How to Learn Jazz Tunes

I have been struggling for the best way to learn jazz tunes for some time now.  When I first started with a beginner jazz band, I thought I just had to study the notes in the sheet music, playing them over and over, without any music.  Then, I thought, when the band meets I will be able to just sight read the notes and all would be well.  It didn't work.

Then I tried something else.  I would just read the chord symbols and build bass lines around them.  That worked better, but it wasn't perfect.  Some songs, like "Take Five," have specialized note patterns that require reading the notes to learn the song.

Now I have evolved to a third method.  I listen to a recording of the song to get the gist of it.  Then I play through the notes on the page once or twice to gain familiarity with the song.  Finally, I attempt to play along with the recording, by ear.

My final effort is to play the notes along to the recording, putting the sound and the theory together for a complete package.  I inevitably discover parts of the song that I can't read well enough to stay up with the recording.  I then go back to the notes and study just that part of the song, memorizing the note pattern if needed.  Now I play along to the recording again, both by ear and by reading the notes.  I repeat this cycle until I know the song well enough to play it with my live band.

This new method seems to work well!

How I Learn New Songs: a Roadmap for Bassists

I am learning a lot of new songs in preparation for a band performance.  I follow a predictable pattern in learning new songs.

1.  Buy a copy of the songs off of Amazon.com (or Napster or other sites) or record them off of YouTube videos.  The quality of the latter is good enough to practice with, but if you want to listen to these tunes in your car, it's better to buy a quality copy.

2.  Listen to the recorded songs from #1 above, particularly if you aren't familiar with the songs.  Listen for the bass part and mentally note any "signature riffs."  Signature riffs are bass runs that the audience will expect to hear if the performance is to be credible.  An example might be the bass part to Creedence's "Down on the Corner" or Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman."  You have to play these riffs.

3.  Create a song list (I use Excel for its editing and sorting abilities) of all the songs.  For my current project, I have listed the songs by set, sequence number and key (the key used by the band, not the original performer necessarily).

4.  Download chords and lyrics for each song in the list.  You can do this at chordie.com or other sites (see links in the left sidebar).  Print out the songs and put them in order.  If you can't find the chord tabs in the desired key, you can convert the chord notations using a chord chart converter.  I will prepare one and post in a subsequent post; meanwhile, google "music chord converter" or some such and you will no doubt find one on the web.