Here is the second part of the qualities you should possess to be an accomplished jazz musician

5) Personal Sound

In learning the qualities you should possess in being a skilful jazz musician, it is often easy to overlook the importance of personal sound. You can possess amazing technique, display superb harmonic and melodic control in your playing, but if you do not have your own unique sound, then it can make it difficult for people to identify you as a performer. Listen to the great players ...
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One of my first piano teachers told me it takes 7 years to become a proficient jazz musician. I remember being puzzled by this statement when I first heard it thinking how can you possibly quantify this. Why not 3,6 or 8 years?

Maybe he thought I was a bad student and only I needed 7 years!

Looking back I should have realised he was merely referring to the amount of practice that is required and a better analogy would be Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule in terms of mastering a particular skill or...

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Becoming a fluid improviser in any popular music genre takes time, patience and most of all hard work! A good method in developing your improvisation skills is to transcribe a solo using the following method...

1) Listen to your CD and MP3 collection and find a solo you would like to play. It should be challenging but don't make it too difficult to begin with.
2) Import it into an audio editor, such as Audacity and slow down the tempo
3) Play along with the solo in 2-4 bar phrases
4) Write down w...
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