​How to be a successful Jazz student in a few difficult steps.

I’m back from a week at the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops in Louisville Kentucky. My third year. I will be back next year.

This year I interviewed “successful” campers. 

What characteristics do successful adult jazz students possess? Here are my unscientific conclusions.

• They have learned to play their instrument with a professional teacher so that they have the solid facility to play Jazz. Then they found a jazz teacher.
• They listen to Jazz like a musician: analytically.   " What's going on here?" They started stealing short simple licks early on and built from there.
• They got their ears together; many have taken ear training classes at some point.
• They have a good grasp of jazz history. They know the main players of their instrument.
• They have memorized a few simple jazz tunes. Like Aebersold volume 15.
• They found folks to jam with at their level or above. Other eager beavers are out there.
• They understand the basic rudiments of music. The classical theory level for incoming college first-year students is a good goal for jazz students to obtain. In Canada, which translates into Level 8 theory the Royal Conservatory of Music. 
• They seek feedback.
  
• They go to Jazz Camp with an open mind.
• They love to practice and jam.
• They are enjoying the journey.
• They trust the process. 

Cheers,
David Story

Here is a list of tunes to prepare for such a camp as this one. 

List One 

• Satin Doll: Duke Ellington
• Doxy: Sonny Rollins
• Maiden Voyage: Herbie Hancock
• Cantaloupe Island: Herbie Hancock 
• St. Thomas: Sonny Rollins
•  Perdido: Duke Ellington
•  I’ve Got Rhythm 
• Blue Bossa: Joe Henderson and then Kenny Durham's version
• Sweet Georgia Brown: Any Trad Jazz version.
•  Misty: Erroll Garner, Laufey
• Take The ‘A’ Train: Duke Ellington
• So What / Impressions: Miles Davis
•  Lady Bird / Half Nelson: Miles Davis
•  I Don’t Get Around Much Anymore: Duke Ellington
•  Killer Joe: Quincy Jones
•  Solar: Miles Davis
• Tune Up: Miles Davis
• Song For My Father: Horace Sliver
• Summertime: Louis Armstrong, Preservation Hall Jazz Band

​revised March 2024