by Charlie Doom, Monastic Scribe of the Mojo
Of all the musical styles, jazz is completely American – we invented it. Yet unlike blues and rock, jazz is rarely mastered by guitarists. There are valid reasons behind that: ii V7 vamps and the Lydian chord weren’t exactly what Jimmy Page was blasting out of his Marshall. And besides, jazz can be difficult to listen to and equally difficult to play. It’s just so damn cerebral.
But despite how it might look on the surface, jazz isn’t really about dissonant tritones and finger-splitting voicings. Jazz is about freedom, whim and imagination. It’s about being creative and improvisational. In a poetic sense, jazz is perhaps the only place that the American Dream actually exists.
Spend a deep thought or two about why you’re not learning jazz right now. Whether you’re a blues or rock player, the motives and concepts of jazz make it one of the most rewarding dialects of the musical language. Jazz is about finding the groove, finding the music… finding yourself any way you want to. So get started.
Here are a few jazz courses to open the door for you:
1. 50 Jazz Licks You MUST Know – You just add water to this one. Quick, simple licks you can start jamming on right away.
2. Larry Carlton’s 335 Improv – The master himself breaking down his approach to jazz’s quintessential joy: improvisation.
3. Fingerboard Breakthrough – This course will single handedly reveal to you the upper level concepts jazz can bring to your playing.
Truth. Love. Music.