Master wHat Matters

“You need to know your scales and you need to know voice-leading and chords,” says blues-fusion virtuoso and tutor Oz Noy. “It’s good to know some theory and one of the best ways to learn is through jazz. You don’t have to be a jazz player, but if you want to understand how this thing works, whether you want to play jazz or you want to play rock, it’s a good way to learn it. You also have to practise with a metronome and be aware of rhythm. When you are a drummer or a bass player your whole world is rhythm. When you are a guitar player you can let that go and head for the fancy stuff – but if you don’t have rhythm you can’t really play. A lot of people put rhythm in the back instead of in the front.”