jazz theory resources online

November 22, 2008 10:55 PM

where are quality net resources for learning about how musical theory applies to jazz? for instance what sort of tunes use a mixolodian scale, or unusual guitar tuning, strange timing, etc. i want to expand my understanding of theory in jazz compositions
posted by edtut to science & nature (7 comments total)

Jamey Aebersold has over a hundred jazz play-along book and CDs (or records if you started collecting early enough), but what most people don't know is he also offers a free Jazz Handbook for download. It explains a lot of what you're asking about - at least to some extent.
posted by Kimothy at 11:34 PM on November 22, 2008 [4 favorites]

agreed.

also (heresy) listen to jerry garcia if you like mixolydian stuff. bird song, cassady, china cat sunflower.
posted by stubby phillips at 11:39 PM on November 22, 2008

Also, it's not online, but once you get bored with or learn the theory and want to expand your listening, The Rough Guide to Jazz is a great one-volume jazz musician encyclopedia. The short biographies and selected discography of hundreds of Jazz musicians have been great resources for me.
posted by Kimothy at 11:42 PM on November 22, 2008

Also not online, but The Jazz Theory Book is the best that's out there.
posted by Alabaster at 11:47 PM on November 22, 2008

It's been a while since I looked at online jazz theory resources. Here's some suggestions from a while back:

I was doing all right - a blog with some interesting ideas, particular focus on ear training.

The Smithsonian - I've never explored this thoroughly but potentially an excellent resource.

Depending how much effort you want to put in, Transcribe and itunes/amazon/record shop could provide years of potential material to work on.

The one offline resource that I would really recommend is What to Listen For in Jazz by Barry Kernfeld. It really gives a thorough grounding in the styles, forms, textures and phrases of jazz. It is also accessible and assumes no knowledge of music notation.
posted by Bigbrowncow at 1:41 AM on November 23, 2008

Metafilter pointed to this page previously and it's pretty interesting.
posted by nicolin at 9:31 AM on November 23, 2008

And I think that this Steve Khan's page is really good.
posted by nicolin at 5:15 AM on November 26, 2008