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Educational resources |
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Of general interest |
Improvisation |
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| Wow, what a site! Researching this site is throwing up some veritable treasures, and this is the brightest so far. So much reading and browsing here, if you have a couple of hours to spare, this is the site to make for - WOW!!!! | The Outside Shore - Marc Sabatella, an American musician and artist has created this site to promote his Improvisation Primer. You can download pages from this publication, and read the whole Primer online. Great information, and although American in it's approach, still massively useful for all musicians. | |
| This site is put together by The Jazz Smugglers in E. Sussex, who have a humerous but purposeful take on the state of jazz in the UK at the present time. Good sound advice, and some shameless promotion of Jazz Services (and rightly so!) | The online Jazz Improvisation Magazine from the US is a mine of fascinating interviews and other impro-related stuff. | |
| The largest and most comprehensive jazz site in the UK | If you haven't yet visited Jazzbooks.com, the site for all the Jamey Aebersold publications, then you should have! Here's a link to Jamey's free Jazz handbook downoadable in PDF format, which is the Bible of many a young jazz musician. Coupled with the 'Playalong' books for which Aebersold is famous, this book will move you along in your quest for the perfect improvisation (is there such a beast??) | |
| The aim of the National Jazz Archive is to be the national archive and research centre for printed material, photographs and memorabilia relating to jazz | Here's an example of some online exercises with downloadable MIDI files from Cardiff University which runs a Jazz BMus course. Worth trying out these, they're good! | |
| Read reviews of the latest jazz offerings on CD and DVD, visit the Gallery, and browse the site, all about recorded jazz here and now. | John P Birchall attempts to unravel the mysteries of Dixieland Jazz - NOOOO, before you run away, take a look at the site, it has some sound advice, and also lots of Band In A Box files to download and play along with - pretty natty stuff. | |
| Another site with a wealth of useful information on almost every aspect of jazz music. From in-depth articles and reviews to explanations of MIDI and chord voicings, you could lose yourself for hours in this site alone. |
MIDI files
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| You might recognise this site from the Instruments>Saxophone page; Pete gives some useful tips on jazz theory but also investigates composing for film, sax exercises for breathing and dexterity, and also bigs up Logic Pro as THE music software to have. | This brilliant search-bot looks exclusively for MIDI files throughout the Internet, and is simplicity itself to use. Just type in the song name or band, and in a couple of seconds musicrobot will come up with a huge list of suitable files. These files can be played on an media player, or even imported into music software like Finale or Sibelius in order to edit or create an arrangement. | |
| More jazz links, chat rooms about specifics of jazz performance and theory, Live 'Net radio, and lots more. Really ought to sit down with a glass of something and check this one out myself... | A collection of piano based MIDI files to download and investigate with the help of your own music software - enjoy! (Not only for pianists, this - other instrumentalists can get a great deal of benefit from these sites too). | |
| Jamey Aebersold is synonymous with American Jazz education. As well as we over 100 'Playalong' books which come with lead sheets in all transpositions, plus a top-quality backing track for each song recorded by some of the best players around, Aebersold has a site worthy of some serious investigation. There is information on almost every subject you could want here, and masses of tempting books to buy too! - don't be put off by the fact that he is State-side, delivery times and prices are both top-notch, old chap. | Herein lies a huge collection of Jazz MIDI files and lots of other goodies - audio recordings, reviews, a great picture gallery, and lots more. | |
| JazzWise gets you to the largest database of British players and gigs. Also links to the JazzWise Summer Schools and London Orchestrations. |
Jazz - the written word |
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| Written by American jazz trumpeter Chase Sanborn, 'Jazz Tactics' is a no-nonsense book designed to get young players playing jazz - what more could you want! | JazzScript stock over 500 books all connected with some aspect of jazz, from biographies to CD reviews, from jazz manuals to DVDs. Worth a look! | |
| A brief description of the various jazz styles - does what it says on the top of the page! | The online shop for bebop, hardbop and modern jazz | |
| Self-explanatory, this one, but very good, with some excellent information. |
Jazz - the recorded sound |
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| This organisation runs highly acclaimed Summer School jazz courses in various bases around the UK. Their spread is widening all the time, and so is their reputation. | Tom Lord's excellent Jazz Discography is introduced at this site. The amount of enties is staggering and the book or CD set is a must have item for any serious jazz anorak | |
| Says it all - the US-based Association has fine credentials and a great site to browse. | ||
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Music Software |
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| This is software designed to help your improviser's ear. It trains you to recognise intervals, triads, scales and scallic passages, and a whole heap more. Check the site for more details. | ||
| This clever piece of software allows you to slow down (or speed up) a .wav or MP3 file in order to figure out its innermost secrets, all without changing the pitch of the original track. It also transposes up to an octave up or down in pitch; has a chord-busting spectral analysis tool, and much more besides. Hit the link and see for yourselves! | ||
| Make Music! supplies music software, specifically Finale and other wares which may be of interest to jazzers. | ||
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Jazz - the written note |
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| Someone has actually cross-indexed every available Fake Book, legal and otherwise (bless their cotton socks!). Find that very index - HERE | ||
| Ian Steele the founder of this commercial site has a massive stock of Big Band charts and jazz-related publications, mostly imported from the USA. His catalogue is vast, so visit his site and explore the areas which interest you most. | ||