| How to Listen to Jazz |
At any one time, there are a lot of different things happening during the performance of a jazz tune. When you start listening to jazz music, you may find this to be overwhelming. If this happens to you (or even if it doesn't), it might be enlightening to listen to only one particular aspect of the performance. This will also help to give you a better overall picture about how jazz "works". Here are a few of the many things to listen for in a jazz performance:
- How the soloist and the chord playing musician interact. Often, the comping musician (guitar or piano) will choose to play chords when the soloist is pausing, to fill in the space. Sometimes, the comping musician will mimic what the soloist just played, or will play a variation of it. Occasionally, the comping musician will predict the notes a soloist is going to play, and play them along with them. (listen to audio example)
- How the bass player and the drummer interact. Listen to how the drummer strengthens the bass player's walking bassline by often playing the same rhythm on his ride cymbal. Notice that when the bass player is not playing a walking bassline, that the drummer changes what he plays dramatically.
- How the drummer interacts with the soloist. Often, the drummer will react to something the soloist plays, and play something that will compliment it. Alternately, the soloist will sometimes lock on to an idea the drummer is playing, and incorporate that into their improvisation.
- How the drums interact with the comping musician. As well as paying attention to the soloist, the drummer will often also listen for what rhythms the comping musician is playing, and react to those as well.
- Where the musicians are in the song. This can be difficult at first. While listening to the solos, try and keep the song's melody in your mind, so you can hear where the musicians are in the song. Often, after the musicians have finished playing through the "form" of the song, the drummer will play some sort of rhythmic figure to indicate they are back at the beginning again.
Enough of the stuffy explanations... it's time to listen to jazz on the net.
