Ask your music and theory questions, get them answered, share ideas, learn how to get started on playing an instrument...

Ask your music and theory questions, get them answered, share ideas, learn how to get started on playing an instrument, learn what to do from your current skill, and whatever else.
Come in and stay a while,
I'm pretty all around with instruments in most styles but have a direct focus on Jazz, and many anons have joined in on the last few threads to share and answer as well,

Music Thread

Where jazz was born?

...

I've been learning banjo. I am a guitar player and anchoring my fingers to pick has been a bad idea. The tutorial I have been taking is adamant about anchoring you pinky and ring finger but it feels like a bluegrass type of tutorials. The kind of music I want to play is more like avett brothers. I've seen Scott anchor his pinky in between strumming. Question is: do I deal with anchoring or should I just learn to do it without?

America, no doubt. Where exactly? Hard to say depending on your definition, New Orleans is the most popular thought, Chicago is in the running, and New York is the center of jazz evolution.

I'd learn it without any crutches in the way of anchoring, and then possibly use anchoring as an aid more than a crutch for more technical charts later on.

...

So learn it without and possibly throw it into the mix for some particularly complex picking parts? I can do that but it feels like in that case I should avoid the crutches all together. I know that strumming is freed up a bit if I don't anchor. Maybe my real question is if there are benefits to anchoring other than picking being easier? Or maybe is picking so important (as it seems that it is) that I should focus on that entirely and the simple Travis or Carter picking will be the easy add on.

Why does my guitar playing sound so shit? The guitar and strings are perfectly fine.

Will you explain what a Coltrane Change is to somebody who knows basic chord theory but not much about advanced jazz techniques? Basically explain it in practical terms so that I can use it in practice

I feel that having an anchor makes the sound more condensed and controlled, kinds like a subtone embochoure on sax, which certain songs call for

What are you trying to play?

The way you attack or strum the strings is your culprit, look up some different strum techniques.

How can I learn how to do chord progression?

Power chords and barr chords.

That makes sense (after googling embochour). I know the sound you are talking about. Hopefully I will make the right choice in applying it but in general I will avoid it. Thanks

Do you hear buzzing? Does it sounds like you are not switching chords quick enough? Are you playing chords that sound decent together? That is, basic chord progressions. Even something like E A D? What type of music are you trying to play? Is there a specific song you are trying?

I have always wanted to play piano. I would settle for being able to play a keyboard. I think they sound amazing, and easily the most diverse instrument, however I have never really gotten started. How do I do that?

I was going to buy a $300 cheap keyboard and hopefully learn from youtube, but I never pulled th etrigger because I'm pretty sure that I will try a few times then never really touch the keyboard again. :(

I have a history of quitting

Damn dude, I don't think I can simplify coltrane changes. It's a complicated subject. I can recommend how to learn about them though.

Coltrane basically uses other chord functions and borrowed chords in a pattern of thirds as if they're tritome suns kinda.

First learn about his common subs for chords, then look at the placement and if they're commonly passing chords, then look at lead sheets and try to reharmonize using the tropes you learned about. Wish I could explain a little simpler, but Coltrane was high as fuck 24/7

Playing guitar. Self-taught. Is pretty okay.
What can I do next to improve?
Know the chords.
Know the barres and powerchords. Can play them good. How to improve further?

Yes there's a little buzzing. I'm thinking it may be that I'm not switching chords fast enough or Maybe my finger placement on the strings is just off? I'm currently learning some simple nirvana songs.

What are some jazzy open sounding chords that i can mess with. I started delving into stuff like 7ths and 9th chords and they seem pretty cool. I'm a typical metalfag lookikg to expand my tastes.

Grab a method book, a couple of easy pop and jazz tune books, and improvise while you're learning. It'll keep you entertained and you might come up with some cool things while you're at it. If you can, try to find a private teacher that's a student jn college that'll do about 25/hr, preferably someone who plays piano as a secondary instrument in jazz. They'll be much chiller and more fun than a steict classical or full on piano player, plus you don't need absolute expertise until you get to an advanced stage. Give it a shot, you'll have fun. If you can, grab a keyboard with weighted keys.

Min7b5 chords, fominant 7 b9 and #9 chords, 13th chords, and especially MinMaj7 or 9 chords.
All of these kinds of chords have really neat color and improvibility.

Not OP,
Jazz as we know it was born in New Orleans.

However, it all started with the slaves. They had a thing called work songs. When slaves were brought to America, they basically combined their styles with church music, blues (delta blues and others), also the crios had classical music knowledge and that combined too.

It's basically a huge combination of all that.

I half assed some of the details. If you want to know more, read History of Jazz by Ted Giogia

t. Jazz graduate from the Conservatory of Music

Gain dexterity by playing sheet music. Jazz solo transcriptions of guitarists, saxophonists, and trumpetists are great for doing this, but they can be incredibly challenging. Remember to look for transcriptions in the concert key of C.

Well if it's buzzing you are concerned with my only advice is to practice more and practice slower. Try playing the song at 1/4 the speed and concentrate on getting the chords right. Speed will come in time. Don't give up. It sucks at first but you will get it down.

Thanks for the advice bro

Can you recommend me a piano keyboard? one that's fairly good but also cheap.

What is the best way for a guitarist to become proficient at playing the melody on sheet music?
I'm very great at playing the chords on a sheet music layout such as from the Real Books. I however have trouble being able to pick up the melody without taking a lot of time to read one note at a time.
On another note, what is the best way to know the key of a song while looking at the sheet music?

lewd images are lewd

Alright I'll try that. Thanks for the help.

The stuff that they play doesn't require strict technique and Scott doesn't have particularly good technique.

When strumming, it doesn't matter whether you anchor or not. When doing rolls at fast tempos, definitely anchor. When doing rolls and pinches at slower tempos, it doesn't matter but it's better to anchor.

Don't think of anchoring as a crutch, it's pretty much a necessity when playing 3 finger banjo. Strumming is a exception to that.

>What is the best way for a guitarist to become proficient at playing the melody on sheet music?
Do it more.
>I'm very great at playing the chords on a sheet music layout such as from the Real Books. I however have trouble being able to pick up the melody without taking a lot of time to read one note at a time.
Do it more often.
>On another note, what is the best way to know the key of a song while looking at the sheet music?
Look at the key signature, the first note, and the last note/chord.

thx

left technique probably sucks

Is there a good resource for learning about modern song structure? I can 'recognize' distinct sections in a song, but I know zero terminology besides intro, verse, chorus, solo, outro, refrain. It bothers me hearing something in a song, and not being able to describe it.

Is there also a resource that teaches about why some songs and chord progressions, melodies, etc. make people feel the way they do? (can't really explain what I'm looking for here)

Any help would be welcome, thanks.