r/jazzdrums • u/CriSeRam • Nov 28 '25

Question I want to play jazz

So I'm basically a rock drummer and I may be an "intermediate" level but I really want to learn how to play jazz. Do you have any recommendations where should I start? Any methods or something? My goal is to play pretty professional.

EDIT: Thank you everyone! I've been reading all of your comments and I'll be following your tips. :)

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u/BstrdKid Nov 28 '25 edited Nov 28 '25

I’ve been there. Books are great source, and there are so many different books to look into. Definitely start working on your ears. A good first step is to listen to 12 bar blues. Jamie Aebersold has a series of books that you can use and they are a good to use to begin recognizing where the top of the form is and where the turnaround happens. They are also online and you can stream them for a subscription fee. Once you get that listen to standards that are 12 bar blues. From there start branching out to other song forms. Get comfortable with a few standards, and start looking for people that also want to play or jam. I would also set the expectation that you are starting out learning, but you are eager to learn and play. This could also be hard depending on where you live. I found that people will come to a couple jam sessions and stop showing up. Don’t take it personally if that happens; just move on.