Traditional Jazz Violin Lesson – Melody On a Standard

This jazz violin lesson is a demonstration from Tim Kilphuis playing the melody to “I can’t give you anything but love,” – a classic standard that is  good to have in the repertoire. Learning the chord changes and melodies to classic standards is an important part of building your understanding of the music and developing jazz violin vocabulary.

This is an example of an earlier jazz violin style –  the feel of the rhythm section, with the banjo strumming and half time feel in the bass, is closer to a dixieland feel as well as the “gypsy” jazz feel. While there have been a lot of evolutions in the feel of the music from bebop to post-bop and more modern styles, good jazz violin lessons and study of the music should include the tradition. The phrasing of the melody here is a good example of this particular feel for jazz violin.

It would be valuable to hear one of the great jazz singers perform this song, so you can hear the lyrics and the way it is phrased. Then you will have a better understanding of the embellishments and the way it is being adapted for jazz violin.

The video has a link to download the backing tracks for free, which is very cool and a great way to practice jazz violin. The link from the youtube video to  get the tracks is: http://www.dc-musicschool.com/catalogue/playalongs/free-beginner-gypsy-jazz-playalongs/

 

Jazz Violin Lesson – Blues

Here is a video from Christian Howes’ Membership Site, which he generously allowed use to share with you. It is on the subject of improvising over a blues progression. He uses his looping pedal to create the chord structure and bass line, showing how you can create your own accompaniment for yourself.

If you have your violin handy, this video gives you an opportunity to play along with Chris’ accompaniment with him guiding you.

Jazz Violin Lesson – Blues Video:

To give you some theory background, the blues chord progression in this jazz violin lesson is called a “one four five” progression, G being one, C being four, D being five. Each of the chords is a dominant 7th chord, meaning it has the root, third, fifth, and flat 7th.

So when Chris says “G,” “C” and “D” he is referring to dominant 7th chords. This video is part of Chris’ membership site where that material has already been covered, so this video focuses more on the phrasing and ideas for improvisation – which are extremely valuable points to cover in jazz violin lessons. This is what makes it sound like true melody improvisation instead of just running correct scales over the instrument.

Notice the way he scoops certain notes and embellishes the melody in a way to give it an authentic feel.

To view the complete video series, you can take Chris’ 3 day free trial of his membership site

 

Jazz Violin Lessons

Authentic jazz violin lessons online can be hard to find, so jazz violin lessons dot com has been created to help those of you out there looking to really apply the language and rhythmic feel of jazz to the violin.

jazz violin lessonsThere are lots of great resources out there for improvising violinists, but relatively few that deal with true jazz language, harmony, vocabulary, repertoire, phrasing, and the other nuances that make jazz the unique artform it is. This is probably because there are relatively few violinists (compared to other instruments , such as saxophonists) who have really dedicated themselves to learning jazz on their instrument… let alone also giving jazz violin lessons online or in person.

It is always possible to study jazz theory, rhythm, improvisation and more with other instrumentalists, but for things like phrasing with the bow, fingering patterns and the physical technique of really making the theory come alive, it’s best to have true jazz violin lessons with a teacher who has mastered these things. Luckily for us, the internet has made it possible to learn from and interact with the best in the world, wherever you are. Our intent is to get you in touch with them.

We will post resources for you here, including good jazz violin lessons on video we come across. Some have even given us special content for you. Also be sure to take a look at:

Jazz Violin Lessons Membership site loaded with videos, live broadcasts, skype lessons and more.

Christian Howes, a world class player who has worked with a large variety of world class jazz musicians (Bill Evans, etc,) created his own recordings, produced, arranged and performed string parts for numerous recordings has created a membership site that represents the future of jazz violin lessons.

For a monthly cost that is far less than a single lesson from most teachers, members get access to a library of videos, Q&A, live broadcasts from Christian, even discounted Skype lessons if desired. Christian has shared with us a sample of the jazz violin lessons from inside his forum which you can check out here:

Christian is also running a free 30 day trial so you have nothing to lose by checking it out. The “subscribe” button- just be aware that you will have to cancel before the end of the trial if you do not want to get billed.. but from what we have seen we believe you will want to stay.

Check out the Jazz Violin Lessons / Creative Strings Academy Program Here with the 30 day Free Trial