Most of my musical practice for the past several months has focused on learning chord solos, all of which are so-called jazz standards. Recently I have hit on a few other aspects of learning these tunes that I think I need to expand upon.

  • I’ve printed out lead sheets for each tune, and I need to learn the melodies and chord changes. Often the chord solos are in guitar-friendly keys, so I have the choice of either transposing the original tune to the guitar key, or modulating to the original key. Probably best to do both.

  • I have started to write out bass lines for each tune. I need to be able to play the tunes with both a two-feel as well as walking quarter notes with chord strikes. Think about the walking bass as comping for a soloist or for a singer.

  • I have been listening to recordings of both the chord solos as well as versions of the tunes with and without singers. This is really key, though it is a rather obvious statement. With a tune like “Long Ago and Far Away,” for instance, it is crucial to be able to hear the difference between Tony Bennett and Rod Stewart singing the tune. Stewart has great tone, but his rhythmic feel is stiff. Bennett is a master, by contrast. I love Bennett’s rhythmic feel and intonation. It feels closer to the solo guitar version recorded by Jack Wilkins in terms of his approach to tempo and dynamics. I love Billie Holiday’s version with the Basie Orchestra as well, and Erroll Garner’s instrumental version is the bomb (I think Garner’s version is what was transcribed for The Real Book).

  • It’s better to learn the shit out of a few tunes at a time rather than to try to learn a whole bunch at once. That being said, I have already learned a bunch of chord solos, though I haven’t fully memorized them all. For now I’ll keep chipping away at them, considering them to be in development.

  • On top of all of this I need to work on transcribing versions of these tunes so I can cop some ideas. I think I’ll put this one on hold for a while, though, focusing for now on memorizing a bunch of tunes. One big project, of course, would be to transcribe Joe Pass’s chord solos on the Virtuoso albums as well as Wes Montgomery’s brilliant arrangements. But like I said, this is a big project best left alone for now.

I do seem to write a bit on this blog about my musical practice. It helps me to think things through and keeps me focused on what I am doing and where I am going. In the past, though, I have spent more time on planning my musical practice than I have actually practicing. Luckily this doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. I could be more focused, though.

Ah well, let me just get back to it.