The Music Lesson Blog

This is the first in a series of posts about How to Learn Tunes.

So how well do you really know the tunes you say you know?

Can you play the melody?
Can you improvise through the tune?
If you are a chordal player (like me) can you play through the chords?
Can you play the chords and the melody at the same time?
Can you play a bass line?
Can you do all of these things in 12 keys?

If your answers to these questions is an unequivocal yes, then you don’t need this series of posts. If you are like the rest of us, though, your answers probably went more like this:

So how well do you really know the tunes you say you know?
Really well man, I’m a Jazz player
Can you play the melody?
Of course, duh.
Can you improvise through the tune?
With my eyes closed.
If you are a chordal player (like me) can you play through the chords?
You’ve got to know how to do that.
Can you play the chords and the melody at the same time?
Um…for most tunes sure.
Can you play a bass line?
Why would I do that - I don’t play bass
Can you do all of these things in 12 keys?
Well, I, um…I could probably play the melody…in…some keys.

Learning tunes is the single most important thing for a jazz player (and players in any genre really) to do. Period. Every Jazz player out there may not agree with me, but I believe it. There is so much you can learn from a single tune, that you can spend an entire year on just one, and never practice the same thing twice. Not to mention, that knowing a lot of tunes is essential to every working Jazz musician.

So this series is dedicated to all of the things you can learn from a jazz standard. It is also about how to really learn tunes. How to learn a tune so that you will never forget it, even if you haven’t played it in years. How to learn a tune so that, no matter what situation you are thrown into - solo, duo, trio, quartet, with a singer, big band, etc. - you can handle yourself on the tune.

So let’s get started: How to Learn Tunes, Step 1 - Listen!!!