RESOURCES FOR LEARNING TUNES

CLICK ON THE LINKS ABOVE TO ACCESS RESOURCES FOR LEARNING AND PRACTICING EACH TUNE

HOW TO PRACTICE JAZZ TUNES!

Jazz is a complex style of music, and improvising effectively over chord changes requires lots of time spent practicing scales and arpeggios and licks over standard jazz tunes. The aim is to internalise the sound of each chord, and know how to create a meaningful interesting line over the chord changes spontaneously and automatically. the best way to do this is to LISTEN to recordings of the tune over and over again, until you can sing the melodies, bass lines, solos etc off by heart. Then try to figure out how to play these things on your instrument. Another important exercise is to to practice simple exercises over backing-tracks (or with a metronome) SLOWLY over and over again, until you can play each exercise from memory. I would also recommend learning to play the piano parts for each tune, even if you're not a pianist, because it really helps you see, hear and understand how the harmony for each tune is put together. Also, learn to play the walking bass lines on your instrument. The main thing though, is to enjoy playing your instrument - don't spend your whole time playing drills, stick on a play-along or get together with some friends and just play! 

Also, check out the advice from master jazz educator Jamie Abersold: