Jazz Rock Lesson

Hi! In this lesson, we're going to look at jazz rock.

Overview of Jazz

Now, jazz is a massive subject in itself, which you can study in depth with my book Exploring Jazz Violin and my Music Gurus course based on the same book.

Music Theory

We won't dive deep into music theory here because you can't really play jazz without understanding a fair bit of theory. Instead, I'll give you a simplified version of how to play jazz rock, but there's still some pretty exciting stuff to cover.

Difference Between Jazz and Jazz Rock

What's the difference between jazz and jazz rock?

• Jazz: Mostly played with a swing feel.
• Jazz Rock: Played with a straight rock feel.

This often comes from the drums.

Jazz Feel Example

In a typical jazz feel, this little exercise gives you a swing feel. You can imagine the drums behind that doing a chuk, chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, that kind of feel.

• Swing feel: Works equally with guitars chugging away in the Django Reinhardt style.
• Straight feel: If the drums are playing straight, that swing feel is going to clash badly.

So, the same notes played in a jazz context must be played straight in jazz rock. This distinction is crucial. While I think there might be some jazz rock that's played with the swing feel, pretty much all I can think of has this straight feel.

History of Jazz Rock

Jazz rock started probably in the 1960s and flowered in the 1970s. There was one player who certainly turned me on, and I think if you haven't heard him before, he's going to turn you on too.

Introducing Jean Luc Ponty

Jean Luc Ponty is a French musician who started off as a classical musician in an orchestra in Paris, then began playing bebop, which is an advanced form of jazz from the 1950s. He did that almost better than anyone!

• Transition: He moved to America and started playing with people like Frank Zappa, playing straight in terms of rhythm but very advanced in terms of harmony.
• Albums: He did several albums with Frank Zappa and a whole string of solo albums starting from the early 70s and going to the present.

Ponty's style from the 70s is quite easy to copy because he often used certain licks repeatedly, which is not uncommon with jazz players; Stefan Grappelli certainly did the same thing.

Modal Ideas

Modal Jazz

I'm going to show you a few typical Jean Luc Ponty licks. But first, let's explore a modal idea.

With modal jazz, which was very much around at the time when Ponty started, many of the tunes were in minor keys. One trick was to hang on a note, a sixth or a ninth, which just hangs above the chord.

• Example: Get an idea of the rhythmic feel of playing straight, rather than with any swing, and also the idea of hanging on a note above the chord.

Pentatonic Scales and Patterns

Ponty made great use of pentatonic scales, and a lot of the patterns he used were descending patterns, such as big sweeping runs.

• Try it: Let's try that with the backing, and it will really make sense.

Ponty's Techniques

Here are another couple of effects Ponty uses a lot:

1. Double E Lick: This gives a big fat sound.
2. Whole Tone Scales: There's a neat trick where you start with a descending lick within the scale, then move to a whole tone scale that goes completely out of key.

Whole Tone Scale Logic

• The scale goes down:
  • Start with the first finger here, then 1, 2, 3, 4 (each a tone apart), move that pattern up one semitone onto the next string, and repeat.

Playing Outside

When we do the whole tone scale, we're playing over a single chord and going outside of that chord. The success of playing outside depends greatly on how those chords are played.

• Context: If you try playing outside with a hot club band, it might sound terrible. Make sure you can hear the kind of special chords that allow you to move freely up and down.

Assignment

Exploring Your Creativity

Finally, for this lesson: octaves.

Playing octaves involves playing an upper and a lower note at the same time, an octave apart.

• Technique: The distance between the fingers gets narrower as you go up the neck. Most people say the first finger should guide the fourth finger. Ponty, with his classical training, excelled at this.

Listening Assignment

Your assignment for this lesson is to:

• Listen to some of the 70s Jean Luc Ponty albums such as:
  • Aurora
  • Imaginary Voyage
  • A Cosmic Messenger

Try to think up your own pretentious title for an imaginary album, practice all of these licks, and identify the licks we've covered from those albums. Using the backing for this track, try some of those licks out!