This week we finish up our series on pentatonics by looking at a few approaches for practicing these scales in all 12 keys. Mixing up the order of scales and rapidly changing from one key to another will be crucial in being able to play pentatonic based lines over real life chord changes. 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 get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extra...
Oct 08, 2021•14 min
This week, we continue our series on pentatonics by looking at our options over major seventh chords. We have two diatonic options and one option that includes a non-diatonic note. These are some of my favorite sounds and I'm excited for you to start working on this material. 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 get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively...
Oct 01, 2021•13 min
This week we take a look at an awesome modal tune to practice what we have learned about pentatonics so far. Milestones will allow us to stretch a bit and provide a low stress chord progression to experiment with pentatonic shifting. Enjoy the episode and etude! 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 patrons including transcr...
Sep 24, 2021•13 min
This month we are studying one of the master pianists of all time, McCoy Tyner. This lick represents the endless possibilities of using pentatonics and how someone like Tyner uses them to create tension and release. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to grab the PDF! 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 patrons including tr...
Sep 17, 2021•12 min
This week we continue our series on pentatonics by investigating our options over a dominant 7th chord. The options are fairly limited but, the good news is, we have some very interesting and intriguing sounds we can use over this chord. 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 get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcription...
Sep 10, 2021•14 min
This month is all about pentatonics! We will be talking about how to creatively use pentatonic shapes over the 3 most common jazz chords. We start with the minor seventh chord and talk about three different major pentatonics that will give us very different sounds and feelings when used over this chord. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to grab the PDF! 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 ever...
Sep 03, 2021•16 min
Welcome to our tune of the month episode and the conclusion of our series on triads! This week, we will use the amazing composition, I Hear A Rhapsody, as a vehicle for putting our triadic lines into context over a full form. This one includes an extensive etude which I hope will be of help to you on your journey of discovering and utilizing some brand new sounds in your playing. Enjoy and thanks for listening! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and wh...
Aug 27, 2021•16 min
This week, all of the work we have done on major triads comes together into some ii-V-I lines. We explore three of the patterns we have covered in the series and think about the sounds we can achieve when using them in tension and release fashion. Hope you enjoy the episode and discover something you can use on your jazz education journey! 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 wil...
Aug 20, 2021•13 min
In this episode we reach the end of our triad workout by dealing with some very difficult exercises! These triads not only start places other than the root, we have also mixed up the order of the keys and are starting to deal with different sounds and harmonic directions. Hope you enjoy! 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...
Aug 13, 2021•15 min
This week we continue our series on triads with some challenging exercises designed to get you away from root position and develop more flexibility with your triadic playing. 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 get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We ...
Aug 06, 2021•15 min
July has five Fridays, so I figured this month we would try something a little bit different! I asked some of the Patreon members for questions they would like answered in a Q&A format. We got two great ones from Kris and Barb and this episode will be me doing my best to answer those questions in a concise manner. These two topics may very well turn into full blown series, but for now, enjoy this episode attempting to answer questions about how to swing and how to begin approaching non-diato...
Jul 30, 2021•17 min
This month, we are going to flex some of our newfound triad skills on an awesome Antoni Carlos Jobim tune, Dindi. This song has very interesting harmony and there are sections that lend themselves in particular to the use of basic triads. Enjoy and don't forget to grab the PDF! 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 patrons i...
Jul 23, 2021•12 min
Welcome back to another lick of the month episode. This week, while we give you time to practice your triad patterns, we are going to look at a line from the killer saxophonist, Sam Dillon, in which he uses pentatonics along with rhythmic creativity to give us some awesome effects. Sam is a master of using techniques like this and we can learn a lot from his playing in a short period of time. Sam and I have just released a book of transcriptions from his album, Out In the Open, so if you like hi...
Jul 16, 2021•13 min
This week we continue our study of triads and how to develop a firm understanding of every key and how they lay on our respective instruments. In this episode, we talk about the 4 note triad. If you're wondering how the heck we can have a four note triad, you'll just have to listen in to find out. Enjoy and don't forget to grab the PDF at the link 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 ever...
Jul 09, 2021•15 min
This month we are going to talk about some of the most valuable exercises I have studied in my younger years that, I believe, gave me the technique, skills, and understanding to really bring my playing to the next level. These rapidly moving triad exercises will stretch your mental ability to think in all 12 keys faster than ever before and result in a huge bump in your ability to do almost anything. While these don't directly apply to tunes YET, they will lead to many skills handy to have in yo...
Jul 02, 2021•13 min
Welcome to the conclusion of our series on Rhythmic Flexibility! We finish off this series with an etude over the amazing composition by Toots Thielemans, Bluesette. This tune fits perfectly into our discussion on rhythmic devices in 3/4 time. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to grab the etude and audio on our Patreon page! 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 brin...
Jun 25, 2021•14 min
This week, we take a look at one of the hippest lines I've come across in a while. Joe Pass plays an incredible phrase combining rhythmic and harmonic mastery resulting in some mind bending sounds. This is the perfect phrase for what we have been talking about the past couple of months and I think, with some real analysis, this could produce some fresh and interesting ideas in your own playing. Enjoy the episode and remember to study the PDF for full benefits! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH T...
Jun 18, 2021•13 min
This week we finish up our series on rhythmic flexibility with a simple exercise that is deceivingly hard. We are going to practice playing 3 over 4 with a half note triplet. Then we flip the script and practice playing 4 over 3 in our final exercise. I hope you all have enjoyed this series and it pays off in the practice room allowing you more rhythmic freedom and ulmtimately, more interesting improvised solos. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to grab the PDF! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WIT...
Jun 11, 2021•12 min
This week we continue our series on playing more interesting and engaging rhythmic material. In episode one of this series, we looked at an exercise using escalating note values. This week we are thinking along the same lines but using the 3/4 time signature to learn some new sounds and challenge ourselves. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to grab the PDF! 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 ...
Jun 04, 2021•14 min
This month we take a look at the classic jazz standard, All Of Me, and use some of the concepts we have been discussing in the past couple of episodes. In the etude I have prepared for you, we are thinking rhythm first and basing the melodic and harmonic language from a different point of view. If you have worked on the exercises from episodes 260 and 261, you will be well prepared to play this material and get something out of it. Enjoy the episode and etude! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH T...
May 28, 2021•14 min
This week we feature Sonny Stitt playing over the classic jazz standard, All Of Me. This 8 bar excerpt really embodies many of the topics we have been discussing so far this month. We see incredible rhythmic flexibility on display and this should be a real inspiration to continue working on these concepts and become more varied in your rhythmic playing. 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 get...
May 21, 2021•11 min
Welcome back! This week we take a look at the same exercise from last episode but challenge ourselves to do it with a real rhythm section. At first, this may not seem like a difficult thing, but as we start to practice, we realize that without the help of the metronome, it almost becomes a different exercise. This will ultimately help you with your flexibility in real life situations. Enjoy the episode and have fun! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page a...
May 14, 2021•14 min
Welcome back! This month we are going to be taking a crack at some EXTREMELY difficult exercises aimed at getting your rhythmic comfort to the next level. For the first episode, we are taking a look at a rather simple bebop line and flipping it into a rhythmic tour de force. Be sure to take your time with this and don't rush the process. You must be comfortable and skilled at working with a metronome to complete this exercise and that may take some time. Have fun and remember to work through the...
May 07, 2021•15 min
You probably guessed this would be the tune of the month, but here it is. This month we will be taking a look at the great Sonny Rollins composition and, as always, I've prepared an etude for you over the chord progression. In this etude, I really focused on using the syncopation style we spoke about in episode 257. I also went ahead and borrowed a phrasing idea used by Clifford Brown in episode 258 and based much of the etude on it. I hope you enjoy and have fun with this composition on this fa...
Apr 30, 2021•12 min
We are back with a listener favorite Lick of the Month episode! This month, we take a look at a genius excerpt from the great, Clifford Brown on the fantastic jazz standard, Pent Up House. Brown displays many of the concepts we discussed this month in his lines, including a ton of syncopation and altered tones. Enjoy and don't forget to grab the PDF! 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 br...
Apr 23, 2021•11 min
This week we continue talking about strategies to turn rather vanilla lines into fantastic sounds! In this episode, we talk about strategically removing notes in measures to produce interesting syncopation and free up some space in our playing. It's all about the balance between sound and silence. Enjoy the episode ad don't forget to do the homework! 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...
Apr 16, 2021•14 min
This week we continue our series on making your lines more interesting and hip. Last episode we looked at call and response, this week, we take a look at morphing your lines from diatonic to altered which created a ton more tension and interest. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to do the homework assignments! 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 e...
Apr 09, 2021•15 min
This month we are going to look at how we can turn uninspiring lines into interesting, well crafted pieces of vocabulary. Whether you're feeling uninspired or just plain stuck, I hope these suggestions will be things you can write down and save for later whenever you're hard pressed to find some new sounds. This week we talk about using call and response to give our lines new structure and flavor. I hope you enjoy this episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Pa...
Apr 02, 2021•14 min
This week we take a look at one of Miles Davis' original compositions, Nardis for our tune of the month episode. we will be attempting to use the concepts we talked about over the month involving diatonic playing and space. I'm not going to lie, I had a lot of trouble with this etude and don't think it's my best work. We talk about this difficulty and how you can get through something that doesn't come naturally to you. I hope you enjoy the episode and don't get too annoyed by my whining :) WANT...
Mar 26, 2021•15 min
This week we are going back to the concept we talked about in 251. This time we are looking at how to use purely diatonic notes over ii-V-I progressions and make them sound just as good as if we used the most advanced harmonic material possible. The juxtaposition between simple and complicated will definitely take our solos to the next level. 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 get this PDF a...
Mar 19, 2021•15 min
