Hey Indiana,
Happy Friday!
Have you ever felt unsure of what to practice? I certainly have!
Sometime we can get stuck doing the same things over and over (and expect better results), or even getting bored of the stuff we are practicing.
Well, one thing that helps me is to simply write down a list of options I have. After I see them all laid out clearly for myself, I can then identify which ones will benefit me the most!
So in the spirit of making things easier for you, here are a list of 10 things you can practice today to improve your jazz playing:
1. Learn a new jazz standard
I list this first because it's the most high leverage thing you can do to improve your playing over time - even if all you did was learn the melody and chords.
It's also a great project you can work on so it feels like your practice sessions have meaning and purpose.
If you need help learning tunes, that's exactly what we focus on in our Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle. So check that out if you think it would be a good fit for you.
2. Take a jazz lick into all 12 keys
Learning jazz language is always a good idea to expand your vocabulary. And learning short phrases over chord progressions and taking them into other keys is always helpful.
Here are 20 to consider.
3. Learn a chorus of a jazz solo by ear
This is another great project that you can get involved in which will keep you occupied for many practice sessions. Find a solo from a recording that you like, or find an etude (composed solo) that you can learn.
We do provide etudes for all of our jazz standard studies in our Inner Circle if that would be a good resource for you.
4. Loop a chord progression
Sometimes the best way to improve at jazz improvisation is to, well, improvise. But instead of putting on a backing track and soloing over an entire song, find a chord progression you want to get better at, and just focus on that.
5. Compose your own solo
One great way to get better at improvisation is to compose your own solo. This is simply slowing the improvisation process down so you can think a bit more about how you would want to play. This also helps you internalize your own language!
6. Practice a song in a different key
Transposing jazz songs into different keys is a great way to not only improve your musical flexibility, but to get to know a song even better. This also helps with being able to play in different keys, which is important because of the many keys jazz harmony takes you through.
7. Audit your playing
Record yourself improvising and then listen back. Then ask yourself what you liked and didn't like about your playing - write them down. The things you like, double down on them and practice things to improve on them. Things you don't like, pick a strategy to help you improve on them.
8. Listen to jazz
This may seem simple, but listening to jazz is actually one of the easiest and best ways to improve. Create a playlist of 10 different versions of a song you are wanting to learn, and listen to that on repeat. You'll be getting to know the song really well before approaching it with your instrument.
9. Practice the same song at different tempos
Take a song you know well and intentionally practice playing it at a range of tempos, from very slow to very fast. This helps you work on time feel, and the challenges playing slow and fast can present - all of which you will need to have a handle on when playing jazz.
10. Start a jazz course
It can be really helpful to "outsource" the guesswork from what to practice, and instead rely on proven systems that pro jazz musicians have put together to help you succeed.
If you'd like help with that, we have lots of courses in our Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle that thousands of musicians have benefited from.
From courses on theory, improvisation, the blues, rhythm changes, piano, guitar, sax, bass, trumpet, we have a course for just about everything you need for jazz.
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