Often a rock musician will get the sudden inspiration to learn to perform jazz music. This is an ambitious pursuit, and should be carefully considered. This article will outline the challenges in learning jazz performance and the commitments required to succeed. It will also provide a short list of jazz artists that all serious students of the music should study and absorb into their listening and understanding.
I will separate this subject into two areas: drums, and every other instrument. First, we will discuss drums. If you are a drummer, understand that jazz is the most rhythmically-ambitious music in normal music circulation. The drum set (or "trap set" as it is sometimes called in jazz circles) is put to full use. Rather than getting 38 different percussion objects to strike occasionally, jazz drummers typically favor smaller setups and exploit them to their fullest. Although jazz may sound like a "dark and mysterious" music, the toms are actually tuned much higher than those in a typical rock music kit.
Be prepared to spend long hours learning limb independence. The "swing" rhythm dominates the common practice era of jazz (approximately 1928-1968). No jazz drummer can be taken seriously if they are incompetent with swing rhythms. Get used to being a master at keeping time with your hi-hat foot on the back beat. Be prepared for complex, triplet-centric rhythmic renderings. You will benefit highly from seeking tutelage from a jazz drummer who knows what he/she is doing. The student/teacher relationship is important in jazz. Information and skills are frequently passed down directly and in person.
Make sure you develop your knowledge and taste in jazz by listening to the best artists in the field. There have been all sorts of fluff and gimmicks that have come and gone. The true taste makers in jazz live on and are still studied today. There are many excellent jazz drummers throughout its history. I will give you a short, must-know list: Buddy Rich, Roy Haynes, Jack DeJohnette, Max Roach, Elvin Jones.
Now we turn our attention to melodic/harmonic oriented instruments such as piano, guitar, saxophone, bass, trumpet, etc. If you are new to serious jazz, you may be completely unaware of the extreme level of harmonic sophistication. If you cannot yet spell out the notes of a C7 chord, or know that Gminor7 is the "two" chord in the key of F, you are in for a lot of work. Be prepared to learn chords like "F sharp minor 7-flat-five-flat-nine" or "A flat 7 sharp 11". Even if your instrument is monophonic, you still need to know what is going on in the harmony. Many serious wind and brass players will also study piano to develop their harmonic understanding. Serious jazz artists don't just "wing it". The music's harmonic undersurface is typically constantly changing. In jazz, you don't just play a solo "in the key". You play moment-by-moment expressions that are fully aware of the harmonic construction supporting the music at that exact point in time. You will benefit substantially from studying with an accomplished jazz performer/educator.
Jazz has been around for a century. The expanse of time has accumulated a substantial collection of excellent serious jazz artists to study. Regardless of which pitched instrument you play (trumpet, piano, guitar, saxophone bass, etc), the following provides a short list of jazz excellence. Every one of the following artists should make it onto your radar screen. Your primary education should include the following acoustic artists: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Evans, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Herbie Hancock, Art Tatum, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, Earl Hines, Count Basie. Supplement your understanding with the following electric artists as your interests and circumstances navigate you: Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, Les Paul, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, Pat Metheny (note: some artists are listed in both categories). The artists in the above collection are all serious, accomplished jazz musicians who have earned enduring respect in the jazz listening and performance community.
Jazz is not a simple music that you can learn in a week. The above will help you gain an understanding of the seriousness of the undertaking, and point you in the direction of highly-accomplished serious artists in the field. Good luck, and allow yourself the appropriate amount of time, discipline and learning resources to successfully pursue this challenging and ambitious art form. Even if you don't pursue jazz to its outer skill levels, you will gain from digging your way into this ambitious and uniquely-American music form.
Joe writes for 2sheetmusic.com, where you can find sheet music such as Brahms' Lullaby and The Can-Can for guitar, piano, bass and many other instruments.
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