Oscar P. - October 2017 - Strength Index #1Playing Your Instrument & The Melodies

Score (1 - 5) Comments

Accuracy Playing The Melody (pitch & rhythm)

3/5 There is a syncopation at the end of the melody of Bag’s Groove (on most leadsheets) that we were missing here, the “+ of 4.” Otherwise, quite good.

Time 3/5 Your time is generally good. You never got off from the beat, or became disconnected from the rhythm section. Nothing here to fix or repair, just keep practicing almost everything you do IN TIME. Keep developing this muscle.

Articulation/Clarity

3/5 There were some short notes you played in the melody of Bag’s Groove that are typically played longer. The short notes tended to make the melody swing less to my ears. This will be a great place to pay some attention. Not just WHAT we play, but HOW we are playing it. That said, the articulation in the improvising was quite nice and natural sounding.

Volume/Evenness 3/5 Generally, nice even playing. On Triste, the comping was stronger louder than the melody. Finding a good balance there would be great. Bring out the melody, and temper the comping just a bit.

Rhythmic Accuracy

3/5 I think that when there were little “rhythmic hiccups,” it was perhaps just a technique thing (see below). You were quite clear with what you were playing, but occasionally little rhythmic inaccuracies would “take me out of the flow.” At a basic level, your rhythm was just fine though.

Technique On Your Instrument

2/5 I'm not hearing your piano technique obviously holding you back in your playing. As I mentioned above, however, having more technique on our instrument is what gives us greater fluidity, enables us to swing harder and so on. Just keep working on the nuts and bolts of playing the instrument. It will always be time well spent, and will help with the Rhythmic Accuracy.

Confidence 3/5 You sound in control of what you are playing, and I don’t hear a lot of “shrinking back” in your playing. I like the authority that you are playing with!

Improvising & Playing Jazz

Score (1 - 5) Comments

Comping - Rhythmic Content

2/5 Good basic jazz rhythms in your comping. As time goes by, you’ll be able to develop more of a variation between “on beat” and “off beat” rhythms. On Bag’s Groove, we heard many of the chords played on beat one. A rhythm like the Charleston Rhythm (One, and the “the + of 2”) would be a great next step in more propulsive comping. That said, what you did worked perfectly. The comping on Triste was more interesting and developed I though. Good!

Comping - Harmonic Content

3/5 Good basic jazz voicings. You’ll be able to move ahead with adding extensions to your voicings (9ths, 13ths and beyond) to add more color. At some point, those extensions will then aid you in helping to shape the form of the song a bit more. The idea of using a more simple voicing some of the time (just what you were doing in Bag’s Groove), and then adding a bit more spice in spots you chose (like perhaps the 4th measure of the blues, to move the harmony to the IV chord in the next measure).

8th Note Feel 3/5 Good basic swing feel on Bag’s Groove, and the straight 8ths were good on Triste.

Harmonic Knowledge & Content

3/5 You certainly know the chords that are going on, and appropriate melodic notes for soloing. It’s just a matter of keeping developing in this direction. You are right where you should be. Historical Language (see below) will be a great path forward for you.

Historiacal Language, Vocabulary

2/5 I’m not hearing a ton of Historical Language (ie. licks and classic melodic devices) in your playing. Your improvisations are very much your own material, and it sounds good. That said, having some classic licks and “turns of phrase” in your playing would be great for you, and would help you develop more interesting melodies (and help push you into more interesting harmonic areas as well).

Melodic Content 3/5 Your improvisations make a lot of sense, and are quite melodic and flowing. The best way to play better melodies is to KNOW a bunch of great melodies, and that takes us back to Historic Language. Learning some classic licks will give you more great, tried and true stuff to play, and will further shape your sense of what a great melody really is.

Solo Development, Motivic Playing

2/5 I didn’t hear a ton of development of your ideas in the solos. What you played usually worked just fine, but didn’t develop. This would be a great place to put some time in your practice. Really listening to what you are playing, and developing it. It’s a lot of fun to do, and fun for the audience, to hear ideas develop over a longer period.

Having “Your Own Sound”

1/5 At this point, you are putting all the elements of jazz together, so your main concern isn’t finding “your specific voice”, which is at it should be. Don’t worry about this for now. It will come over time.

5.4Your Strength Index Score

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Strength Index RundownFor Oscar P.

Welcome to our Strength Index Rundown, based on the two recordings you sent us, Oscar. We enjoyed listening them, and heard plenty of great stuff there. We appreciate your jumping in with us at JazzWire, and your desire to know yourself and your playing better, and to take your music to another level. Your Strength Index is a great place to start your work here at JazzWire, and a great focus for the next four months of your practice.

As a reminder - you’ll be sending in a second recording of these two songs in four months, on February 28, 2018. Add that to your calendar, and don’t worry. We’ll remind you too.

Your Strength IndexCongratulations Oscar! Your playing is at a 5.4 on the JazzWire Strength Index. After 15+ years of evaluating adult amateur musicians, we see you right at the “Intermediate JBM” level! If you were in a Jazz Band Masterclass group with us, you would be in an intermediate group, playing with the majority of the players in our program. Folks with years of jazz playing experience, who have definitely been taking this music seriously.

Our Strength Index is on a scale of 1-1010 = “High End” Professional Player9 = “Typical” Professional Player8 = Semi-Professional Player7 = JBM Audition Band Level6 = Advanced JBM Level5 = Intermediate JBM Level4 = Beginner JBM Level3 = Applied Theory Level

(see below to learn more about these levels).

Your JazzWire GroupWe love connecting our members. Frankly, that’s what JazzWire is all about. Getting like minded, serious musicians together in the same place. That is where the fun is, and where the sparks can start to fly.

We’ve placed you in the RED GROUP. This is where you’ll find folks who are at or near your playing and experience level. These folks are working on what you are working on, playing similar kinds of tunes, and addressing similar concerns in their practice. These are your peeps, and you should definitely know these folks! Drop in to say hi HERE.

Although you’ll love hanging out with folks at your level, we highly encourage meeting everyone at JazzWire. We’ve got great players (every one a serious musician) in all four JazzWire Groups, playing a variety of instruments. Feel free to look around. You cam answer other member’s questions yourself, offer advice, or be a mentor in a Group. Or, take an aspirational peek into some of the other more advanced Groups. See what folks are talking about, which amazing concert they just heard, what You Tube video they just discovered, or which cool new bit of equipment they are excited about. There is a lot going on in the JazzWire Groups, and we want you involved and include in the fun.

(see below to learn more about the four JazzWire Groups)

What To Do With Your Strength Index Rundown#1 - PRINT OUT your Strength Index Rundown. Put it on your music stand. You now have an incredible PLAN!!

Your evaluation sets your starting point today, and the personal coaching you receive from us (and other sources) helps you to set your goals, move you forward, and gauge your progress.

#2 - Go back and listen to the two recordings that you sent us, with your Strength Index Rundown in your hand. Listen, and see if you can hear what we heard. Go through each of the 15 JazzWire Essentials. Can you hear the time issues, or the articulation work to be done, or the motivic playing you did (or didn’t do)? Listen through a couple times and key in on those observations from us.

#3 - Below you’ll see your Strengths and Areas for Fast Improvement. This is a fantastic place to begin reorganizing your practice routine and incorporating your JazzWire Strength Index. You’ll find very personal and specific advice and tips, as well as links to videos and pdfs that will be perfect for where you are at right now.

#4 - Each week we will be doing “By Request” lesson videos on JazzWire. Send us your requests for topics to cover, questions about your practice routine, next steps, or anything else. Your Strength Index Rundown is just the first step.

#5 - Be interacting in your JazzWire Group, and out in the JazzWire community. Everyone is here because, like you, they are SERIOUS. This isn’t a Face Book group or snarky chat room about guitar strings or saxophone reeds. These are serious folks who want to meet you, interact with you, and move ahead with their music.

The Rubber Hits The Road . . . . HERE!Congratulations Oscar! Your playing is at a 5.4 on the JazzWire Strength Index. Refer to your 15 Essentials to get a take on what we heard, and what our thoughts are across the spectrum of the 15 Essentials for great jazz small group playing. There is a ton of information waiting for you there.

∆ Your StrengthsLooking at your 15 Essentials, your Melodic Content and and your strong 8th Note Feel are great strengths for you. Developing them further would be great, since you have such a strong inclination and skill in these regards.

8th Note Feel - Developing a great 8th note feel is one of the most important things a jazz musician can do. This is our fluency, our confidence, our ability to let the notes just “roll off our tongue,” like we do when we speak in a language that we are comfortable with.

With the goal of further developing your 8th Note Feel, this this videos would be fantastic for you to dive into deeply. In other words, have the

topics of this video be a REGULAR part of your daily practice. Have questions? Hit us up for the “By Request” video lesson of the week. We’ll get to your question!

Elements fo Swing - 8th Notes! https://youtu.be/J7RcKQ7MEGE

Melodic Content - The ability to play beautiful melodies is what music is all about. It is easy to get wrapped up in chord changes and jazz theory and scales, and forget about what makes music memorable in the first place - beautiful, compelling melodies.

With the goal of further developing your Melodic Content, these two videos would be fantastic for you to dive into deeply. Make them a REGULAR part of your daily practice.

#1 - Think Like An Artist - https://youtu.be/-gR36Zeh9A4#2 - Melodic Improvisation - https://youtu.be/82ai79Iuxfk

∆ Your Areas For Fast ImprovementLooking at your 15 Elements, Rhythmic Content (comping) and having more Historical Language are places you could get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. This is where the rubber will hit the road for you, and you’ll be playing better (and likely have a higher Strength Index number) in four months time!

Rhythmic Content (comping) - It might be enticing to run out and buy a book of rhythms, or a piano comping book, or any number of things like that. All great ideas too. But where you are at, you don’t truly need any of this. You can get a lot done on your own, and be VASTY improved in four months, which is our goal after all!

#1 - Simple and repetitive. The Charleston Rhythm (beat “one”, and then “the + of 2”) is a fantastic swing comping rhythm. Get to the point of being able to play this non-stop on all the swing songs you play.

Now, let’s displace it a bit. Play on “the + of one,” and then “beat 3.” It’s the same rhythm, just moved (displaced) an 8th note later in the measure. SIMPLE, but so effective. Let’s do it again . . .

Now, let’s play on “beat two” and then “the + of 3.” Another great rhythm. Here’s the thing. If you can NAIL these three rhythms playing the blues or another jazz tune you know, just begin mixing and matching them. JUST THIS will have you comping at a whole new level than what we heard from you this time around. That would be huge for your playing!

#2 - Listen to the pros. Put one 12 seconds of your favorite piano player comping behind a solo. Almost for sure, they played a fantastic rhythm in those 12 seconds, right? Don’t worry about the notes they are playing, or the voicing they are using. We are just talking about the RHYTHM they are using. Learn it, and play it along with them. Write it down if you can. You don’t need a book of rhythms. You have an MP3 player and stack of CD’s full of thousands and thousands of great, tried and true rhythms.

#3 - A great video. Here is a video I like which addresses this concept, by Aimee Nolte. You'll dig it! https://youtu.be/SKrD0eopEWM

Historical Language - Getting more classic melodies, licks, melodic devices and turns of phrase into your playing would be a great ongoing goal for you. Your improvisations sounded “correct,” but they didn’t always remind us of the great jazz players who preceded us. Like all spoken languages, jazz too is a historical language. We can’t continually invent “new words,” (ie. play things that no one recognizes), and think that we are communicating effectively. We need to occasionally use phrases that others have heard before. Another way to put it - Improvise Less!

#1 - Learn one or two SIMPLE bits of vocabulary. Yes, just one or two. These will be licks you’ve heard your hero’s play thousands of times, yet you consider them “so basic” or facile that you have never actually learned them yourself! Learn them.

#2 - Learn them in 2 - 5 different keys. Eventually all 12, but don’t worry about that right now. Just a handful of keys is best to begin with.

#3 - Not sure what lick to learn? Flip open any jazz book, or look at any bebop solo or composition. They are filled with great material. Still not sure? Hit us up for the “By Request” video lesson of the week. We’ll get to your question!

The trick part about developing Historical Language isn’t just learning it. That is actually the easy part. The harder part is internalizing the vocabulary and remembering to use it! This video will be fantastic for you to dive into. This is a fantastic exercise - make it a REGULAR part of your daily practice.

The Asterix Exercise - https://youtu.be/7FmHlf0fRyU

. . . and now go practice!At this point, you should have more focused, insightful knowledge about your playing than at any other time in your life. We’ve dug into the 15 Essentials that make all jazz players successful, and let you know where you are with each of them. Further, you now know what makes us smile when we hear you play (your Strengths), and what, to us, is clearly the best place for you to put some regular practice time (your Areas for Fast Improvement). Most pros and college students are not as musically self aware as you are, right now in this moment!

Remember - - Your next video is coming to us on February 28, 2018. Write down the

date, and work towards it!- Send us questions, concerns and topics for the “By Request” weekly

lessons. We’d love to address your specific concerns and ideas. - Make it a goal to connect with at least two JazzWire members every

week. The strength of the JazzWire community is in us getting to know each other.

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The Four JazzWire Groups

We humans tend to gravitate towards like-minded groups. People who have similar views, people who like similar movies, people who value the same ideas that we personally value. Those conversations are often times richer, more comfortable, and more rewarding. We find a lot of spark in these groups.

Yellow Group - This group is filled with people who’s Strength Index is a 7.8 and above. These folks are working on and talking about songs that are highly advanced (harmony, form, feel, time signatures, styles, tonality, etc). That said, they are also digging to more basic songs, trying to develop their own personal voice while playing these songs. “Band/Group Dynamics” are a huge part of playing at this advanced level, and composition and arranging are usually topics of conversation as well.

These folks play every day (gigs, rehearsals), and likely practice daily for at least an hour or two on top of that. Playing and thinking about music is their full time job.

Blue Group - This group is filled with people who’s Strength Index is a 6.6 to a 7.7. There will be plenty of talk about more advance jazz tunes here, but still plenty of work is done the building blocks of jazz style, harmony, rhythm, feel and everything else. These folks could sit in at a jam session anywhere on earth, playing a song they know, and do just fine.

These folks consider themselves serious musicians, and play most days of the week. They take private lessons (or have for many years), and have attended jazz workshops and camps. A member of this group practices seven or more hours a week.

Red Group - This group is filled with people who’s Strength Index is a 5 to 6.5. They’ve been playing jazz for years, and are comfortable soloing on a variety of songs and in the different basic jazz styles. They continue their work on typical jazz progressions (ie. ii-V-I, rhythm changes, etc) and continue learning and using the typical jazz scales and chords. Their best time spent is likely in accumulating more jazz vocabulary.

Red Group musicians likely practice four or five times a week, and generally have some outlets for playing and improvising in a small group setting (ie. classes, jam sessions, community big bands).

Green Group - This group is filled with people who’s Strength Index is a 3 to a 4.9. These are musicians who might be newer to jazz, and possibly newer to their instruments as well (or dusting their instrument off after a long break). They can function in a group setting, and continue to learn more about the roles of their instrument in the band. They are learning

more jazz theory, chords, scales, style and feel. Everyone (including John Coltrane and Miles Davis) was at this level, once upon a time! Applying the theory they are learning to the music they are playing is their biggest challenge.

These folks practice at least several times a week, and aspire to advance and feel more comfortable as they play. They are eager to get more organized and get more focused in their practice.

Strength Index Breakdown

10 = “High End” Professional PlayerThis is a full time player, and a Jazz Artist. Someone who takes their craft seriously, and has dedicated their life to it. They are involved daily in live jazz performance, composition and recording. Over many years of playing they have developed “their own sound.”

9 = “Typical” Professional PlayerThis is a full time player, someone who makes the majority their living in music. They are an excellent player, and probably play in a variety of styles to make their living. They do a variety of gigs, and probably have a degree or two in music.

8 = Semi-Professional PlayerThis is someone who has played for many years, and probably makes their living outside of music. They play gigs fairly often, and are comfortable in a variety of musical settings. They see themselves as true musicians, but they also understand that they are still learning their craft.

7 = JBM Audition Band LevelThis is someone who has played for many years, and is driven to develop as far as they can go. They may gig some, but they are most interested in learning what it takes to play at a high artistic level. They are well beyond the nuts and bolts, and they are eager students of the art of jazz.

6 = Advanced JBM LevelThis is someone who plays their instrument at a high level, and likely has years of jazz small group playing experience. They are probably fairly comfortable in a variety of jazz styles (Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, bebop, modal, post-bop), and they are expanding their harmonic palette. They continue to develop their technique on their instruments.

5 = Intermediate JBM LevelThis is a musician who likely has years of jazz experience, and a few years or more of experience playing in a jazz small group. They’ve played 20 or 30 different jazz songs over the years, and know their way around ii-V-I progressions, and a variety of other jazz scales and progressions. They are expanding their jazz vocabulary, and learning the intricacies and dynamics of playing in a jazz small group.

4 = Beginner JBM LevelThis is someone who has enough jazz knowledge, and can play their instrument at a level high enough to function in a band setting. They know their roles in the band, and can perform them to a good degree. They are growing as an individual player, but also learning how to function in the group dynamics of a band setting.

3 = Applied Theory LevelThis is a musician who is eager to learn the underpinnings of jazz. They may know some jazz songs, as well as some scales and theory, but they are also not quite sure how to put it all together. They might also be somewhat new to their instrument, or a little rusty after years of not playing. They are eager to learn more about jazz, and to push ahead in their playing.