I played with some jazz musicians, it definitely made me a better player! I was the only one who couldn't sight read a new song on the spot! But,they all struggled with playing by ear,I was given several compliments on my big ears!
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Sick of playing rock and roll - other options?
- Thread starter friskinator
- Start date
I managed to sidestep classic rock for most of my playing career.
I started playing bass in the '70s with a light jazz/rock/blues band, jumped back on guitar by the '80s playing fusion, synth-pop and then motown/variety, occasionally subbing classic rock gigs on bass when some friends' bassist hocked his bass or went into treatment/rehab. The '90s were pretty much all motown/variety in the same event band until the mid '00s. Then it was a dual-harmony-guitar groove band doing Allmans, Little Feat, Steely Dan, followed by more of the same with less Allmans.
There was a weekly residency starting in the early teens where I started going back to bass, covering for our bassist when he needed a break or the night off. We'd back a different special guest each week with varied music styles covering almost everything except classic rock.
Still, the LAST thing I thought I'd be doing and enjoying is the country flavored gig I'm on now that includes an acoustic guitar playing front man with music ranging from outlaw country to bluegrass to southern rock. There's even some blues.
At this point, I guess I'd even be open for a "Don't Stop Believing" type classic rock band if that's where I found myself and the players could execute with dynamics and big ears.
I started playing bass in the '70s with a light jazz/rock/blues band, jumped back on guitar by the '80s playing fusion, synth-pop and then motown/variety, occasionally subbing classic rock gigs on bass when some friends' bassist hocked his bass or went into treatment/rehab. The '90s were pretty much all motown/variety in the same event band until the mid '00s. Then it was a dual-harmony-guitar groove band doing Allmans, Little Feat, Steely Dan, followed by more of the same with less Allmans.
There was a weekly residency starting in the early teens where I started going back to bass, covering for our bassist when he needed a break or the night off. We'd back a different special guest each week with varied music styles covering almost everything except classic rock.
Still, the LAST thing I thought I'd be doing and enjoying is the country flavored gig I'm on now that includes an acoustic guitar playing front man with music ranging from outlaw country to bluegrass to southern rock. There's even some blues.
At this point, I guess I'd even be open for a "Don't Stop Believing" type classic rock band if that's where I found myself and the players could execute with dynamics and big ears.
Jazz players who struggle with playing by ear?
Man, jazz IS playing by ear!
I think you may have misinterpreted something.
There's cats out there that can't do anything without sheet music. Zero ear skills. Been there, done that. I played in a band full of cats with music degrees. They were still using sheet music for songs we'd been playing for over 3 years!
There’s tons of stuff out there.
-Reggae
-Americana
-Blues
-band singer/songwriter (I.e Indigo girls, Drive By Truckers)
-Funk
-neo soul
-R&B
-Disco
-Ska
-Punk
-shoegaze
-Hip Hop
to name several. Just because all that seems to be available is pub cover band stuff doesn’t mean that’s all there is. If you want to do something else, chances ar someone else also does. Be aware that cover bands get booked and paid, once you start veering away from that your gigs diminish and your pay plummets.
You can’t really have it both ways. You’re either going to need to do some heavy lifting and get something started or just take a bit of a break and do some solo stuff. If there are minimal opportunities of anything other than pub bands in your area; you’re not going to stumble on a fully formed band that just happens to need an inexperienced (in whatever genre, not in necessarily in skill level)bassist to finally break through. It doesn’t happen that way.
I think at this stage, my best option is to take a break. My cover band is basically dead (no gigs since last October), and I don't see us picking up again anytime soon. Between work and other commitments, I don't have the time for a musical transformation right now.
Well, then, what they're doing might superficially resemble jazz, but it isn't. Jazz is inherently an improvised music.
- Dec 3, 2003
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I've been playing jazz with pretty much the same core group for a long time (Melodic jazz, not Improvisational jazz, I suppose I do make a distinction there). We use charts. There are a LOT of songs to choose from and they're frequently changed-up, because we like to keep it fresh AND because we frequently have guests sitting in. I may only look at the chart to start... to remind me of the structure and see any notes, like: "intro last four bars x1, outro last four bars x3..." Helps keep things tight.
Well, I've been playing jazz music for 45 years or so now, and I'm a strong sight reader (actually, this varies with region; in North Texas I'm an "OK" sight-reader, because so many guys came out of the NT program where you learned to sightread flyspecks on the wall at MM450; but in New England I'm considered a "super" sight reader because I can play down most charts at sight and shuck and jive my way through the tough bits convincingly enough) - but for me and all my jazz colleagues, take the dots away and we'll do it by ear.
Sure, high school kids in the scholastic jazz band will still be tied to the dots, but the guy up above was not, I assume, talking about sitting in with a bunch of 10th graders.
In the scenario you described (not sure what "melodic jazz" vs. "improvisational jazz" means, listen to Johnny Hodges improvising melodically - where does THAT fall???), I assume the charts have open sections? So when you get to the "all skate", don't you glance at the changes and then use those things on the sides of your head to make a solo?
Well, if you don't know the song, play the ink the first couple times through.
In the rock cover bands I started out with, there was an insular & guitar chauvinistic mindset that would have burned me out pretty quickly. Having grown up on it, I got really sick of classic rock radio.
But it's only as boring as we make it.
If one delves into the history even just a little bit, there's a whole universe of material outside those (feels-like 50) songs we've all heard 1000 times. Just being aware of all the ingredients that helped form rock as we know it makes it much more interesting to me now. Even within the rock "galaxy" there is a pretty amazing spectrum of sub-genres. (Oldies / yacht / punk / soft / hard / prog / psychedelic / country / metal / grunge / 80s / alternative / etc...)
In addition to all the artsy-fartsy projects, I'm in a Tom Petty cover band, which I find to be as challenging as Mozart or John Coltrane - when we want to really play it right.
FWIW Journey's drummer Steve Smith is one of the hottest jazz fusion drummers out there.
But it's only as boring as we make it.
If one delves into the history even just a little bit, there's a whole universe of material outside those (feels-like 50) songs we've all heard 1000 times. Just being aware of all the ingredients that helped form rock as we know it makes it much more interesting to me now. Even within the rock "galaxy" there is a pretty amazing spectrum of sub-genres. (Oldies / yacht / punk / soft / hard / prog / psychedelic / country / metal / grunge / 80s / alternative / etc...)
In addition to all the artsy-fartsy projects, I'm in a Tom Petty cover band, which I find to be as challenging as Mozart or John Coltrane - when we want to really play it right.
FWIW Journey's drummer Steve Smith is one of the hottest jazz fusion drummers out there.
I think I'm just tired of anything that involves the standard lineup of guitar/bass/drums/vocals. With some exceptions, that's the whole "galaxy" of most styles of modern music.
My wife recently gently suggested that I get into jazz because I could play it as an old man without looking ridiculous.
Well, if you narrow that to "modern music that's played in bars in places in the US without significant ethnic content" I'd say you're right.
There's a whole population of folks here in Texas that enthusiasticallly listen to, dance to, and patronize establishments that feature music from Northern Mexico and southern Texas, featuring double bass, tuba, accordions of several types, and a number of other features.
Cuba has entire genres of music people spend their lives working on and never exhaust the material. Brazil ditto. These aren't "guitar/bass/drums/vocals". Then there are fiddle tunes - Cape Breton, Texas long bow, Cajun, etc., etc., etc., etc., I don't even know how many variants there are, and that's just in North America. Klezmer certainly isn't "guitar/bass/drums/vocals".
Ever hear of the Turtle Island String Quartet? Either/Orchestra? How about that album Gil Evans did of Jimi Hendrix tunes?
I'm serious, I think you need to do something like go to Wikipedia and get a general list of "styles of music" and start listening.
As an example, I always thought I would LOVE Irish music. Hey, I'm a flute player, I'm Irish in heritage, this will be right up my alley. Well, I found out I really don't care for it much, certainly not enough to ever get involved in playing it. On the other hand, I figured bluegrass was just some more of that hick stuff, then I got involved and found out I love playing bluegrass. Set your preconceived notions aside, get a playlist, and start listening. Not to the same stuff you've been playing and burned out on; DIFFERENT stuff. You might find Conjunto button accordion is the thing you REALLY want to do.
I've been listening to SiriusXM's Luna Latin Jazz channel on the way home from gigs.
There's Zydeco too.
And one of my favorites, NOLA-2nd-line inspired funk via Funky Meters, Nevilles and these guys (who also mix in a nod or two to Latin Jazz):
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