How to play jazz

Years ago, I heard a student ask Blaine Whittaker, one of Australia’s great jazz saxophonists, "How do you learn to play jazz?"

After a moment’s consideration Blaine replied, "learn your scales and listen heaps". And that is it in a nutshell! But what does that really mean?
Learn your scales means be able to play your instrument, anything and everything on your instrument.

Listen heaps means listen to the music.

Listen:
Learning to play jazz is like learning to speak a language. There is a vocabulary, there are accents, and there are different registers, or ways of speaking, appropriate to different situations. There are various types of text to come to grips with, and so on.

We learnt to speak our native language by hearing others speak it. We copied sounds, words and phrases. We learnt to associate various words and phrases with objects and concepts. Eventually, we learnt to improvise with our speech: to make up sentences, and whole speeches, "off the cuff".

We are improvising just about every time we speak. It is possible, when we speak, to say absolutely anything. The words we use and the way we
utter them change their meaning. We can even speak nonsense, if we want to. We change the way we speak according to the context. We use one kind of language when we
speak to our mates in the playground or the pub, and quite a different one when addressing a judge in court, or the monarch of a nation. We use one kind of language when talking casually with a loved one, and another when giving a speech to a wedding reception.
Jazz is exactly the same. We must learn a vocabulary, and how to use it appropriately in various situations.

If you want to sound like a jazz player when you improvise, you must listen to others playing jazz. If the only music you have heard is classical, then that is what you will sound like when you improvise. If all you have ever listened to is rock, then that is what you will sound like.
Mozart was a famous improviser, but you can be sure that it didn’t sound like jazz!

Learn Your Scales:
I’m going to keep the language analogy going. To speak, you have to be able to use your voice. To play jazz you have to become be an expert in playing your instrument. Today’s standard in jazz performance requires virtuosity. Just because the music is based on improvisation does not mean that it is music for slackers. It isn’t.

We all had a lot of help with our native language as we grew up and went through school. The most effective speakers, and writers, tend overwhelmingly to be pretty well educated. It makes
good sense that, if you want to play jazz, you should get the help of the best teachers you can find. It also makes sense to go and hear and see people playing jazz live, so you can learn how it all works. Plus, if you like the music, it is enjoyable!

Good luck, and happy listening! Saul Richardson
www.jazzworkshop.com.au
Jazz Workshop Australia