How Important Is Reading Music Notation for Jazz?

Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Brent Vaartstra: Jazz Musician, Author, and Entrepreneur

Music Commentary, Jazz, Jazz Improvisation, Jazz Saxophone, Jazz Theory, Jazz Bass, Jazz Piano, Education, Music, Jazz Guitar, Jazz Solo, Jazz Standards, Jazz Trumpet, How To

4.8 • 536 Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2024

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Brent dives into a thought-provoking question: Is it necessary to read sheet music to learn jazz? Through insightful anecdotes and practical advice, Brent explores the role of sheet music in jazz education and highlights the importance of ear training in mastering the genre. He navigates the nuances of learning music by ear versus reading notation, offering valuable insights for aspiring jazz musicians. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting your jazz journey, th...

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by the Learned Jazz Standards Inner Circle.
0:03.8	If your goal is to level up your jazz playing this year and feel confident improvising over
0:08.5	jazz standards, the inner circle has everything you need and more.
0:13.0	With monthly jazz standards studies, a library of powerful courses, and a vibrant community
0:17.3	of like-minded musicians, you're guaranteed to improve your playing every
0:21.7	single month.
0:23.1	Podcast listeners can get 50% off their first month when you go to LJSinnerCircle.com.
0:29.5	That's LJSinnerCircle.com or find the link in the show notes.
0:34.8	Now, on to today's episode.
0:52.3	Music the show notes. Now, on to today's episode. All right, everybody, what's up? Brent here from Learn Jazz Standards. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. So happy to have you here where I'm helping you with your jazz playing, answering your jazz and music-related questions five days a week. Today we have a really good question coming from O'Kecchi. Let's give it a listen.
1:12.5	Hi, Brent. Thank you for this opportunity. My question is this. Am I able to learn how to play
1:19.0	jazz without the ability to read sheet music? Thank you very much for your answer. Bye.
1:25.8	Really fantastic question. Thank you for asking it. What role does music notation play in learning
1:32.7	jazz? And of course, we'll answer the question, do you need to be able to read music to learn
1:38.0	how to play jazz? Well, let's back up a little bit. There's kind of a few different ways that
1:42.5	people learn music in general, right?
1:44.5	For some of us, we may have started out actually learning to play our instrument by reading
1:50.4	music. The greatest example of this is, you know, someone taking piano as a young child,
1:57.0	and usually in that process at some point, there is a method book put in front of you where
2:03.2	you are playing through songs on the piano right especially if you play a horn instrument or a
2:09.4	piano um those kinds of instruments traditionally speaking when you're learning them oftentimes
2:14.7	reading music is involved in the process now Now, there is the other way of learning
	...

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