LJS 69: 4 Awesome Tools For Jazz Musicians
Learn Jazz Standards Podcast - A podcast by Brent Vaartstra: Jazz Musician, Author, and Entrepreneur
Welcome to episode 69 of the LJS Podcast where today we are talking about 4 awesome jazz tools for jazz musicians. These are tools and resources that we personally use that help us in our jazz studies and practice sessions. Listen in!
Listen to episode 69
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When it comes to becoming a better jazz musician, you need to be spending time in the practice room honing your craft and going out there and playing. There are no short cuts! No amount of gear, technology, books, or any other kind of tool can replace that.
But sometimes a healthy dose of technology and tools can be really helpful in your practice sessions or jazz studies. Today Brent talks about some tools and resources that he likes to use and have helped him in his jazz studies. These can help you too!
In this episode
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Drum Trainer Online
Drum Trainer Online is a completely free online metronome that has a Tempo Trainer and a Speed Trainer. It's a flexible tool that can help you build up your time feel, rhythmic sense, and technical ability. Find it at bestdrumtrainer.com.
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Smalls Live
Smalls jazz club in New York City streams every show they have every night of the week on their website and Facebook Live. In addition, their sister club, Mezzrow, streams their shows. For a small monthly subscription fee, you can also access their entire audio/video archive of over 11,000 shows that have been recorded at Smalls since 2007. This is an amazing tool for listening to world-class jazz music regardless if you have local access to it or not. Visit smallslive.com.
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Amazing Slow Downer
A great practice is to learn jazz solos by ear. But sometimes a tricky or fast passage can be hard for your ears to latch on to. Amazing Slow Downer is a really great slow downer software and app. Find it in your app store on iPhone or Android or download the software at ronimusic.com.
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Jam of The Week
Jam of The Week is a Facebook group where you are asked to post videos of you jamming to a particular jazz standard. As of today there are currently 50,000+ members in the group. This is a great place to be inspired by other musicians, be encouraged to practice, and get some feedback from other musicians in a safe place. Go to their Facebook group and subscribe.
Listen to episode 68: How to Compose a Jazz Solo From Scratch
Mentioned in the show
30 Days to Better Jazz Playing eCourse
A 30-day audio eCourse that walks you through focused, goal-oriented practicing, where you will be working on things that actually improve your jazz playing.
What tools and resources do you like to use? Leave us a comment below.