This month's listening recommendation takes us all the way back to 1927 with Louis Armstrong and his Hot Fives. The tune we are checking out is the amazing 'Struttin' With Some BBQ.' The energy in this recording is completely amazing and we have to remember the fact that Louis was in the process of revolutionizing jazz. Enjoy the episode and the recording! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more...
Mar 09, 2020•6 min
This is episode 200 of the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Podcast! Thanks so much for sticking with me and making this show such a success. It has been a pleasure to join you for the past 200 episodes and I look forward to many more! This month we are starting our series on the rhythm changes bridge. This is an interesting and perfect chord progression for many different concepts in improvisation. For part 1, we will talk about the simplest way to play this bridge and how it is structured, preparing us f...
Mar 06, 2020•14 min
This month is all about transcribing a melody from the late, great, Clark Terry. Although this is just a melody, it very well could be the toughest assignment yet. Have fun and make sure you post your work on the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Community FB Page! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so mu...
Mar 02, 2020•7 min
This week brings an end to our series on melodic fragments (crying sound) and, like we always do, we are finishing this one off with a bang featuring an etude over our tune of the month. This month features Miles Davis' composition, Four. It seemed appropriate to feature this tune since there is, in fact, a melodic fragment that starts the melody. It also contains great changes to practice these fragments we have been discussing this month. Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions! WANT T...
Feb 28, 2020•13 min
This week brings our series on melodic fragments to a close. This time, we examine not only using the fragments in order, but mixing them up, giving you some brand new sounds with the same notes. Next week we will put these concepts into action with an etude so make sure you stay tuned! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our ...
Feb 21, 2020•12 min
Hey everyone! I don't think I have ever been more excited to present something to you on this show. This week marks the beginning of our monthly ear training course for our Patreon members. Jazz is a form of music where good ears are absolutely essential. Therefore, we need a tried and true method to start recognizing intervals, harmonic movement, root movement, chord qualities, and so much more. With that being said, I present to you a very special preview of the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Ear Train...
Feb 17, 2020•14 min
This week's episode is building on the work we have already done in this series with an introduction to five note melodic fragments. Here we discuss the combination of our three note fragments into longer phrases that will allow you to cover more of the octave in a single idea. We are connecting the 3rd to the 7th and connecting the 5th to the 9th by way of our five note fragments. One more episode coming at you in this series next week where we take it to the next level so get your work done on...
Feb 14, 2020•14 min
This month is all about one of my favorite recordings, Saxophone Colossus by the great Sonny Rollins. The particular track we are going to be studying is Blue 7 and taking a special look at the relationship between the saxophone and bass. Enjoy! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! http...
Feb 10, 2020•6 min
Welcome to part 2 in our series on melodic fragments. This series is all about allowing you to center your solo around chord tones while using small melodic fragments to connect the important notes. Last week, we discussed two different fragments. One starting on the third and one starting on the fifth. This week, we discuss a fragment starting on the 7th and then talk about mixing the fragments up and how different they sound from each other. Enjoy the episode and remember to get this stuff dow...
Feb 07, 2020•13 min
This month we are working an amazing Chet Baker transcription. Work on effectively turning his vocal stylings into something you can play on your instrument. Enjoy! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccLQWlVWLiM
Feb 03, 2020•6 min
This week's episode introduces us to a brand new topic that I think will help your playing tremendously. Melodic fragments are any grouping of a given number of notes to focus your melodic intent and keep you from meandering through a solo. We start the series with a 3 note fragment based on 2 different scale segments. The goal here is to develop fluency and flexibility using these over a blues so we can later get more complicated and creative. Enjoy the episode and make sure to practice the wor...
Jan 31, 2020•14 min
This culminates our series on reading with an etude based around the minor blues. We tried to bring together everything we talked about in the last 3 episodes and implement it, providing for a very tough exercise! If you really want to go the extra mile, we have also written a version of the same etude up a half step. Enjoy the episode and good luck! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every ot...
Jan 24, 2020•14 min
I had a unique experience last week that allowed me to see, what I think, is the current state of jazz at the JEN Convention last week. Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much!
Jan 20, 2020•8 min
This week continues our series on reading and becoming a more well rounded musician. Remember, you will get a lot more gigs if you can read at a high level! This week brings us to syncopation. We have already done episodes on tough keys and sub-division, now it's time to take a look at one of the most important aspects of jazz: having a good handle on playing off the beat. Syncopation is a defining characteristic of jazz and we need to be able to land on each and every part of the beat. These ex...
Jan 17, 2020•15 min
In addition to giving you something to transcribe each month, we will now be giving you a specific thing to listen to with notes on what to listen for. This month: Chris Potter and Shai Maestro play All The Things You Are! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! https://www.youtube.com/wat...
Jan 13, 2020•7 min
Welcome back to our second episode in the new year. This week we continue our work on reading with a great rhythmic exercise to test your flexibility and attention to sub-division. When reading and improvising, playing sub-divisions of beats correctly and accurately is very important to our overall sound. This exercise is meant to take the same idea and put it through 8th notes, triplets, and 16th notes all designed to prepare you for anything that's thrown your way. Enjoy and make sure to grab ...
Jan 10, 2020•13 min
A new series on the podcast: Transcribe This will feature something I want you to transcribe each month and keep you on target toward your goals in 2020. This month: Dexter Gordon's Second Balcony Jump! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3brLNLRBoPM
Jan 06, 2020•7 min
Happy New Year everyone! This year is going to kick off with our series on reading. We don't typically think about reading as an essential skill for improvisation, however, it is an essential skill for being a complete musician, which I think all of us strive for. This month will provide you with some difficult exercises that will hopefully bring you to the next level and allow you to read like a true ninja. This week is all about enharmonics and becoming comfortable reading in uncomfortable fla...
Jan 03, 2020•13 min
Welcome to our last episode of 2019! This has been an absolutely awesome year and I want to thank all of our listeners and community for the show of support and all your hard work to become better musicians. Looking forward to 2020! This episode is the culmination of our series on using tensions in context. Will will take all of the information gathered over the month and see it in a real world situation over one of my favorite jazz standards, There Is No Greater Love. I have done the hard work ...
Dec 27, 2019•14 min
This week I'm going to give you 5 albums that I loved in 2019 that will hopefully bring you some musical cheer this Holiday season! In order that I talk about them: Tom Harrell: Infinty Jonathan Blake: Trion Miguel Zenon: Sonero: The Music of Ismael Rivera Gary Alesbrook: The Stories We Tell Ourselves John Coltrane: Blue World Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredibl...
Dec 23, 2019•8 min
This week features yet another episode about playing tensions in context. This week we move on to the minor-seventh chord and discover some great structures we can use to work in the 9th, 11th and 13th to these chords. Hopefully, you are starting to understand what super-imposing does for your playing. This is a very powerful strategy to come up with new sounds over chords you have been playing forever. Enjoy the episode and remember to grab the PDF on our Patreon site! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES AL...
Dec 20, 2019•15 min
This week is all about the wonderful world of music apps! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much!
Dec 16, 2019•8 min
This weeks continues our look at playing tension notes in context and also continues our look at the #11. This episode, we look at the #11 in terms of a dominant seventh chord. This provides us with some brand new opportunities to use different structures. We focus on building a triad off the flatted seventh, a minor-major arpeggio off the fifth, and a half diminished chord based off the #11. Enjoy the episode and have fun with this material! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head...
Dec 13, 2019•15 min
This week we talk about a trio of books that came out quite a while ago but are still as relevant as ever today! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much!
Dec 09, 2019•6 min
This week we are going to start another month long series all about playing tensions in context. This idea came from a post in the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Community FB group and thanks to Kris for bringing this topic to my attention. This week is all about using the #11 over a major seventh chord and the different structures we can use to frame this note. There are a plethora of opportunities here and I think this will benefit anyone who is starting to use more interesting notes and stretching the...
Dec 06, 2019•13 min
I thought it would be fun to talk about some great tools for yourself or the other musicians in your life this holiday season! For the first episode, let's talk about all of the wonderful real books out there! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much!
Dec 02, 2019•6 min
This week we are addressing two questions from one of our listeners and long time supporters, Dean. Dean is wondering about two things and I'm hoping that we cleared these questions up for him and also gave the rest of you some great exercises on approach tones and enclosures. Enjoy the episode and let me know if you have any questions! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will a...
Nov 29, 2019•15 min
This week we culminate our work for the month by looking at one of my favorite jazz tunes, Last Night on the Back Porch. This tune is simple and requires us to understand some of the most basic and important chord movements that occur so frequently in jazz. I'm hoping that the work you've done so far this month will prepare you to finally put it all together and handle this tune nicely. I have prepared our usual etude for you with some if the concepts covered and hope you enjoy this month's epis...
Nov 22, 2019•16 min
This week is dedicated to the legendary jazz producer, Teo Macero. Make some time to check out these videos and you will be amazed at some of the stories! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNKAv1aa9IA
Nov 18, 2019•5 min
We are back with another Lick of the Month Episode! This time around, I have transcribed an entire chorus of solo for you so we can look at a complete statement instead of a lick. We are featuring the playing of the amazing New Orlean's Trumpeter, Shaye Cohn of Tuba Skinny. Her playing over Last Night on the Back porch is impeccable and will really open your ears to some cool devices. Shaye uses triplets in an extremely cool fashion along with, chromatic approaches and the clearest phrasing I ha...
Nov 15, 2019•13 min
