This week we look at an awesome application of the melodic minor scale and we get a little bit more complicated. In this episode, we dive into the 6th mode of the melodic minor scale and use it over a half diminished ii chord. This is very useful in certain situations that are explained in the episode. Get your brain ready for some complicated theory work and dive in! 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 thi...
Aug 14, 2020•16 min
This month we dive into an extremely useful jazz scale and explore the different places it can be utilized. Melodic minor is an important sound in modern jazz and the use of it's different modes are the basis for many familiar sounds. In part 1, we will look at the pure melodic minor from the root and talk about a trio of chords we can use this over. Some of these chords may surprise you but I think you'll start to see some uses you may have never thought of before. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE P...
Aug 07, 2020•13 min
This month is all about guitar! We will be transcribing the amazing Joe Pass on this swingin' blues, Bag's Groove. Pay attention to how much Joe does with such limited information and, of course, how much he swings! Have fun :) https://open.spotify.com/track/7JrCNEXOunX7RXlJFDvXYn?si=kfQHmXyJSdGuzisiEzZ3HQ
Aug 03, 2020•4 min
You thought we were done with fourths, didn't you? I'm happy to say, we have one more episode that dives into this important topic. We will be using the Eddie Harris tune, Freedom Jazz Dance to explore a cool exercise taught to me by the great, James Moody when I was in college. Enjoy this 5th episode of the month and I hope you get something out of it! 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...
Jul 31, 2020•12 min
This week is the culmination of our series on fourths and we celebrate it by playing a killer etude over the Miles Davis composition, Tune Up. We use this episode as a way to talk about the form, chord progression, and one tricky spot in the tune. Then we move into how I attempted to use fourths mixed with other material to, hopefully, make it sound a bit more natural in context. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate...
Jul 24, 2020•14 min
This week we continue our look at fourths and we transition into using them over real chord progressions. In this episode we come up with three ii-V-I lines and explore some different ways of utilizing fourths to craft interesting and angular melodies. Hopefully this will help you to conceptualize how to put this interval into your playing in various ways. Enjoy the episode! 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 ...
Jul 17, 2020•15 min
This week we take a look at one more set of exercises on fourths, building on what we learned in the last episode. This time, our job is to build series of three and four fourths stacked on top of each other. Make sure you pay close attention to what we are talking about here and work on the exercises so you can be ready to apply them in the next episode to real chord progressions. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you dona...
Jul 10, 2020•14 min
This month is all about the man himself, Sonny Rollins! One of my favorite saxophonists, musicians, and people on the planet. Enjoy transcribing the melody and solo on I'm An Old Cowhand from his album, Way Out West. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlatJOsLhPA https://open.spotify.com/track/0dL8xfVkwJjbnexqvMhH0r?si=zOVzhvq_QXymjDDIu4T46A
Jul 06, 2020•7 min
This month we are going back to a more series oriented run of shows. In July we will take a look at the interval of a fourth and how it can be used in a compelling way. We start with some basic exercises to get your ears and fingers wrapped around this sound over two very common chord symbols, the minor-seventh and the major-seventh, sharp eleventh chords. No need to do these in every key quite yet, let's keep things simple and move slowly through the learning process. Enjoy the episode and don'...
Jul 03, 2020•12 min
This week wraps up our month of listener questions. We are taking a look at the famous Wayne Shorter composition, Footprints. In particular, we are trying to make sense of the turnaround and give ourselves a fighting chance at playing something meaningful over the complicated set of chords. Enjoy the episode and remember to grab the PDF below! 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...
Jun 26, 2020•15 min
This week's episode is a natural followup to last week's and is something that is often discussed in our FB group. I also think this is one of the most essential skills to becoming a good and complete jazz musician. Vocabulary is something we all have to practice. It's a building block to being a great improviser and something we can't avoid. But how do we get that vocabulary and different sounds into our playing in a way that makes sense?? That's the million dollar question and what I try to ad...
Jun 19, 2020•17 min
This week is a long one. You'll have to bear with me while I dive into a long winded topic that requires much discussion. We are continuing our month of episodes directly answering questions from the community. This one is all about how to interpret, understand, and memorize chord progression from our favorite jazz standards. We talk about categorizing tunes into buckets that will help us to remember the progressions at the end of the day. This task becomes harder as we learn more tunes, but hop...
Jun 12, 2020•19 min
This week's episode is all about simplicity. When we see a flat 9 chord, our minds go to very complicated places that aren't always good. In this episode, I would like to show you an easier, clearer way to start incorporating this sound into your playing. If you're someone who struggles to use this sound and thinking about diminished dominant makes your head swim, you're in the right place. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when...
Jun 05, 2020•13 min
This month we are going to transcribe a solo from one of the greatest musicians to ever live, Ella Fitzgerald. I'd like you to work on her scat solo over the famous composition, Take The A-Train by the great, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78vRYUMHlJU
Jun 01, 2020•6 min
This week we are talking about a very important topic that adds on to our series studying jazz articulation. Ghost notes are crucial to both making lines a bit more natural to play, adding texture, and for many instruments, making lines much easier to accomplish! I'm providing 3 examples this week and pointing out where I would naturally ghost or de-emphasize notes to make things swing much more. This is a concept that every jazz musician should master and you can consider this your jumping off ...
May 29, 2020•12 min
This month, we are going to take a look at the amazing Jerome Kern standard, Yesterdays through the lens of the articulation principles we have been discussing in the past 3 episodes. We have a three chorus etude and our aim is to get a bit more adventurous as we move through the composition. One important thing to remember, is to keep the basic principles of swing in mind for the entire etude. Just because we are mixing things up a bit, doesn't mean we can ignore the basics. Enjoy the etude and...
May 22, 2020•14 min
This week we begin talking about the off-beat accent. This is crucial in the understanding of how to play swing music and once you start to grasp this concept, you'll hear all of your favorite musicians doing it. We move from a very obvious example, to more subtle as we move through the episode. It's important to remember that all of the other concepts we have talked about still apply, even when taking this new idea into account. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?...
May 15, 2020•11 min
This month is less about listening to an album, and more about tuning in to something on Facebook. Chris Potter, the masterful jazz musician, has been doing performances/clinics on FB live and they are amazing! Check them out here: https://www.facebook.com/chrispottermusic/videos/543492763036120/ https://www.facebook.com/chrispottermusic/videos/3406314779385209/
May 11, 2020•5 min
This week we dive deeper into the principles of jazz articulation. Last episode, we covered some general thoughts on how to articulate in a swinging, legato manner. This week, we start to bend the rules a bit and talk about how injecting some staccato notes into our lines can be a great way to add life and character to our lines. We use these notes sparingly and in a calculated way to create the effect we are after. Enjoy the episode and let me know if you have any questions! WANT THE PDF THAT G...
May 08, 2020•12 min
This month's project is all about one of my favorite trumpeters, musicians, and composers, Kenny Dorham. We are tackling his solo on the amazing jazz standard, Mack The Knife. Enjoy and have fun with this month's project! 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/watc...
May 04, 2020•7 min
This week's episode begins a series on articulation and some core concepts related to this important topic. This was a listener request and something I have been meaning to do for a while. Articulation is something that can completely change the texture and feel of our lines by changing a few subtle things. I'm excited to dive into this topic with all of you and I hope you enjoy the first episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate ...
May 01, 2020•15 min
This week we are taking all of the concepts we learned about the bebop scale and applying them to one of my favorite jazz standards by Duke Ellington, In A Mellow Tone. Your job this month will be to find all of the instances of the bebop scale used in this etude and see how they are incorporated into the bigger picture. I'm a fan of the chord progression here because it largely follows the circle of fourths and relies heavily on the dominant chord (a great place for the bebop scale!). Enjoy the...
Apr 24, 2020•13 min
Welcome back to the third in our series on the bebop scale. This week, we start to combine the bebop scale with some other devices. Specifically, vertical playing or outlining chords. It is important to balance our vertical and horizontal playing so we don't get stuck doing things one way or another. When we study bebop scales intensely, we tend to play more horizontally. By studying this weeks episode we can avoid that trap and make sure our lines stay varied and interesting. Enjoy the episode!...
Apr 17, 2020•12 min
This month we are going to listen to one of my favorites recordings in jazz history, 'The Real McCoy' In particular, we focus on the track Blues on the Corner and talk about a few things that jump out to me in this recording. McCoy Tyner has recently left us and I think this is a perfect tribute to his legacy as a pianist and composer. 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. Y...
Apr 13, 2020•7 min
Welcome back to our series on the bebop scale. Last week we talked about how to form a bebop scale over the most common chord types. This week we will apply it to one of my favorite jazz standards, In A Mellow Tone by the legendary, Duke Ellington. In order to use these bebop scales we are breaking them up into 5 note segments based on each chord tone. This will allow us to gain some flexibility while still being able to rest and prepare for the next chord change. Enjoy the episode and happy pra...
Apr 10, 2020•11 min
We are back with another transcription for you. This month we are going to focus on the melody and as much of the solo as you'd like from Ben Wendel's Song Song. This is a beautiful melody and comes as a departure for us from the more traditional music we usually focus on. Have fun! 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 ...
Apr 06, 2020•6 min
This month we are going to study the bebop scale and it's applications on a deeper level. Most of my students know the basics of this scale, but in this series, we are going to explore the many possibilities and applications of this device. For part 1, we will talk about the five most common chord symbols and how to form a bebop scale over each of them. This will leave you armed with something to use over 95% of chords that you will see in jazz standards throughout history. Enjoy the episode! WA...
Apr 03, 2020•13 min
This week sums up our series on the rhythm changes bridge with an etude written over....you guessed it, rhythm changes! We try to utilize some of the concepts that we have talked about over the last three episodes and put them in a real life situation with some context. I hope everyone out there, no matter where you are listening from, is staying safe and healthy during this trying time. Thanks so much for tuning in and I hope this episode finds you well. WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS E...
Mar 27, 2020•15 min
The third in our series over the rhythm changes bridge. This one gets us pretty out there! We are going to extend the tri-tone substitution model to move into the first bar of each phrase and then use some Coltrane changes to spice up the sound even more! Hope everyone is hanging in there and finds some relief and entertainment in this episode. Stay safe and healthy everyone! 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...
Mar 20, 2020•16 min
We are back with another episode on the bridge of rhythm changes. This week, we are getting a little bit more adventurous with the chord changes. The first example features a ii chord in addition to the V chord and in our second example we are going to investigate how to use a tri-tone substitution to great effect, giving us some fantastic tension and release sounds. This chord progression seems simple on the surface, but once we realize the possibilities, we can take it as far as we like. Enjoy...
Mar 13, 2020•13 min
