Table of Contents
Jazz violin | How to Practice & Play Jazz on Violin
Learning how to play jazz violin is elusive for many reasons which I will discuss in this post. I will share two approaches to jazz violin for beginners so you can decide the best path for you.
Can you play Jazz on a violin?
You can play Jazz on any instrument. Is the violin considered jazz? Yes.
Many violinists become discouraged from studying Jazz. I’ll explain why it is uncommon for classical players to learn Jazz and what you can do to overcome these challenges
Why is it Hard for violinists to learn Jazz improvisation?
The culture of music education
Most violinists learn music in a culture of classical music. The methods, exercises, and community are devoted to skills and perspectives taught in classical music.
These skills include rhythmic and harmonic language, and measurements of musicality. Because the paradigms within music education are so different, Jazz feels like a different world for classical violinists.
Amplification
When playing with drummers and horn players the violin is hard to hear, both by the player and the audience. The need to amplify or play electric violin adds a barrier for violinists.
Before deciding how to amplify your violin, educate yourself about the pros and cons of an acoustic instrument pickup vs solid body electric instrument, the best amps for bowed strings, and how to use loop pedals with a bowed string instrument.
Learn the basics of effects and how to achieve a clean amplified sound, per the video below.
How do you Practice Jazz Violin?
First, let’s make a distinction between learning Jazz vs learning improvisation, harmony, and functional musicianship.
The term Jazz is used to mean different things by different people. A narrow definition of learning Jazz includes learning songs from the real book, and then learning to improvise over these songs with specific melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic language. This can take years.
Many historic and currently famous jazz violin players have demonstrated a love of jazz in their own personal ways, including Stuff Smith, Claude Williams, John Blake Jr (see tribute), Joe Venuti, Regina Carter (see interview) , Didier Lockwood, Sara Caswell, Eddie Lang, Michal Urbaniak, Jean Luc Ponty (see interview), Stephane Grappelli, Leroy Jenkins, Jason Anick, Billy Contreras, Ray Nance, Zach Brock, Eddie South, Billy Bang, Svend Asmussen, Johnny Frigo, Ornette Coleman, and others.
If you are a classically trained violinist you may be better advised to study improvisation, harmony, and rhythm in other styles and situations as a bridge to learning jazz improvisation.
I will discuss differences between these two approaches so you can decide which is best for you.
Starting with a bridge approach does not preclude you from learning Jazz. It may help you avoid discouragement and start improvising sooner in situations outside of Jazz.
Easier: Learn to improvise in eclectic non-jazz styles
Here are reasons why it is easier to begin studying harmony, rhythm, and improvisation in non-jazz styles.
- Swing Rhythm– Classical musicians are generally more accustomed to playing duple rhythms, while swing can be characterized loosely as being based on triplets. Swing bowing techniques take time to learn, and it’s challenging to internalize swing rhythm. If you begin improvising in other styles such as Bluegrass, pop, EDM, Bossa-nova, Samba, Tango, or Rock, these may feel more familiar.
- Scales- In many popular genres one can improvise using the major scale or pentatonic scale. These scales only go so far in Jazz. If you begin improvising with scales that are familiar, you’ll experience more early success.
- Chords– Chord progressions in pop, rock, folk and some Latin songs can feel more familiar and easier to navigate.
A benefit of starting to improvise in rock, blues, R&B, folk, and other non-jazz styles is that it is easier to get started and have a degree of competence. This is not to say that playing other styles is easier than playing Jazz, but it may be easier to get started and achieve a baseline level of competence. You can learn the basics of how to join a band, which will help you step inro Jazz bands later. You will gain familiarity with arranging your own parts, playing the role of accompanist, and befriending the rhythm section. This can act as a “bridge” to becoming a jazz violinist, and it can pay some bills while you’re practicing to be ready for playing a Jazz festival or club under your own name, or as a side person in someone else’s jazz band.
How To become a Jazz Violinist
1. Learn tunes. It's more than what you think
Don’t just learn the melody of tunes. You should learn tunes in the following ways:
- bass line,
- the arpeggios,
- the 3rds and 7ths,
- the scales that work over different chords in the song
Which tunes to learn
Consider the types of tunes in terms of common harmonic forms and common rhythmic forms.
Harmonic Song Forms
- 32 bar major includes songs like All of me, Take the A Train, …..
- 32 minor includes Angel Eyes, Invitation, Nature Boy…
- Modal tunes include So What, Impressions, Little Sunflower…
- Blues tunes include Billie’s Bounce, Blues for Alice, or C Jam Blues…
- Rhythm Changes are based off the chord progression to I’ve Got Rhythm by George Gershwin. Other contrafaqs (songs based on same chord progression with different melodies) include Confirmation, Oleo, and Rhythmning
These harmonic forms are not more complex than songs in other styles. However the chords used within the forms often are more complex because they include reharmonization. A song such as Honeysuckle Rose ( 32 bar major), can be played in a way that uses less chords and less complex chords. However, a jazz treatment of the song will often include reharmonization as well as denser harmonic rhythm (more chords per bar).
This goes back to why I suggested considering working first on songs with simpler or more familiar harmonic structures. For example, if you learn a traditional Mariachi song or a Pop song you might get by with learning 3 triads, vs nine 7th chords in a jazz song. For many classical players this type of bridge provides an easier starting point.
Rhythmic forms
Another way to think of rhythmic forms is in terms of ” the groove of the song”.
- Latin Jazz includes Blue Bossa, Black Orpheus… There are actually many types of Latin forms including Tango, Bossa Nova, Choro, Samba, Meringue, and Flamenco
- Medium Swing
- Fast swing
- Ballad
- Waltz
- Funk
Depending on how you define the term Jazz, a broader definition of rhythmic forms could include “global music” such as Flamenco, Tango, as well as Indian ragas, Appalachian bluegrass, Celtic, Balkan, and even popular grooves like rock, EDM, House, or Hip-Hop,
Swing itself is arguably a more challenging groove for classical players because it is based on triplets and because it has a particular clave or “rationale”- meaning that accents can be placed in specific places in the bar.
This goes back to why I suggest you consider working on songs with more familiar grooves as a bridge to Jazz.
2. Learn Transcriptions of great Jazz and swing solos
Pros and Cons of learnin by ear or through reading Written transcriptions
There is a lot of debate about how much time you should spend learning transcriptions. Some people suggest you learn and memorize solos completely by ear. I think it depends on what type of learner you are and how strong you are at reading music. If you read well, there’s a benefit in reading jazz transcriptions. Because you will get melodies in your fingers and ears easily and quickly. If you read from written transcriptions you should still listen to the original solo to mimic the nuances of phrasing. Some people argue that this is why it’s important to learn solos by ear. I think that if you have a sharp ear and memory, and if learning by ear feels good to you, go for it. There’s no harm in mixing both approaches.
Learn violin solo transcriptions if you want, but I recommend to learn solos by other instruments including saxophone, guitar, piano, etc.
Because the lexicon of Jazz is informed by a large “conversation” of recordings featuring all the individuals who made a contribution in their own way, there are more influential pianists, guitarists, sax, trumpet, and vocalists than violinists. Since many violinists have copied the phrasing of other instrumentalists, it’s beneficial to go to the source of their inspiration.
Some of my available violin transcriptions include hot swing, latin, and funky.
3. Bow Techniques for Groove and Swing
Whether you play swing-based rhythms with a goal to master Jazz, or whether you join bands that play non-jazz styles such as folk, rock, pop, blues, R&B, or Latin, you will need to learn a different approach to bowing, and there are a few reasons why:
1.Rhythm is felt differently by classical musicians. In jazz or any type of groove-based music, the pulse is important to keep steady and is marked by a clear beginning of the sound.
2. Rhythm is more important than sound projection in groove-based music.
Groove Bowing
A major goal of classical violin playing is projection. This requires using a lot of bow. It also requires planning bowings and practicing these pre-planned bowings.
When improvising, especially on groove-based music, it is important to prioritize rhythm over sound projection.
There are several ways to organize this practice explained in this video
Swing Bowing | a special sub-category of groove bowing
Some things to keep in mind for swing bowing which are different from classical bowing technique include
- mix of slurring and separate bows
- using less bow
- articulation with a bite at the beginning of notes
- placement within the bow
Study harmonic & Rhythmic Language 2 WAYS
- Study licks. Learn 2 or 4-bar phrases and transpose them into several keys. This is the equivalent of learning harmonic or rhythmic anecdotes.
- Study harmonic DATA. This is also known as voice leading. Voice leading on bowed string instruments is difficult. To master voice leading it’s important to have the right system.
We can use many exercises to internalize rhythmic information including some shown in the video above.
When we break down Harmonic data in a Jazz context, there are several specific subsets you should know
Voice leading Scales on 7th chords
Pentatonic and Blues scales, Diminished, Whole tone, Melodic minor, Major bebop and Dominant bebop scales are common scales used in Jazz.
Each of these scales has specific applications over different types of chords.
To avoid common pitfalls, use recommended ways to learn jazz scales on violin faster.
Voice Leading Chords and Arpeggios on 7th chords
Before working on 7th chords, I recommend you build a harmonic foundation with triads.
The most common 7th chords are minor 7, major 7, and dominant 7.
Next are half-diminished, fully-diminished, and minor major 7 chords.
7th chord arpeggios should be memorized individually and then in pairs with voice leading.
The process of practicing and memorizing arpeggios can be discouraging if it is not organized. To avoid overwhelm, use a system that makes it easier to memorize chord shapes on a bowed string instrument.
A FIRST STEP to Thinking Harmonically
Learn how to know, hear, and remember the chord progressions of songs via this article..
An Often Missed Secret
Practicing Free improvisation, when structured correctly, can give a classical player huge advantages for many reasons.
Classical musicians uniquely benefit from splitting a part of their practice to play in the Chromatic Universe.
The creative process is separate and different from the learning process. If your time and energy is spent memorizing new information you will easily become tired. A big reason people give up on improvisation is that they are trying to be creative over musical material which they have not yet sufficiently studied and learned. Chromatic and/or non-tonal improvisation allows you to be creative regardless of your current technical or theoretical level of knowledge or ability. It also allows you to get more from your practice time by using a different part of your brain and staying focused.
Structured free improvisation provides a way to strengthen creative muscles, develop a personal language, and sound original in any style.
Conclusion
I discussed the differences between two approaches to growing your musicianship, namely:
- How to study Jazz improvisation on violin, cello, or viola.
- An alternative: a “bridge” to Jazz applying harmony, groove, and improvisation in other styles, aka gaining fundamental skills of a functional/creative musician.
Next Steps
There are many resources linked above to help you practice and understand individual steps of the journey to becoming a more functional, creative musician.
To stream my courses and books covering all of these individual steps, take a trial of my DIY home study course.
You’ll want a practice plan that considers your holistic goals, (whether professional or amateur), your learning style, resources, and what you want your musical life to look like.
This can best be accomplished with the support of a mentor.
Having mentored thousands of string players from many abilities and backgrounds, I recommend you book a private lesson with me. In our lesson, I will help you reach your goals and avoid common pitfalls.
New students can take a Free private lesson with me with a trial of Creative Strings Academy.
Also consider my in person retreat, where you will learn to play eclectic styles and to play beyond the dots with the best co-hort for fiddle and jazz music.
