Hi everybody,

I’m a mostly self-taught musician who mainly plays acoustic guitar. I’ve recently been learning certain versions of jazz standards for fun, girl from ipanema, autumn leaves, and I’ve been trying to pick up a few others, but I feel like I’m hitting a brick wall. I’m having trouble upgrading from mimicry to a more holistic understanding of the pieces. For example, if I were to play with someone else in another key, I’d have to fumble around a bit to transpose it mentally. I guess that may be caused by me learning only specific versions. Some questions:

  • Does anyone have tips for learning standards?
  • How can I locate the “purest” form of a standard, if that even makes sense? I feel like learning certain interpretations with their own flair isn’t ideal.
  • AbsolutePain@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The best way to learn is to figure stuff out by ear.

    The other two suggestions are good: get a couple of real books (there are several) and iReal.

    But don’t forget to use your ears! Figuring chord changes and melodies by ear is a fundamental skill for jazz musicians.