Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Welcome to episode 121 of the LJS Podcast where today we are digging into some jazz theory and talking about secondary and backdoor dominant 7 chords. These are two concepts that are used to resolve to a tonic I chord. If you understand these concepts they can help give context to a chord progression you are improvising over. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to le...

Welcome to episode 120 of the LJS Podcast where today we have on special guest Diego Maldonado to talk about how to practice towards fail-proof musical performances. If you've ever practiced a piece of music only for it to go completely wrong during a performance (like all of us), this episode will help you avoid this from happening. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Fre...

Welcome to episode 119 of the LJS Podcast where today we are talking about a common problem that plagues all musicians from time to time: musical slumps. We all go through periods where we feel like we aren't improving or even motivated to play. Sometimes it's hard to break free from those plateaus but this episode goes over some great antidotes. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Cir...

Welcome to episode 118 of the LJS Podcast where today we are featuring some of the greatest hits of our guest episodes so far. Over the last few years, we've developed a big catalog of episodes with special guests sharing their best jazz tips and advice. We listen to important clips from those episodes and some additional commentary. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Fre...

Welcome to episode 117 of the LJS Podcast where today we are talking about learning licks in all 12 keys and how to do it. Learning small pieces of jazz language is a great way to start developing vocabulary over chords and progressions. Taking them through all 12 keys adds even more value to that material and your musicianship. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to...

Welcome to episode 116 of the LJS Podcast where today we have on a very special guest, drummer, composer and teacher, Kobie Watkins. Kobie has played with the who's who on the jazz scene, and in this show, he shares his story and talks about his mindset of continuous growth and learning. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz S...

Welcome to episode 115 of the LJS Podcast where today we are talking about the balancing act of music theory and playing by ear. In the jazz world sometimes one or the other can be overemphasized and as a result, can cause a player to miss out on a balanced jazz education. Learn the importance of working on both and how to balance them in your practicing. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circ...

Welcome to episode 114 of the LJS Podcast where today we have on special guest Dan Carillo to talk about understanding minor tonality and building minor chord progressions. Minor tonality can be complicated because there are three minor scales at play. Dan gives a thorough explanation and unlocks this confusing topic. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn stan...

Welcome to episode 113 of the LJS Podcast where today we are talking all about jazz play-alongs and how they could be hurting your jazz playing. Backing tracks can be great tools, but if used in the wrong way they could instill some bad habits. Learn when and how to use them, and when to leave them be. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Le...

Welcome to episode 112 of the LJS Podcast where today we have on special guest renowned saxophonist and educator Greg Fishman. Greg shares his story of how he has developed such a successful career in jazz and talks about one of his secret weapons: transcribing. Can you guess how many solos Greg has transcribed? Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards...

Welcome to episode 111 of the LJS Podcast where today Brent changes up the format for today's show to talk about some lessons from a recent gig. He shares the good, the bad, and the ugly. Find out what he learned and how he used certain tools he has built up for himself. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smar...

Welcome to episode 110 of the LJS Podcast where today we are talking with Nick Mainella from The 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Podcast all about the Blues and how to start playing it with confidence.  Blues is a foundational element of jazz music and Nick teaches you the ins and outs and everything you need to know to get started. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn...

Welcome to episode 109 of the LJS Podcast where today we are talking to professional music notation editor and engraver, Brett Pontecorvo. Brett lays down his best tips and tricks on how to properly notate music, as well as layout great, readable charts. These are valuable skills every musician needs to know how to do. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn sta...

Welcome to episode 108 of the LJS Podcast where today we are concluding "Jazz Standards Month" with the topic of motivic development and how we can utilize it to develop musical themes, and structure into our jazz solos. Brent tells you what motivic development is and gives some examples. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn...

Welcome to episode 107 of the LJS Podcast where today we are continuing "Jazz Standards Month" talking about composing contrafacts to develop melodic ideas. Composition and melody are huge aspects of great improvisation. Learn why, and the great benefits composing contrafacts can have. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jaz...

Welcome to episode 106 of the LJS Podcast where today we are moving forward in Jazz Standards Month to talk about mapping out a tune you are learning. We'll explore mapping out the guide tones and chord tones to build a strong foundation for our improvisation. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way Learn...

Welcome to episode105 of the LJS Podcast where today we are jumping head first into "Jazz Standards Month." This month on the podcast we will be focusing on learning jazz standards and extracting everything we can out of them. To kick it off, we talk about analyzing jazz standards with Roman Numerals for max results. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to l...

Welcome to episode 104 of the LJS Podcast where today we are celebrating our 2 year podcast birthday! To do that we are having on 11 different special guests on the show. They are special because they are listeners just like you! They all give excellent jazz tips and advice and have great stories to share. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear...

Welcome to episode 103 of the LJS Podcast where today we are having podcast listener Gabriel from Fishers, Indiana on the show to share his jazz tips and advice. Gabriel talks about a moment of musical failure, and how he learned from it and has been crushing it in the practice room ever since. Specifically, he hones in on the difference between play-along and actually knowing tunes. Listen in! Im...

Welcome to episode 102 of the LJS Podcast where today we feature the story and advice of a podcast listener, Stacy from North Carolina. In this episode, Stacy shares some breakthroughs she had in her jazz playing when she learned how to utilize the tools that worked for her and shifted her mindset. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn...

Welcome to episode 101 of the LJS Podcast where today Brent will teach you how to play one of his favorite jazz standards, "My Shining Hour" by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. Learn the melody, chords, and how harmony works. Brent improvises a chorus at the end to tie it all together. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz...

Welcome to episode 100 of the LJS Podcast where today we are celebrating 100 episodes! To do that, Brent has a very special guest on the show, his jazz mentor Justin Nielsen who got him into the music and set him on a path to success. Justin talks about what he teaches his students and some of his best tips for musical improvement. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide...

Welcome to episode 99 of the LJS Podcast where today we are going over scales you can play over different kinds of 7th chords. While scales aren't musical by themselves, they can be helpful for mapping out tones you can choose from in chords and chord progressions. This episode covers the essential basic chord qualities and alterations. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership...

Welcome to episode 98 of the LJS Podcast where today we are joined by sports and performance psychologist Matt Vaartstra to talk about how to channel your mindset towards musical freedom. At the end of the day, music is a brain game. There are so many negative voices that hinder our progress, and Matt teaches us how to train your brain for optimal performance. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner...

Welcome to episode 97 of the LJS Podcast where today we are talking about how we can use the 80/20 Rule to get big results out of 30 minute practice sessions. Life can be busy and sometimes it's tough to find time to practice. But if we are practicing the right things and stay focused, 30 minutes may be all we need. Listen in! Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide to learn s...