17 year old Jazz Guitar

[Brian D]

Hey dudes,

I recorded this tape for my college audition. I ended up getting accepted with some nice scholarships included to all of them, but I never really got any critique on the quailty of the improvisations, and my general performance.

anyways, I'd love it if you guys could check it out and give me some good criticism. I did:

Bebop - Dizzy Gillespie
Polkadots and Moonbeams - Standard
Passion Dance - McCoy Tyner

Please check out as much as you can and let me know what you think...the whole thing runs about 10 mins. If you can't do the whole thing, check out a song or two and just tell me what you heard, you don't have to rush and generalize it, i understand not everyone wants to sit around listening to some random internet dude for 10 minutes, haha.

Stream Here:

Bebop : My Music - 01 Track 01 - eSnips

Polkadots : My Music - 02 Track 02 - eSnips

Passion Dance : My Music - 03 Track 03 - eSnips

Thanks!

-Brian

[Garrett]

Actually i quite enjoyed it. Very easy listening and very smooth. Overall it was great. Btw I'm not the biggest fan of jazz and i enjoyed this very much.

[Brian D]

Originally Posted by Myprophecy

Actually i quite enjoyed it. Very easy listening and very smooth. Overall it was great. Btw I'm not the biggest fan of jazz and i enjoyed this very much.

Thanks a lot dude, I appreciate it!

[StratoJazz]

First i'd like to say this. You play much better jazz then i did at your age.

I can tell that you actually listen to jazz and you've taken the time to at least transcribe or find resources on how to play some jazz vocabulary. You've also picked an excellent set of contrasting tunes.

Most of the people that audition on guitar for their undergrad have a really strong command of the instrument and rock vocabulary, however, they don't have a good grasp on jazz vocabulary. ITS VERY GOOD that you have taken the time to search out pieces that inspire you and learn how to play vertically over chord changes.

Here are my criticisms:

I personally wish that your tone was rounder and darker. It sounds like your playing a strat through a Fender amp right now. What you should do is use your neck pickup down and roll the tone knob on your guitar down half-all the way. This will give you a much darker sound that is more suited to jazz playing.

As far as a gear (guitar amp combination) recommendation goes, try to avoid guitars with active pickups. Active pickups, while great with lots of distortion, are almost to clean and bright for jazz playing. Passive pickups are the way to go, as they have a tendency to sound darker than active pickups

Essentially, all i'm saying is, try to achieve a darker, more round sounding jazz tone. You might be able to do this with the gear you already have.

The only other thing i'd mention is that i wish your fast licks were cleaner. IF your going to alternate pick, be critical and make sure you can clearly hear every note that you play. I've still got problems with this, and it's what i'm focusing on in my lessons.

Other than that. I really do think your playing is really good man. Especially since your learning how to play jazz well before going to school(one of my mistakes).

Best of luck to you man!

-StratoJazz

[Brian D]

Originally Posted by StratoJazz

First i'd like to say this. You play much better jazz then i did at your age.

I can tell that you actually listen to jazz and you've taken the time to at least transcribe or find resources on how to play some jazz vocabulary. You've also picked an excellent set of contrasting tunes.

Most of the people that audition on guitar for their undergrad have a really strong command of the instrument and rock vocabulary, however, they don't have a good grasp on jazz vocabulary. ITS VERY GOOD that you have taken the time to search out pieces that inspire you and learn how to play vertically over chord changes.

Here are my criticisms:

I personally wish that your tone was rounder and darker. It sounds like your playing a strat through a Fender amp right now. What you should do is use your neck pickup down and roll the tone knob on your guitar down half-all the way. This will give you a much darker sound that is more suited to jazz playing.

As far as a gear (guitar amp combination) recommendation goes, try to avoid guitars with active pickups. Active pickups, while great with lots of distortion, are almost to clean and bright for jazz playing. Passive pickups are the way to go, as they have a tendency to sound darker than active pickups

Essentially, all i'm saying is, try to achieve a darker, more round sounding jazz tone. You might be able to do this with the gear you already have.

The only other thing i'd mention is that i wish your fast licks were cleaner. IF your going to alternate pick, be critical and make sure you can clearly hear every note that you play. I've still got problems with this, and it's what i'm focusing on in my lessons.

Other than that. I really do think your playing is really good man. Especially since your learning how to play jazz well before going to school(one of my mistakes).

Best of luck to you man!

-StratoJazz

Thanks for your criticism my dude, yeah i don't like very dark tone -- I recorded the entire thing with a Rev F Dual Rectifier, and I actually post-eq'd the cean tones to sound thinner, less mids and more highs. I used a Ibanez RG770 with passive pickups, and actually had the tone knob around 6 or 7. As for my cleanliness, I had a few mistakes, but shit happens haha. I wanted to maintain the integrity of a single take.

[Trespass]

Really, really great playing man. Song selection is absolutely killer and representative of three major aspects of playing jazz (bop, ballad, modal). Not sure if you have a teacher, if so, they've done a great job. If not, props on being very well read on the history and language of jazz.

I agree with the other guys, the thin tone doesn't sound too hot. You don't have to be Ed Bickert level dark, undefined and muddy, but that thin doesn't flatter your playing very well. Thinner tone doing intense lines is going to allow the natural flaws in articulation to come through, regardless of whose doing the lines. Darker tone definitely covers that up in a totally legit way. I can't imagine half the jazz guitar greats sounding tonally much better than you do with that kind of tone.

Check out Bireli Lagrene's completely dry, "bright", but thick as hell electric tone.

[7Mic7]

I wanna enter into a jazz school in march and i find myself to be humiliated after what i eard . You really have the jazz inside you unlike me . Very nice job man!

[Brian D]

Originally Posted by Trespass

Really, really great playing man. Song selection is absolutely killer and representative of three major aspects of playing jazz (bop, ballad, modal). Not sure if you have a teacher, if so, they've done a great job. If not, props on being very well read on the history and language of jazz.

I agree with the other guys, the thin tone doesn't sound too hot. You don't have to be Ed Bickert level dark, undefined and muddy, but that thin doesn't flatter your playing very well. Thinner tone doing intense lines is going to allow the natural flaws in articulation to come through, regardless of whose doing the lines. Darker tone definitely covers that up in a totally legit way. I can't imagine half the jazz guitar greats sounding tonally much better than you do with that kind of tone.

Check out Bireli Lagrene's completely dry, "bright", but thick as hell electric tone.

Thanks a lot dude! I checked out Bireli Lagrene and he's a great player, cool tone too. I can definitely see where you're coming from with darker tone cleaning up playing.

Originally Posted by 7Mic7

I wanna enter into a jazz school in march and i find myself to be humiliated after what i eard . You really have the jazz inside you unlike me . Very nice job man!

Haha, thanks so much dude! Good luck with your auditions as well!

Keep them coming, I'm enjoying your responses!

[Enselmis]

I feel like in your bop tune you definitely pushed the tempo farther than you were comfortable with. Particularly the first bit, a lot of your licks are quite messy. It gets a bit better as time goes on. I like your piano player a lot though.

Maybe throw some slower licks in for contrast. I know it's bop but it'll make the faster licks have more of an impact.

[Hybrid138]

Great job man! I like your phrasing. I'd love to get some jazz chops like you have. I don't know the first thing about jazz . Keep up the good work. You can always get better but you're off to fantastic start.

[Brian D]

Originally Posted by Hybrid138

Great job man! I like your phrasing. I'd love to get some jazz chops like you have. I don't know the first thing about jazz . Keep up the good work. You can always get better but you're off to fantastic start.

Thanks so much dude!

Originally Posted by Enselmis

I feel like in your bop tune you definitely pushed the tempo farther than you were comfortable with. Particularly the first bit, a lot of your licks are quite messy. It gets a bit better as time goes on. I like your piano player a lot though.

Maybe throw some slower licks in for contrast. I know it's bop but it'll make the faster licks have more of an impact.

I play a bunch of pretty slow lines in my chorus, I can't just change the head haha. I definitely played the head the second time better, but i'm not sure if I was every really "sloppy" at any point (I have a pretty proficient and neurotic muting technique). But yeah, the keys are really awesome. Thanks!