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1001 Jazz Licks PDF: Discover the Secrets of Jazz Harmony and Melody



Licks are short musical phrases, usually played over the context of a chord or chord progression. You can learn them by ear from one of your favorite jazz musicians, from teaching resources, or even create your own.


This book presents 1,001 melodic gems played over dozens of the most important chord progressions heard in jazz. This is the ideal book for beginners seeking a well-organized, easy-to-follow encyclopedia of jazz vocabulary, as well as professionals who want to take their knowledge of the jazz language to new heights.




1001 jazz licks pdf




I am also looking/learning and started improvising with this book "1001 jazz licks".I obviously pick what I like and transpose it up or down half steps, circle of fifth and in any way I know for variations.


Judging from the title of your book and what reviewers have said about it, you should probably look for a different book. Contemporary jazz is built on an entire system of theory that differs significantly from the traditional system.


Having said that, IMO, as an experienced musician your ears are your best guide, not theory or books - the theory is secondary. You need to listen to plenty of jazz, jazz played by the masters: Musicians like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy... More than any theory, jazz is about feel and sound and timing - things that can't be learned from books.


Also try to spend some time seeking out live jazz - preferably in clubs, where spontaneous new jazz is created on the spot, not formal jazz "concerts", a term which might even be an oxymoron.


With the sound of jazz in your ears, try improvising on familiar tunes - the traditional standards and even common every day tunes like Happy Birthday or Mary Had a Little Lamb provide great frameworks for jazz improvisation. You can find endless of good material for improvisation in a fake book, for example: The Real Book: Sixth Edition


Just play the tune and let your imagination kick in. I don't have classical training, but my understanding is that is often the most difficult aspect for those moving from classical to jazz: Learning to let your own imagination and musical instincts take charge, instead of just reading off the page and doing a bit of interpretation or following the conductor.


Although you are already a trained musician, if you're serious about playing jazz, also consider finding a good jazz teacher: Someone who will appreciate your already existing level of musicianship and help move you in the right direction for playing jazz. It doesn't have to be a lot of lessons - maybe only one or two sessions would be enough, just to "give you a push in the right direction".


You are very fortunate to be a trained musician that already has the basic tools at your disposal: Musical literacy and command over your instrument. Books certainly help, but ultimately using your ears and your innate musical talent will teach you how to use those tools to create better jazz.


It's worth bearing in mind that jazz standards treasure melody. The original melody is a gold mine for improvisation. For one thing, it already fits the chord changes. For a second thing it contains phrases/motives that you can use for sequences, or modify. If you spend some time seeing how many ways you can modify the existing melody, or indeed an existing solo, your own improvisation will have more context than a random ii V I. There is also a world of fun to be had seeing how far you can go with quoting snatches of memorable melodies and using them as sequences, or playing them starting on different scale (or non scale) tones.These snatches of familiar melodies, with their memorable rhythms, are little parcels of logic and cleverness that you can use to your advantage. When You Wish Upon a Star, Salt Peanuts, Over Hill Over Dale, All Day all Night Mary Ann, The Andy Grifiths Theme, The Untouchables TV theme, advertising jingles, themes from My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Bach inventions... the list is endless. Often they can be used to add humour, but, because they have a 'power' in themselves, these quotes can be used in a poignant way too.


It sounds like you're doing the later. Keep in mind that it's not just the melodic sequence that makes it sound like jazz but maybe even more importantly the underlying harmonic context. If you take a line that was originally played over a Dm7, it may not work when played over a different chord because they entire point of the line was that it was using or dancing around the chord tones of a Dm7.


As for what key you should play in, that's part of the art. If the changes of a particular part of the song fall into say C Major, then playing in C Major will give you the most "inside" or diatonic sound. But part of jazz is playing "outside" or specifically creating dissonance that can later be resolved (or not).


Knowing the idiom, or learning the vocabulary as some say, is a huge part. Some people start with classic Bebop like Charlie Parker because most jazz that came after it had its roots there. But just listen to a lot of Jazz and try to transcribe the parts that you like. 2ff7e9595c


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