7 Excuses That Stop You From Learning Jazz Guitar
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- Learning Jazz Guitar is difficult, but it is worth the effort. Playing Jazz is a lot of fun, and you must avoid these excuses that will keep you from playing Jazz!
If I Started Jazz Guitar In 2024 Then This Is What I Would Practice: • If I Started Jazz Guit...
The Most Important Scale For Jazz: • The Most Important Sca...
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Content:
00:00 We want to play like them!
00:25 I'm Too Old to Learn
02:16 I Don't Have Enough Time
04:01 I Don't Have the Right Equipment
05:04 Jazz Guitar Is Too Complicated
06:02 I Can't Afford Lessons
06:48 I'm Not Talented Enough
08:10 I Don't Know Where to Start
08:31 The right play to start
08:49 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page!
My name is Jens Larsen, Danish Jazz Guitarist, and Educator. The videos on this channel will help you explore and enjoy Jazz. Some of it is how to play jazz guitar, but other videos are more on Music Theory like Jazz Chords or advice on practicing and learning Jazz, on guitar or any other instrument.
The videos are mostly jazz guitar lessons, music theory, song analysis, and videos on jazz guitars.
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What excuses do you think we should get rid of?
How you should be thinking about Jazz Chords:
czcams.com/video/P-P-gM7VJx4/video.html
'I can't read Music !' Of course you can't, you haven't seen someone to teach you how to do it. I can't fly a helicopter for the same reason. 😬
@@kevindonnelly761 good comparison! 🙏
@@JensLarsen Thanks Jens, I was always good at analogies (Oh the humility). It's amazing the number of people I've met over the years who think you're magically supposed to know how to read notation 'before' you learn Music. 😕
@@kevindonnelly761 good point..I’m a drummer who picked up the guitar during the Covid shutdown, thinking it would be easy..I should say that playing jazz guitar would be easy..but it isn’t. I’ve gone as far as I can go as a CZcams taught guitarist
@@MyDadWasALifeguard The best drummers I've known could read too. There is also drum notation. The even 'better' best drummers I've known could read on another instrument as well - usually piano. That helps immensely with phrasing. It makes a huge difference. Reading helps people to see things they never would have thought of.
Had been playing pop music all my life (55 years). Started taking Jazz lessons by online tutoring during the 2019 pandemic and still am to date . Will be 4 years this September . Living a life long dream to be a Jazz guitarist!!!
Go for it! 👍
Thank you very much for this intervention, Jens --- you talked me back from the ledge. Time to pull up my socks, wipe my nose, and take my meager endowment of talent back to the practice room and follow the sensible steps you outlined.
Go for it! 😎
I am almost 65 and I have learned more in the past year than I learned in the entire preceding 50+ years of playing guitar.
That's great to hear James!
Man, i'm sixty and still learning someting new everyday (music and otherwise) !
One of my classical guitar students is 77 years old now - She started lessons with me when she was 60 and has steadily progressed since.
Exactly! Learning is often the fun part!
Telecaster is the best jazz guitar. Its the best for all the other styles too
The best jazz guitar is the one that gets you playing
Thanks for this. I've been taking jazz guitar lessons for going on 4 years now. It keeps my mind working and I'm always looking to improve and learn something new. I'm 70 and I find that jazz is life in all its colors
Great! Go for it!
I'm 45 and less than a year into my jazz guitar journey, after decades of intermediate blues/rock noodling. Lots of good advice here. Without a doubt, the best decision I made when I first started was to prioritize frequency of practice over volume of practice. I practice at least 30 min every day, no matter what. If I wanna do more, I do it, but once I hit 30 minutes I've completed the task. I also make sure it's deliberate. Every session is focused on improving a weakness or learning a more complicated song by ear. If I want to just noodle around, I do, but I don't count that towards my "practice" time. Doing this every day, even though it's not that much time, has made a difference.
Have never understood letting gear stop you. I think one of the biggest issues is comparing yourself to others like you talked about. Of course you’ll get discouraged if you do that. Just focus on consistent work and only look to others for inspiration and guidance. In another video you said to think about progress in terms of years. I think that is some of the best advice. Then if you have periods of not practicing, you’ll be less likely to give up completely. Put the ego in a box and just humbly and slowly start the uphill climb of music mountain and be prepared to camp out at different spots along the way and even to slide down at times. It’s a journey vs a destination. The enjoyment, growth, and magic is in the work itself.
I'm 71, I love music, studying jazz has made me much better than I could have ever imagined. I try to pick every day sometimes more than one. Usually 20minutes
Great to hear James! 👍
Jens, Great advice all around. As long as I’m alive, I want to keep learning more about playing guitar and improving. There’s always more to know, and the magic is still there……….
Thank you! That is exactly how I feel!
I am 75 ,coming up 76 shortly. Played for 37 years in bigbands. Never played solos only strumming chords.
Since 2 months I have personal lessons, picking and phrasing and soloing from a skilled and professional teacher. My playing is improving very fast.
So Jens du har rätt . Många tack .
I think he is from the Netherlands, not Swedish. By the way, it is "tack så mycket" instead of "många tack"
I think Jens is actually Danish, but lives in the Netherlands. Something like that.
Glad you are getting somewhere with it! 👍
Thank You Jens for your support. Your energy, advice is great.
Glad it is useful 🙏🙂
Really good advice, Jens! I'm 60 and now I'm learning jazz guitar I feel like a teenager again, as back then I used to come home from school and play and sing pop/rock songs for an hour or so before starting my homework and doing my classical flute practice. Learning to comp to accompany myself singing is a hugely rewarding experience and I'm learning so much! Re equipment, it was really helpful for me to buy an Ibanez GB10EM archtop, as my other guitars are a acoustic steel string dreadnought and nylon string classical, and I found them much harder to play up the neck. The Ibanez is so soft and easy to play (I had a luthier set it up correctly). I've been doing hand exercises to strengthen my fingers and wrists, and this makes a huge difference to my facility. Re only learning chords, yep, that's me as I don't have a band, I'm just playing solo. However, I do plan to get a loop pedal down the track and improvise on flute over my guitar backing. My big weakness is that I haven't learned the fretboard, as I'm just relying on shapes. I know that learning to improvise on guitar would help me understand the fretboard, so I guess I need to bite the bullet!
Sounds like you are on the right track Mandy 🙂
Jens. I must say I admire your work. Your videos and your Road Map has helped me tremendously in the last 6 months. I must confess I began watching your videos/course as a bridge to learn how to solo in other genres and ended up falling more in love with Jazz and music in general.
Thank you! Glad the videos helped you get into Jazz!
A goldmine of mindset lessons in this video. Nice one, Jens!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks, Jens. I really appreciated your remarks about talent. I have a colleague who's an amazing guitar player, but I don't know if he's ever progressed. I started at age 54 and to be honest, I really sucked for a long time. I can still remember the first time I could play a chord without looking at my left hand. And learning fingerpicking patterns in in-person lessons was just painful because I'm not naturally coordinated. But I stuck with it because I enjoy it so much. Really, I love playing because I love music. It's kind of like loving a certain dish all my life and now I know how to make it myself. I'm not great, but I don't think I'm a beginner any more. Thanks for all the lessons, Jens - especially the rhythms, scales and triad lessons. I wouldn't consider myself a jazz guitarist, but I love incorporating jazz ideas into my playing.
Love your videos, so helpful and interesting... Thank you!!! 🎶🍀🎸
Glad you like them!
Your humor is great. I always have a good laugh watching your videos.
Thank you!
Thanks for the reply! I like to practice, especially since so much info available!
Glad it was helpful!
Our mouth can get us into trouble and negative people who think jazz is boring or out dated but I know that is a lie because beauty is earned by good technique make sure we get gradually better because it's a goal thanks man
I feel like I might actually be too old. At 34 I've been getting gravestone ads on youtube for 4 years straight. Consistently, day after day.
A great example I think is That Pedal Show's Dan Steinhardt. I don't know his exact age but he sure has his grey hairs and he took the task of learning jazz properly some years ago. He's doing great and seems to be enjoying guitar in a fresh way.
I'm 63 and learn something new I can use every day.
Great to hear Rick! 😎
Currently 17 rising senior in highschool and trying to learn jazz guitar at home for a region jazz audition and these helped a bunch (like I actually have ganas to take it out of its case 😅) so thank you 🙏
Brilliant information Jens
Glad you think so!
Excellent video and great advice.
Thank you!
It's like the old Jethro Tull song, "Too Old to Rock and Roll, too Young to Jazz".
I'm 66 and just participated in my 1st recital. My confidence has sky rocketed since....and guess what ? My playing feels better!
Hi Jens, I'm a student of your Roadmap course. Me and my friends are visiting Netherlands next week. I know its wishful thinking but I wish I could take a pic with you or something 😅
I am a bassist and a guitar player. I bought a book called “Deliberate Practice for Bass Guitar 2.0”. There is no music in the book. It is a book that talks how to practice in a deliberate way to make incremental gains that add up to a lot of progress. I am using it in my approach to learning jazz guitar. Would highly recommend for any instrument.
Hello guitarist 🙏🍀👌🎸🎶🎼❤️Thanks 🙏
Good encouragement
Go for it!
2:45 - dude has no excuse - he should be a complete badass with 6 fingers.
😁
Thanks!
Thank you Tom!
I've become more "jazz-curious" over the years... Also have used several of these excuses (but tbh, not just for jazz guitar - guitar in general LOL). I always really enjoy your videos and your manner of presenting lessons... my one "complaint" (not really a complaint haha) is that you have *so many* videos :) Are there any others (esp. older ones that might get overlooked) that you would say you'd consider particularly helpful as far as material to practice / songs / exercises as a solid foundation to build on ?
Jens, I think I am too old. 74. It's getting harder to memorize things. Hands sometimes ache. I believe learning jazz is a lifelong thing and I don't think there are enough years left in my life to become any good. It would be like a dream if I could know enough and have enough skill to play with a small jazz combo. For many years I played in rock and pop bands. But it seems like making a transition to playing jazz would be impossible. I remember about 7 or 8 years ago and I attended this party and they had a jazz band, all young college age guys, sax bass and guitar, no piano, no guitar. I remember thinking later I wish I could have backed them up.
I realize I enjoy the learning. Call me a dilettante. I enjoy visiting with my youtube "friends" and all their personalities. Sometimes when I reach a certain "level" (terrible word) I am disappointed . Then I look for the next learning experience.
That is the best way to do it: enjoy the process more than the goal!
i was accepted into uni with an acoustic guitar, people couldn't believe i could make is sound jazz, i also joined uni at 31 and im 34 now and playing gigs with singers. i will never be the best nor do i want to however, i like when people tell me they can hear my love and passion when i play. you're not too old i started playing seriously at 28 when i got sick and could not work
i'm still sick btw, no excuses
Maybe "I have to know everything before I start playing Jazz".
Yes, that is a horrible way to start 😁
I will say Strats often have a very poor string to string volume balance, which doesn't matter if you're Jimi but certainly does when you want to play melodies at low volume, clean.
Using a compressor can help with this.
Well, I guess I should think about this some more. But having gulped down about a bottle of (good) Spanish wine: what the hell.
First of all: excellent advice.
I’m on the verge of giving up studying jazz guitar. My current feeling is that many people - including teachers (sorry Jens, that’s also about you) - scare me with all these concepts and jargon. Also they intimidate me with their skills, leaving me feeling that I will never reach that level, whatever I do. It’s all so disconnected from what a beginner/medium level guitarist is working on.
Moreover I feel that it’s not so much the time constraints or insufficient motivation that gets in my way. It just that the sheer volume of what can be learned, the order of learning this, so the total lack of a didactical approach that is killing me.
Also, there seems to be an assumption among teachers that student want to play life music, or be part of a band. I’m really tired of hearing that the bass player will take care of the root note. Djeez, I’m playing by myself at home (like 90% of players), please just allow me to play the full chord.
And, maybe most important, there is a more spiritual, psychological barrier: what’s the benefit of going through all this struggle and investment of time? Time I could spend drinking (even more) wine with my lovely wife?
If you don't enjoy the process then don't learn Jazz, what would be the point?
But as I say in the video: Don't compare yourself to others, compare yourself to you and measure the progress (this is probably true for anything, not only Jazz or music)
@@JensLarsen 1000 Thanks for your quick reply, Jens. I’m struggling to get back to the simplicity of it all. Just have fun playing nice music on a wooden box with a neck and some strings. Sometimes Jazz seems to be a long stretch from that principle.
@@HaErBeSo That only depends on how you do it, but I can't teach you in CZcams comments
Great points! In your opinion is it a significant benefit to have a bachelors degree in jazz guitar for example? Is that something you would recommend?
Thank you! I find it difficult to say if a degree is worth it because the price of a degree in the US and the price in Europe are very different, and the difference from school to school is also massive. That said, I had the best time getting my degree at the conservatory in The Hague, and if you want to have time to focus on the instrument, play with a lot of people and build a network then that is probably the easiest place to do that.
Hope that is ok, that is teh best I can offer 🙂
I have a BA(Mus) Degree. After my Degree (post 1992), I went to see a very well known and successful 'Music as applied to the Guitar' (not just 'guitar') Educator. If I had my time over again, I would have just gone to see him and 'might' not have gone to Uni. He taught me more about playing and Music than Uni ever did - well, stuff that was more useful than what I learned at Uni. Many of the most successful professional guitarists here in Australia (both teaching and performance) were taught by him. This teacher sadly passed away in 2008. Uni was mainly a Composition and Theory Course. There was hardly any performance. It was so academic. I had a friend who went to a different College that had much more of a focus on performance. That suited him and what I did turned out to suit me. What Jens says here is true. Different Unis, different courses, different costs and so on. Everyone is different. It depends what your goals are. You can do some research re this on the internet. Good luck ! 😁
Hello, thank you for your videos, about the tittle of this one, one thing comes to mind, you have to appreciate and listen to a lot of jazz music, to understand its vocabulary, understand its culture, if it is not the case, all instructions cannot resolve this deficiency. And it is my case !!
Glad you like the videos 🙂
@@JensLarsen Always interesting !!
You should discard a lot of excuses. My interest in jazz came first by learning the chord voicings.
Why? Because I broke my barre finger playing rugby at university, making many barre chords painful.
My 60th birthday present was *pain*:(:(:(:( I have to change everything else about my playing, I might as well learn jazz:):):):)
I’m curious, do you have a video or a resource of a list songs I could tackle as a beginner?
When I was in college my jazz vibraphone teacher would recommend tunes that seemed to have progressively complex concepts or melodies.
Try this one czcams.com/video/ifabQh-Liws/video.html 🙂
It shouldn't be a burden to practice if you love playing.
John 3:16 God bless you, Jens!
I am an average salary man who just wants to be better at guitar playing, been quite consistently learn jazz 1 hr/day past few months, sometimes indeed it feels tiring, thank you for this reminder!!
btw where is that video from at min 7:31 where the guitar blew up?
That’s the Who on the Smother’s Brothers show in 1967/68.
It’s actually the drums blowing up.
You can find the clip on CZcams.
Keep at it Orvin, you'll get there! That was indeed some YT clip of The Who
hypochondrian b6 scale gets a bad name, but it works very nicely over a minor 2 5 1.
👍😂
there's been a bunch of new research proving older brains can in fact learn just as well as younger people. I think the main variables are time and attitude!
Nice! I didn't know that 🙂
I'm 60 and I think I'm too young to learn this damn crap old jazz, what can I do ?
Okay I'm going out now....🤪👍
It is difficult to give too specific advice because everybody is different and at different levels, but maybe check out this post: jenslarsen.nl/how-to-learn-jazz-guitar-suggestions-to-begin-studying/
@@JensLarsen GREAT thank you IA, you can call it second degree
Honey. I want to play jazz guitar. I'm gonna have to buy a new guitar!
👍😁
Can’t read sheet music (melody).
I haven't heard that one often, but I have seen it 🙂
@@JensLarsen Well, for me, that might be the number one issue. I open the Real Book, I understand most of the chords, but then, as I can’t read music, I can’t read the melody. Do you suggest that not being able to read sheet music isn’t a big problem, or rather that I should just learn how to read music?
@@etiennelj Have you gone to see someone who can teach you ? Most people don't - and wonder why they can't do it. We don't magically wake up one day with the ability to read Notation - just the same as we don't wake up magically one day with the ability to fly a helicopter. Check out my comment up the top. Best wishes, Kevin Donnelly. PS: For my money, reading notation is infinitely easier and more useful than ANYTHING to do with tab. Tab is a trap. Don't fall for it. It's evil ! 😈
@@etiennelj I would start by learning the melody by ear, that is in fact how I learn most songs. You need to find different versions and listen a bit more, but that is anyway better.
If you want to learn to read music then just start working on it, it is not as difficult as you might think.
@@etiennelj Howdy. I noticed your comment, as this topic interests me. I had to sort of "relearn" reading music - I won't bore you with the details. But I will mention that learning to understand and play from sheet music is a nice investment and I recommend it. There is nothing wrong with starting simple with just melody lines. There are a number of ways to do this. I am 58 but I recently ordered a basic guitar instruction book I had when I was nine. These old books tend to stay in print, I think, because they are so basic and the music they use is simple public domain stuff (folk songs, children's songs, some classical melodies, that sort of thing). To be honest, they are heavily criticized. But they will tell you where the notes are, and from there you can go off on your own more and use the Real Book, etc. And I think it's best to start somewhere rather than overthink it.
First you have to learn music theory and master your instrument .. that would stop 99% of people . All my life I was told I’m not good enough , I kept trying anyway .
People who tell you you are not good enough either: 1. Have Narcissistic Personality Disorder and want to destroy your spirit to build up their own (lacking) self image. 2. Are jealous (see point 1.) or 3. Could not teach their way out of a wet paper bag. Stay away from them. Listen to your own gut feeling.
I’m 81, am I too old?
Do you feel too old?
Better late!
@@aliensporebomb Exactly!
I'm also 81. Started guitar at 14 jazz at 18. Play every day and I am still learning new things.
Just go on. I'm 75, still working and practicing when there is time left.
My new best excuse for why I SHOULD learn jazz guitar: Jens Larsen has a youtube channel.
🙂🙏
I have only one excuse. I don't like jazz.