In this article, I want to talk about jazz singers and their improvisations. While it is common for a jazz instrumentalist to perform improvised solos, not all singers do so. This naturally raises the question: does a jazz singer have to improvise?Continue readingDoes a jazz singer have to improvise?
Tag: jazz
Jazz music gives musicians a great deal of freedom; everyone can play in their own style and in a way that reflects their personality, interacting with others freely and in ever-changing ways. However, the absence of strict rules presents a major obstacle for those wishing to study jazz piano, who often find themselves somewhat disoriented.Continue readingHow to learn jazz piano: a structured and effective study plan
Transposing instruments can be difficult to understand, as they may seem like an unnecessary and inexplicable complication. In fact, such an instrument assigns a name to notes that does not correspond to the note they actually produce. This paradox can be explained by historical as well as practical reasons; there are good reasons why transposing…Continue readingTransposing instruments: I play one note, and another comes out
Il jazz secondo Gianni Basso. Cronache di un caposcuola (Gianni Basso’s take on jazz. Chronicles of a leading figure) is a book by Sandra Scagliotti and Fulvio Albano, published by Azzurra Publishing in 2014, five years after the death of the great Piedmontese saxophonist. Gianni Basso was one of the greatest Italian jazz musicians, and…Continue readingGianni Basso’s take on jazz. Chronicles of a leading figure
I have selected one hundred unforgettable jazz pieces that have made the history of this music. The aim of this list is to suggest a few listens to those who do not know jazz music at all, or have only listened to some of it and are curious about new periods or genres. I have…Continue readingAn Introduction to Jazz: One Hundred Tunes to Discover Jazz
Do you want to start playing jazz and to learn how to improvise? You don’t need exceptional talent or complicated harmony studies to do this. You just need to practice the right way, patiently and neatly. In this lesson I offer some tips to make this work less tiring and more effective. So here are…Continue readingFive tips for playing jazz and learning to improvise
[Monday Notes No. 173] Just Friends is a classic jazz standard from 1931, composed by John Klenner (music) and Sam M. Lewis (words). It is a song about a love that ended and became just a friendship. The piece is original in its lyrics but also in its melody, which repeatedly performs a descending tritone…Continue readingJust Friends, a tritone interval for a love that has ended
What is the blues? The answer to this question is not as simple as it may seem, in fact the term ‘blues’ refers to many different things, all of which have to do with music, but the point of view can be very different. In this lesson we will discover different uses of the word…Continue readingThe blues: musical genre, blues scale, blues progression
[Monday’s Notes No. 140] At Last is a song by Harry Warren composed in the 1940s but brought to success by Etta James in 1960, also thanks to a simple but very good arrangement. The singer improvises much of the song, let us analyse her interpretation.Continue readingEtta James, At Last. How to vary a song
[Monday Note No. 136] Les Baxter is one of the most important exponents of Exotica, a genre of music that was popular in the 1950s. Exotic music was vaguely inspired by the sounds of distant and fascinating places, such as the Pacific Islands, the Orient, and South America. Let’s listen to Busy Port, taken from…Continue readingLes Baxter, Busy Port. Exotica, a precursor of New Age