The well-known joke about someone who “plays jazz today” and is ready to sell his homeland the next day has long been out of date. Coming out of the underground and replacing torn jeans with a dress coat, jazz acquired not only the gloss and reputation of music for intellectuals, but also many new fans eager to swing and drive crazy with jazz improvisations. It is easier to learn jazz now than it was twenty years ago, although the teaching methods have hardly changed.
Instructions
Step 1
Get a classical music education. Despite the fact that jazz is not taught in every music school or conservatory, knowledge of notes, as well as the basics of harmony and composition is necessary in any case. However, before signing up for a course with a particular instructor, try to find recordings of their talks or talk to students. Now, when jazz is extremely popular, there are often more people willing to study it than professionals who are able to teach its basics.
Step 2
Choose "your" tool. The choice is almost limitless: it can be a piano, saxophone, guitar or bandura. Real aces are able to make any instrument sound in a jazz key. For example, the famous Russian jazzman David Goloshchekin gives a unique jazz violin concert several times a year. If you are already proficient in playing a certain instrument, then simply try changing the playing style. Beginners are advised to start with the saxophone or piano.
Step 3
Repeat. Many great painters began by copying pictures of other artists in order to work out their style and "get their hands on it." In jazz classes, students are often given their homework to study a particular musician's playing style and try to copy it. Trying on the styles of various jazz directions, you will gradually be able to find your way.
Step 4
Improvise. You can often hear the opinion that it is impossible to teach jazz. This is partly true, since the basis of jazz music is free improvisation. Real jazz does not exist on discs or MP3 files, but is born and disappears instantly on concert stages. When performing a jazz melody, try to play it in a new way every time, filling it with your feelings and experiences. Learn from other jazz musicians: compare how you played the same song now and before.
Step 5
Practice more. Since jazz by its very nature tries to avoid rigid forms, it has fewer rules and restrictions than any other music. Such well-known Russian jazzmen as Oleg Lundstrem or Aleksey Kozlov studied jazz without having at hand a single textbook or manual, except for bad copies from the records of American performers. Through endless experimentation, they have developed their own individual and unique style. It worked for them, it will work for you.
