocabulary out there that you can express.

The rules are there but, really, the rules are meant to be broken. The problem with jazz, though, is that there are too many possibilities and therefore it can be difficult for you to figure out what to actually play, or how to actually improve.

So, today on the podcast, I'm gonna be talking about something called "Restrictive Practicing" and how this can actually help you improve faster and create more meaningful melodic solos.

In this episode:
1. Restrictive practicing and what it is
2. Restricting note choices
3. Restricting rhythmic choices
4. Restricting melodic choices

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership



2022-09-05
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Where Should You Learn Jazz (Books, YouTube, Courses, Memberships, Lessons)?

In today's episode, we're gonna talk about where is the best place for you to learn jazz: Is it music books? Is it YouTube videos and podcast episodes like this? Is it courses? Is it memberships, or is it private lessons?

We're gonna go through them and talk about the pros and cons of each one.

In this episode:
1. The Pros and Cons of Music Books
2. The Pros and Cons of Online Content
3. The Pros and Cons of Courses
4. The Pros and Cons of Memberships
5. The Pros and Cons of Private Lessons

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership




2022-08-29
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Quick Win: Pro Jazz Musician Reacts to His Playing From 10 Years Ago

What's up, guys? It's Brent here. So I was just surfing the Internet and I found a video of me playing a gig from 10 years ago.

Today, I'm gonna watch that video, give you my reaction to it, and let's see how messy it gets.

In this episode:
1.  Intro
2.  The melody
3.  Pro Tip
4.  The organ solo (by Camden Hughes) - my impression
5.  My impression of my comping
6.  Pro Tip
7.  When I hit it pretty good
8.  How I rate my solo
9.  How I failed on trading 4s
10. How I rate my trading 4s
11. Evaluation

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book






2022-08-26
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How to Get Back "Into Shape" After a Break In Playing Jazz

Are you trying to get back "into shape" after being off of playing for a while?

In today's episode, I will be sharing some tips on how to help you get back into the flow and feel that connection with your instrument and your music to prepare you to perform or just get you to play again. 

In this episode:
1. Listen to music that is "sticky" for you
2. Start getting reacquainted with your instrument
3. Start practicing common chord progressions
4. Practice a song you are comfortable with
5. Practice a song from a performance you are preparing for

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership



2022-08-22
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Quick Win: How to Learn Giant Steps (Jazz Tutorial)

Giant Steps is notoriously one of the most feared jazz standards for musicians to learn and improvise over, not only because of the complex harmony but also because of the speed.

So today, I'm gonna talk about how we can learn the chords most efficiently so we can improvise over them well and find out the harmonic secrets that Giant Steps has to offer.

In this episode:
1. Intro
2. Preparing to learn the melody - LIST process
3. Analyzing the chords (featuring Brett Pontecorvo)
4. The ii-V-I cadences
5. Moving down by major 3rds
6. The V-I cadences
7. Using the melody to organize key centers
8. Second half of the tune
9. Moving up by major 3rds
10. Recap

Important Links:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-08-19
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What Prevents You From Achieving Your Jazz Goals?

"What prevents you from achieving your jazz goals?". This was a question we recently polled our community over on YouTube about, and we got a lot of really interesting answers and responses to our poll.

So, in today's episode what I wanna do is I wanna go over those results; what people are saying and talk about each result and help you understand how really, they're not actually truly holding you from your jazz goals if you channel them in the different direction.

In this episode:
1. Addressing "No Time To Practice"
2. Addressing "Not Enough Technique"
3. Addressing "Not Understanding Jazz Theory"
4. Addressing "Not Enough Motivation"

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way



2022-08-15
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Quick Win: How to Learn Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise (Jazz Tutorial)

Today, we're talking about the classic minor jazz standard, "Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise". We'll take a look at the chords to figure out the most efficient way to learn it as well as some harmonic secrets within the tune that will help us improvise over it.

in this episode:

1. Short demo
2. The best way to learn the melody
3. Identifying the key - The first A section
4. Things you can do with a minor ii-V-I progression
5. A tritone substitution
6. Chord substitution options
7. Associating the melody of the song with the chords
8. The second A section
9. The relative major key
10. Diminished substitution
11. Passing diminished chord
12. The best way to improvise on a dim7 chords
13. The bridge

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-08-12
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The One Musical Skill I Would Master (feat. Brett Pontecorvo)

Today on the podcast I have a member of my team, Brett Pontecorvo, to the show with me to discuss 2 questions.

 And those questions are:
- What is one musical skill you are/were lacking that caused you some trouble in your career?
   and
- If you could start over, what would be the one musical skill you would master?

A lot of gold within these hills.

In this episode:
1. What is one musical skill you are/were lacking that caused you some trouble in your career?
2. If you could start over, what would be the one musical skill you would master?

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way



2022-08-08
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Quick Win: How to Learn Misty (Jazz Tutorial)

Today, we're talking about the classic ballad, "Misty" by Errol Garner.
We'll take a look at the chords so we can figure out how to most efficiently learn it and find out what harmonic secrets we can discover in the process.

In this episode:
1. Intro
2. Misty - short demo
3. The best way to learn the melody
4. Identifying the key
5. Relating key centers
6. Relating the melody to the chord changes
7. Identifying backdoor dominants
8. Identifying secondary dominants
9. Understanding the form
10. Learning the B section
11. The hardest part to memorize in Misty
12. The last part of the A section 

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book

See you in the next video!




2022-08-05
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Why You Need to Learn Giant Steps

Giant Steps by John Coltrane is often known as a right of passage for jazz musicians because it is notoriously one of the most difficult jazz standards to learn and improvise over. Truly it is a complicated song.

So, in today's episode, I'm actually gonna talk about why actually going into the trouble of working on and practicing and learning Giant Steps is actually gonna help you play all other jazz standards a lot better.

In this episode:
1. Reasons why you need to study Giant Steps
2. Learn the Coltrane changes
3. Understand the underlying modulations within the tune     
4. How to navigate V-I chord progressions in different keys
5. How to use altered licks for V-I ideas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way





2022-08-01
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What to Do If You Are No Longer Passionate About Jazz

Welcome to episode 369

In this episode:
1. Why my friend is no longer passionate about jazz
2. Why there is nothing for you to do if you are no longer excited about jazz
3. A few caveats to consider
4. How jazz transformed my friend's playing forever

Important Links:
Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
LJS Inner Circle Membership



2022-07-25
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Quick Win: 5 Pro-Level Jazz Licks You Need to Know

I'm gonna show you 5 jazz licks to have you sounding like a pro and unveil some of the secrets that jazz musicians are using in their solos.

In this episode:
1. Intro
2. Lick #1: What musicians would do over top of V-I chord progressions
3. Lick #2: Over I-IV-iii-vi chord progressions
4. Lick #3: Over a ii-V chord progression
5. Lick #4: Over another ii-V chord progression with a different approach
6. Lick #5: Over I-vi-ii-V chord progression

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-07-22
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How to Reduce Friction In Your Jazz Improvement

Alright, Magalie, can you say hello to the podcast listeners today? Oh, don't grab the microphone, it's expensive. Can you say, "Hi, podcast listeners!"
(Baby mumbled) Yeah, hi! Okay, let's get on to the show now.

Have you ever heard this saying before that insanity is doing the same thing, over and over and over again and expecting different results, right? You've heard that before.

Well, I have to think about that in terms of friction. Like, what friction are we experiencing in our jazz playing, in our musicianship that we keep leaning into, that we keep just accepting? And instead of reducing that friction, we just keep doing the same thing over and over and over again but yet are expecting our jazz playing and our musicianship to improve.

Well, today, I'm gonna be talking about that. How to avoid friction in your playing, your jazz improvement, and what you can do to start recognizing it.

In this episode:
1. A story about friction for a New York City musician
2. Listen, identify, and be mindful of friction points in your playing
3. Establish a strategy to address the friction instead of allowing it to continue

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 






2022-07-18
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Quick Win: $600 vs. $6,000 Jazz Guitar | Is Cheap or Expensive Better?

This is a $600 jazz guitar and this is a $6000 jazz guitar.

Today, I'm discussing which one I personally like the most as well as the age-old question, "Does having an expensive instrument help you play music better?". You might be surprised.

In this episode:
1. Intro
2. My $600 jazz guitar - brand and specs
3. My $6000 jazz guitar - brand and specs
4. Sound demo - $600 jazz guitar
5. Sound demo - $6000 jazz guitar
6. Sound comparison - my opinion
7. Which one do I like better? What Georgia has on her mind.
8. Do expensive instruments worth it?
9. Do you need an expensive instrument to become a great jazz musician or to
             improve quicker? Pros and Cons
10. Quote by Victor Baker about musicianship and instrument

Important Links:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book

See you in the next video!








2022-07-15
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This Is What I'd Do If I Started Jazz All Over Again

Have you ever looked back on something that you've done and gone, "If I only knew what I know now, I would have done that thing a little bit differently"?

Well, I was thinking about that the other day about my jazz playing. If I know what I know now, would I do something completely different or have a different approach to learning jazz than I did when I first started learning it?

Well, in today's episode that's exactly when I'm gonna do. I'm gonna build a time machine. I'm gonna go back, and I'm going to redo the way that I learned jazz and I'm gonna take you along for the ride with me.

In this episode:
1. Learn one jazz standard a month
2. Learn the blues in all 12 keys
3. Practice no more than 2 hours a day, 5 times a week
4. Focus on chord tones and resolve to them
5. Learn one chorus of a solo each month
6. Practice soloing unaccompanied
7. Play live once a week

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way



2022-07-11
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Quick Win: How to Memorize Chords to Jazz Standards

After learning a jazz standard you may find it difficult to recall the chord changes in the long term, especially if you're learning a lot of them.

So, I'm gonna share with you how I memorize chords to jazz standards so I don't forget them.

In this episode:
1. Intro
2. #1: Reading A Chord Chart
3. #2: Learning the Chords by Ear
4. Learn this first before learning chord changes
5. The first basic thing I look for
6. The second thing I look for
7. The absolute key to memorizing chords
8. How to relate chords to a tonal center
9. Identifying cadences
10. How to organize the tune
11. The important questions
12.  Relating the melody to the different chords
13. Review of the cadences
14.  Recap of chord analysis
15. Summary

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-07-08
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Non-Jazz Music I Listen To (And How it Influences My Jazz)

Okay, so this is a jazz podcast, so obviously we talk a lot about jazz education: how do you play jazz, how do you get better at jazz, and of course, what jazz should you listen to and really digest in order to become a better jazz musician.

However, I do not only listen to jazz music. I actually enjoy listening to an array of different styles of music and in some cases, I choose to listen to other styles of music over jazz. That being said, I often find that these other styles of music influence the way I play jazz as well.

So, today I'm gonna go over some of the non-jazz music that I listen to and how it's influenced me.

Main Points:
1. Music I listened to before jazz
2. Classic Rock and Early 2,000's rock influences
3. Dream Theater and prog rock/metal
4. How the music I was listening to led me to jazz
5. Elliot Smith
5. Singer-songwriters

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way



2022-07-04
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How to Play Jazz Melodies Like a Pro (Thought Experiment)

In today's episode, we're gonna do a little thought experiment that will help us get in the mindset that we need to be, to play melodies and solos creatively and at the top of our game, to take a boring expression of a melody and truly turn it into something that is riveting for the audience and riveting for ourselves.

Main Points:
1. Playing a melody by the book vs. the way a pro jazz musician would play it
2. Example of a "basic" melody
3. The "Bluenote Thought Experiment"
4. Example of a pro-sounding jazz melody

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way



2022-06-27
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Quick Win: The Best Jazz Practice Advice

If you wanna be a good musician of any kind then you know you need to practice, especially if you want to play jazz.

So, I'm gonna give you the very best practice advice I can give you to help you get set up for success.

CHAPTERS:
Intro
Tip #1: Can't find more time to practice? Stop trying.
Tip #2:  Practice less
Tip #3:  Ditch these if you don't want them
Tip #4:  Focus on the things you're not good at
Tip #5:  Give it some space
Tip #6:  Keep a sense of accomplishment

***Important Links and Resources***
Get our FREE "Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way" Guide and Masterclass

Join our powerful jazz learning community

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book

See you in the next video!



2022-06-24
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Why Are We Passionate About Playing Jazz (Story Time)?

 So today, I'm gonna share with you some important points in my music life, like, the first thing I played with my first guitar when I got it, how that one, 7-note lick that my first pro jazz teacher taught me gave me a "light bulb" moment, and most importantly, the reason behind what is in music that resonates with me so much that keeps me passionate about it

Before I'll end this story, I'm gonna leave you with a challenge that would help keep that spark going that lights up your passion for discovering the jazz world.

In this episode, Brent shares (as he jams and plays during story time):

1. what he used to play before jazz

2. how he came to love jazz

3. who his first pro jazz teacher was

4. what keeps him passionate about playing jazz 

5. his advice on how to continue your passion for playing jazz


***Important links***

LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-06-20
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Quick Win: The Best Ear Training For Jazz

You've probably been told that playing jazz requires great ears. Well, how do you actually train your ears for jazz improvisation? I'm gonna give you 10 things you can do!

CHAPTERS:

1. Intro
2. What are the Ear Training Fundamentals?
3. The Best way for becoming a Jazz Improviser
4. What is Applied Ear Training?
5. The 10 Different Ideas For Applied Ear Training
6.  #1: Learn the Melodies of Jazz Standards by Ear
7. #2: Learning A Solo Lick or Etude by Ear
8. #3:  Take A Lick Into Different Keys
9. #4:  Play A Piece of Music or a Lick in a Different Position
10. #5:  Singing and then Playing
11 #6:  Composing Your Own Solos
12. #7: Memorizing Music
13. #8: Learn Jazz Standards and Understand the Chord Progressions
14. #9:  Play Along with Jazz Records
15. #10 Improvise "free"

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book

See you in the next video!







2022-06-18
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From the Vault: How to Beat the Brain Game for Musical Freedom (feat. Matt Vaartstra)

We're doing a from-the-vault episode today. We're going back in time where I had my very own brother on the show to talk about performance and how to beat the brain game that goes on when we're playing music and trying to get better.

Looking forward to bringing this one back and bringing it back to life.

In this episode:

1. The power of mindset over musical performance.
2. How to train a positive mindset with a Self-Talk Script.
3. Using the ?Three D?s? to cut off your negative thoughts.
-Detect
-Disrupt
-Dispute
4. Honing in on musical personal records vs. competition.
5. Fixed vs. Growth Mindsets.
6. How to measure your personal progress.

***Important Links***
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-06-13
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Quick Win: How to Play Changes In Your Jazz Solos

The best jazz musicians in the world can play a solo, unaccompanied and you know exactly the tune they were playing.

You can do that, too.

CHAPTERS:

1.  Intro
2.  The secret to playing chord changes
3.  A great jazz-blues solo
4.  Targeting Chord tones
5.  What are guide tones in a chord?
6.  What is motivic development?
7.  Tension and Resolution


Important Links:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-06-10
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Frameworks for Ingraining Jazz Recordings

Listening to jazz is one of the best ways that you can improve your jazz playing without even touching your instrument and actually retain material so that it becomes exponentially easier to play when you actually do pick up your instrument.

So I wanna talk about some plans for listening to jazz if your intention is to retain and ingrain musical information.

In this episode:

1. Why listening can be a game-changer for your jazz playing
2. Framework for internalizing a jazz album
3. Frameworks for internalizing a jazz standard

***Important Links***
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

2022-06-06
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Quick Win: How To Play Chord Melody On A Jazz Standard

If you're a guitar or a piano player, one important thing that you'd be able to do is chord melody - playing the chords and the melody of a jazz standard at the same time.

But this presents a particular challenge, especially for jazz guitar players. So what are the basics of chord melody and how do you do it?

In this episode:

1.  Intro
2. Creating chord melody - Polka Dots and Moonbeams
3. The basics of creating chord melody:
4.  How to find the chords under the melody notes -  Section A
5.  How to emphasize the melody notes
6. Try adding some ornaments
7.  How to find the chords under the melody notes - Section B
8.  My own rendition of Polka Dots and Moonbeams

Important Links:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-06-03
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How Long Will It Take to Play Great Jazz Solos?

Today on the podcast, I'm answering the question, "How long does it take to become a great jazz improviser?",  from day 1 until that day when you're really playing solos that you're enjoying, hearing back, and feeling happy about.

In This Episode:

1. Variable that will influence how long

2. Defining what a "great jazz solo" is

3. Conditions of practicing during timeframes of practice

4. General time frames starting from a beginner level

5. The secret to staying consistent

***Important Links***

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

2022-05-30
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Quick Win: Using Pentatonics for AMAZING Jazz Solos

 If you know the pentatonic or the blues scale you can actually play really amazing jazz solos using just those notes.

In this episode:

Intro Demo: SOUL STIR BLUES - A jazz blues solo Kinds of Pentatonic Scales used in Soul Stir Blues How I put the solo together Applying rhythmic concepts Summary

Important Links:

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 

Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Get our Amazon Best Selling book

See you in the next video!



2022-05-27
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Is Learning Jazz Solos Worth It (And How to Get Results from Them)

If you've been studying jazz for a little while, you've probably heard from somebody, whether it would be me or somebody else, that it's a good idea to learn jazz solos or jazz etudes.

And you may or may not fully understand why it's a good idea to do, and if you don't understand that, it could be not very motivating to go through the process of doing something tedious like this.

So in today's episode, I'm gonna explain why this is a great practice and some insights that I think you'll find very valuable around these practices.

In This Episode:

1. Is learning jazz solos worth it?

2. The best way to internalize a jazz solo

3. Great improvisation comes when hearing ideas and muscle memory meet

4. Learning solos helps make you aware of vocabulary you can use

***Important Links***

LJS Inner Circle Membership

Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 



2022-05-23
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Quick Win: How to PRACTICE Improvising Over a Jazz Standard

So, if you're practicing over jazz standards but you continually feel like you're not improving, not getting any better, it could be that you're just practicing them wrong in the very first place. 

So, I'm gonna show you strategies for practicing over jazz standards and actually improvising over them.

In this episode:

Intro Demonstration First strategy: Study the chord changes of a jazz standard Isolate just one chord and practice improvising over it Demonstration: How to improvise over one chord 2nd strategy: Practice improvising over common progressionsDemonstration: Improvising over one chord Demonstration: Improvising over two chords 3rd Strategy: Practice the transitions Demonstration: Practice transitioning 3-chord progressions

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way 
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-05-20
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21 Things For You to Practice

Welcome to episode 350 where today I discuss 21 different options for jazz practice. So if you are wondering what you should practice today, this week, or this month, this episode should give you a handful of good ideas to work with.

Hey listen, so if you're sittin' there this week going, "I actually don't know what to practice to improve my jazz playing this week". Well, this episode is gonna leave you with zero excuses 'cause I'm gonna go over 21 different ideas for you to practice today. And at the end of the episode, I'll also give the ones that I personally focus on.

In this episode:

1. Scales
2. Arpeggios
3. Enclosure
4. Minor Pentatonics
5. Intervals
6. Learning a lick by ear
7. Take a lick into all 12 keys
8. Learn a jazz solo by ear
9. Learn a jazz standard
10. Learn a standard in a different key
11. Learn a jazz blues head
12. Learn a rhythm changes head
13. Practice a jazz etude
14. Compose your own jazz solo
15. Practice specific chord progressions
16. Practice improvising over one chord
17. Compose your own jazz lick
18. Compose a contrafact
19. Practice guide tones
20. Practice playing with a metronome
21. Listen to jazz

Important Links:

LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-05-16
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Quick Win: The Most IMPORTANT Music Theory for Jazz Standards

What are the most important music theory concepts that you need to know to make learning and improvising over jazz standards much easier?

In this episode:

Intro Concept
#1: Secondary Dominants Concept
#2: The Backdoor Dominant Concept
#3: Relative Keys Concept
#4: Parallel Keys Concept
#5: Sidestep 2-5 Concept
#6: Hybrid 2-5 Concept
#7: Deceptive CadencesConcept
#8: Passing Diminished Chords

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear. Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
 
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book
See you in the next video!



2022-05-13
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The Last Time I Will Play My Guitar

Welcome to episode 348 where I play a jazz ballad solo guitar set to commemorate the last time I play my guitar. I play through my 6 favorite jazz ballads and briefly discuss what makes them great jazz standards and a few harmonic and melodic lessons from each.

So, I've got a shocking announcement: On this episode today, this is going to be the last time that I play my guitar, the very last time. Okay, okay, okay, maybe not the very last time.

Actually, I probably will play it in the future, but I can pretty much guarantee I won't be playing it very often anymore, and I definitely won't be playing it for probably a while. I'll tell you about that in just one second, but obviously, since this is happening, to commemorate the moment on today's episode, I'm gonna play a little solo guitar show for you on this guitar, playing my 6 favorite jazz ballads, all about telling you why they're great ballads to learn and some lessons you can learn from them as well.

In this episode:

1. Why this is the last time I will play my guitar
2. Prelude to a Kiss
3. My Ideal
4. But Beautiful
5. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
6. Peace
7. Darn That Dream

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-05-09
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Quick Win: Instantly Improve Your Jazz Solos (3 Strategies)

If your jazz solos feel like they're missing that secret sauce that pro-level jazz musicians have, then you could be missing out on one of these strategies.

In this episode:
1. Intro
2. Example/Demo
3. 1st Strategy
4. 2nd Strategy
5. 3rd Strategy
6. Video recommendation

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear. Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
 
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book
See you in the next video!



2022-05-06
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6 Lessons We?ve Learned from Our Jazz Community (2 Year Anniversary Special)

Welcome to episode 346 where, in celebration of the 2-year anniversary of our Inner Circle membership, we're sharing 6 lessons we've learned from our jazz community.

Joining us is a member of team LJS, Brett Pontecorvo, and we dive into things most successful members are doing to improve their playing within the community.

Today, we have a special edition of our LJS Podcast because we are celebrating the 2-year anniversary this month of our LJS Inner Circle membership and we're gonna share 6 lessons, 6 important things that we've learned from our jazz community, specifically our most successful members.

So, whether you're a member or a non-member of the Inner Circle, you're gonna learn a lot about how to become a jazz musician, the most effective way through the community in this episode and we have a special guest to join us.

In this episode:
1. Simplicity Scales
2. Sharing Frequently Stimulates Forward Motion
3. Those Who Give Often Receive More
4. A Willingness to ?Fail? brings Freedom
5. Celebrating Small Wins Matter
6. Collaboration Creates Motivation

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-05-02
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Finding The ONE Thing That Will Accelerate Your Jazz Skills

Welcome to episode 345 where today I talk about finding your ONE thing that if you accomplish this, will make playing jazz so much easier, and even make other things you would practice unnecessary. I talk about this concept and then share ONE thing from members of our Inner Circle.

My friends, what is the one thing that you can do this month for your jazz playing that if you accomplish this one thing, will make everything else exponentially easier or no longer even necessary? That's what I wanna talk about today. What is that one thing for you that you can do in your jazz playing?

In this episode:
1. The ONE thing concept 
2. Why establishing a ONE thing can help you as a musician 
3. Examples of our members sharing their ONE things

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-04-25
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Quick Win: The Most Important Scales for Jazz Standards

So what are the most important scales that will help you improvise over jazz standards?

In this episode:
1. Intro
2. The 5 Qualities of 7th Chords Song Sample: Stella By Starlight
3. The Minor 7th (b5) Modes
4. The Dominant 7th Altered Scale Ideas
5. The Minor 7th Mode
6. The Dominant 7th
7. Mixolydian Mode
8. The Other Scale Choices
9. The Fully Diminished 7th Chord in Have You Met Miss Jones

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book
See you in the next video!



2022-04-22
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7 Lessons I?ve Learned As A Pro Jazz Musician (Music Advice)

Welcome to episode 343 where today I talk about my experiences as a professional performing jazz musician and the music lessons I've learned.

Having dedicated most of my life to playing and teaching music, I've learned a thing or two. This advice is helpful for hobbyist musicians, from the perspective of a pro.

In today's episode, I wanna talk about my experience as a professional jazz musician. Looking back on my career, the lessons that I've learned about playing music, playing jazz with other people, and so on and so forth, and particularly I wanna hone in on some lessons that I've learned that I know are gonna help you as a non-professional hobbyist jazz musician.

In this episode:
1. Best solos come when you don't care 
2. You're never going to be satisfied with your playing 
3. The best people to play with are... 
4. Equipment does matter 
5. Practicing a lot helps, but... 
6. Hardest gigs for me are... 
7. Professionalism matters

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-04-18
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Quick Win: 10 Jazz Blues Songs You Need to Know

So what are some jazz blues heads that you absolutely need to know for jazz jam sessions and gigs? Well, today I'm gonna share with you 10 that you absolutely should know.

In this episode:

1. Simple melody with some kind of cool bebop-y elements in it.
2. Super easy blues head that uses only 5 notes! 
3. A very common jam session jazz-blues 
4. A minor blues head 
5. A unique concert Eb blues 
6. An entry-level bebop head 
7. A great up-tempo minor blues 
8. This one's super easy to learn as long as you know the Bb pentatonic scale 
9. A great bebop bird blues to play 
10. This blues is uniquely in 3/4 time signature

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-04-15
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How to Play Wrong Notes and Still Sound Good In Your Solos

Welcome to episode 341 where today I talk about one of the most important skills you should focus on when it comes to jazz improvisation. If you master this, you could literally play any note (in the key or out) and make it sound great. Learn what it is and how you can start mastering this skill.

So I was at the Village Vanguard the other day, here in New York City. It's perhaps the most famous jazz club in the entire world, and I was watching a band play and something that stood out to me was that, no matter what note the musicians were playing, it could be that most-far-out-away-from-the-key-center-as-possible note, they always made it sound super, super good.

So, I wanna share with you the lessons that we can learn from this, and probably that number one thing, or at least in that top 10 things you should be really working on to sound amazing in your jazz improv.

In this episode:

1. What I learned at the Village Vanguard 
2. Examples of playing wrong notes and making them sound right 
3. The power of resolutions

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-04-11
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Quick Win: How I Memorized 100 Jazz Standards In One Year

So how did I learn 100 new Jazz Standards in one year? Well, I'm gonna show you the exact strategies that I use so that you can use them, too!

In this episode:
1. Intro 
2. Strategy #1 The circle of10? 
3. Strategy #2 The key to learning these standards
4. Strategy #3 Learn this first instead of the chord changes 
5. Strategy #4 Do what the Romans did 
6. Strategy #5 Ears first before the eyes 
7. Strategy #6 Repetition is the key 
8. Strategy #7 Start from #1 with a different playlist

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-04-08
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Deep Dive Into My Favorite Jazz Ballad

Welcome to episode 339 where today I walk you through one of my favorite jazz ballads. Ballads are important to know, and this particular one has a lot to teach us about jazz harmony and how to create an amazing melody. I play the ballad and then deep dive into the harmonic analysis.

In today's episode, I'm gonna be going over one of my favorite jazz ballads of all time, do a little deep-dive into the harmony, and hopefully, you're gonna come away with some amazing lessons that you can learn about jazz and other jazz standards, and it's gonna be a lot of fun!

So grab your favorite beverage, grab some popcorn, or whatever you like to eat meals in the podcast.

In this episode:

1. Why this jazz ballad is so great
2. Side steps 2-5's and what they are
3. Secondary dominants
4. Motivic melodic movement

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way

2022-04-04
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Quick Win: How to Master Rhythm Changes

So how do you master the seemingly difficult but important jazz song form rhythm changes?  Well, today I'm gonna show you 8 simple steps to do exactly that.

In this episode:
1. Step #1: The obvious first step 2. Step 
#2: Get "a-head" of the game! 
3. Step #3: The first place I really start with improvising 
4. Step #4: This makes the chord changes pop! 
5. Step #5: Get really good at this instead of scales 
6. Step #6: Exposure to these will generate ideas for your solos 
7. Step #7: Time to get those tunes out of your head 
8. Step #8: This still makes playing perfect!

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
Listen to the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast
Get our Amazon Best Selling book



2022-04-01
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