I've been posting Jazz licks on this site for a little while now. I like to play a chorus while adding the Jazz lick I'm demonstrating to show how you can fit the lick into a Jazz solo through the site.
Though I do write out the Jazz lick, I don't write out the other stuff I played on the demo and often get a lot of people asking me why I didn't write the whole thing out. Well, there are a few reasons:
- - I don't have the time to write it all out. I'm a busy guy.
- - It's great ear training if you transcribe it yourself.
- - You tend to pick up the Jazz style of the person you're copying when you transcribe them.
I don't mean to sound rude, but when you hear someone like
Freddie Hubbard play a kick butt Jazz line, you should take the time to
figure out what changes they're playing over and actually
get the lick memorized on your own.
When I first started transcribing
Louis Armstrong and
Chet Baker back in middle school, I didn't actually write out the solo, I would memorize it and play the trumpet solo back along with the recording.
I have since started transcribing a lot faster and technical trumpet solos, so I now write them out. Once I write them out, I work on the them, but pick out certain licks I really liked and decide to learn those particular
licks in 12 keys.
So find a recording of one of your favorite players, transcribe one of their solos, get their style down, pick a few licks out of that solo and learn them in all 12 keys. You'll find this to definitely be worth your time!
