Listening
Apart from books, your most important source of information will be recordings. You can learn the right notes and fingering patterns from a book, but you need to listen to lots of Jazz to get the feel of the music into your playing. Listen to any good Jazz player and you will hear intervals, arpeggios, modes, sequences, blue notes and chromatic notes all woven into lines which sound dynamic, natural and musical.
Some guitarists to look out for are: Lonnie Johnson, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessell, Grant Green, George Barnes, Jimmy Raney, Tal Farlow, Emily Remler, Bruce Forman, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, John Scofield and Bill Frisell.
It is also important to listen to musicians playing instruments other than guitar, as this will help you learn to play more from what you are hearing and less from easy finger patterns. Listening to horn players is particularly valuable.
Some essential players to listen to include: Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Clifford Brown, Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, Paul Desmond, Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, Lester Bowie, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, David Liebman, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Randy Brecker and Michael Brecker, as well as singers Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Mel Torme.
When you are listening to albums, try to sing along with the solos and visualize which strings and frets you would play and the techniques you would use to achieve the sounds you are hearing. This helps you absorb the music and before long, it starts to come out in your own playing. It is also valuable to play along with albums, sometimes imitating what you are hearing and other times improvising. This is very good ear training and is also a lot of fun.
As well as this, it is essential to transcribe lines and whole solos from your favorite players. By doing this, you will be able to analyze the lines to understand what it is you like about them and then incorporate them into your own playing.
It is important to transcribe a variety of players from different eras rather than just imitating one favorite (who wants to be a clone?). You will learn something different from each player and will also open yourself up to new ideas and new sounds. All the great Jazz players have done lots of transcribing. Make it part of your daily practice routine.
