If you’re serious about learning to play jazz guitar, you will need to memorize a few standard tunes.  Many people already know this, and the first place they head to is to a fakebook.  They’ll try to learn some tunes that way and wonder why their playing ends up being rigid.  

We don’t want to say that a fakebook isn’t a great tool, but there are other ways to learn that we would like you, as the jazz guitar player, to open yourself to.  For example, you can always learn some of your favorite tunes by listening to them over and over and then learning to play them during your jazz guitar lessons or practice time.

-  Hear the song.  One way to learn a tune for your gypsy jazz guitar is to listen to a tune over and over.  Keep listening to it until it becomes so embedded in your mind and heart that you’ve memorized the tune even when it isn’t playing on a CD.  Doing this will help you replay the song and harmonize it in different chords and transitions.

-  Once you’ve got the tune memorized, find the tune on your fretboard.  If it helps, you might also consider hooking up jazz guitar amps to help you hear and give it a more “real play” feel to your practice.  Sing the tune and try to figure out the notes going back and forth until you’ve learned the tune.  Don’t be concerned about playing it in the right key, just be concerned with learning the play the tune.  Remember to add in learning the chord changes and you might also want to add in your own substitutions for the tune.

As you’re learning to play jazz guitar this way, you’re also learning to hear the song and replay it on your jazz guitar.  If you stick to the music sheets, you might find that you’ll have a harder time feeling the music and putting some “soul” into it.  

While your play might be technically correct, it will still lack the essence of the song.  You decided to become a jazz guitar player because you somehow connected with the music, not because you wanted to be a technically great player.  

If you learn how to hear a song and then recreate it, you’ll be taking yourself through an important learning activity that sets the foundation for your improvisations and solos down the line.  You see, you’ll need to learn how to hear the music naturally before you begin doing improvisations.

Imagine how you’d feel if you were able to learn a new tune this way.  You’d feel pretty motivated to stick with your jazz guitar learning and you might even be inspired to delve deeper into the art of playing jazz guitar.

About the Author
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