How to Train Your Ears Like a Jazz Musician
Jazz ear training – What makes it different from general ear training? That’s a great question and when a reader recently asked this, it definitely made me think. They both…
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Jazz Harmony: Why You’re Overlooking This Crucial Skill
When I started learning how to improvise, the one thing I really wanted to figure out was how to create improvised lines like my musical heroes… Listening to players like…
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Hot House – How to Unravel Complex Bebop Heads
Bebop “heads,” what jazz players sometimes call the melody of a tune, tend to be some of the trickiest and most technically demanding strings of notes you’re likely to encounter.…
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How to Think Like a Pro Jazz Musician: Michael Brecker and The Power of Simplicity
It sounds so complex. So difficult. So advanced. Great jazz musicians sound as though they’re implementing highly complex and difficult concepts that mere mortals could never hope to access, but…
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A Night in Tunisia: Navigating the Interlude & Solo Break
The interlude and solo break of A Night in Tunisia is a scary moment. The build up. The intensity. All eyes are on you. The band drops out, and somehow…
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Use the Power of Imitation to Unlock Jazz Improvisation
As players today, we have a ton of resources to draw from in the practice room. But when it comes to the more musical areas of improvisation, something is missing.…
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Why Melody is the Secret to Playing Better Jazz Solos
Ask any musician or teacher what you should practice to develop exceptional jazz improvisation skills, and you usually hear words like “Scales” and “Modes” or “Guide-tone lines.” Sometimes even “Transcribing”……
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Mastering Essential Chord Progressions: The I to IV Relationship
When it comes to improving as an improviser, there are only so many tunes you can memorize. Only so many chord symbols and progressions you can force into your brain……
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The Sonny Stitt Playbook – His 2 Exercises to Master Minor
What if you had Sonny Stitt’s practice journal in your hands right now? All his genius lines and exercises written out. Everything, literally everything, complete with diagrams and descriptions of…
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Miles Davis Chromatic Tactics: 3 Key Phrases To Know
When you think of intricate and flowing chromatic lines, you probably think of Miles Davis. In particular, those amazing musical phrases he often played with his second great quintet in…
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Mastering IV to I Movement: 8 Secrets from Sonny Clark
When you’re starting out, it can seem like the secret to improvising boils down to what you play on each chord. It’s all about the notes, the scale options, and…
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5 Next-Level Jazz Contrafacts You Should Know
Taking something old and making it new is an integral part this music. And when it comes to the standard repertoire, this idea pops up in the form of contrafacts:…
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9 Incredible Jazz Piano Solos You Should Know
The piano is a cornerstone of this music, lending some of the finest composers, soloists, and forward thinking improvisers throughout history. And as a serious musician, you should be studying…
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10 Levels of Playing the Bridge to Rhythm Changes
From the moment George Gershwin’s composition I Got Rhythm entered the jazz repertoire, it quickly became one of the most played, and most important, song forms in this music… And…
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The Transcription Step Most Jazz Players Skip
There’s a common saying that any great improvisation boils down to one thing: “playing what you hear”. And over the years, I’ve found this to be true… The more you can…
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4 Legendary Bye Bye Blackbird Solos (And What to Steal From Each)
Bye Bye Blackbird is a tune that looks simple on paper, yet one that can become surprisingly challenging the moment you begin to solo. And in Part II of our…
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Bill Evans: 4 Tools for Creating Harmonic Motion
For any improviser learning jazz standards, one of the greatest challenges isn’t just learning the chords to a tune – it’s making music with them when you take a solo.…
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Mastering Forward Motion in Jazz Improvisation
When you first start learning to improvise, the focus is often on which notes work over a chord…which scale to play, finding the key, or memorizing chord symbols. But over…
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How Bye Bye Blackbird Really Works (Form, Variations, and Solo Concepts)
Of all the standards in the jazz repertoire, there are certain tunes that seem to play themselves. Songs where you can simply outline a few chord tones, follow the changes,…
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Bird Blues: A Player’s Guide
Charlie Parker’s iconic take on the Blues form, commonly referred to as the “Bird Blues,” is a staple of the modern jazz repertoire and a rite of passage for every…
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11 Modern Jazz Compositions That’ll Transform Your Playing
Beyond standards and bebop melodies lie what what we might call modern jazz tunes – the compositions of musical innovators who pushed the music in a new direction. And navigating…
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Chick Corea: 7 Essential Dominant Chord Techniques
Chick Corea is one of the true giants of this music. A name that’s synonymous with dizzying technique, stunning harmonies, and an unmistakeable creativity that is apparent on every one…
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A Night in Tunisia: Navigating the Interlude & Solo Break
The interlude and solo break of A Night in Tunisia is a scary moment. The build up. The intensity. All eyes are on you. The band drops out, and somehow…
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10 Hidden Gems from Charlie Parker on the Blues
When it comes to the blues, few voices sing as clearly, or as creatively, as Charlie Parker’s. While Bird is often celebrated for his iconic solos and well-known standards, there’s…
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Inside Mulgrew Miller’s Solo: You Stepped Out of a Dream
A great solo can teach us many things (on many levels) about the way we improvise – from simply finding the “right notes” that fit a progression, to the finer…
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10 Tritone Substitution Tactics from Kenny Dorham
Tritone Substitution is one of those terms you often hear tossed around in music theory classes. A definition to memorize, but not something that actually makes it into your playing……
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The Relative Minor Formula in Every Standard
One of the keys to developing a more musical approach to navigating chord progressions is not only learning the definitions of chords – but understanding how they relate to each…
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Tom Harrell Plays There Will Never Be Another You
One of the best ways to learn a standard and find answers when you’re completely stuck is simple: check out the masters playing the same tunes you’re working on. Not…
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The Relative Minor Formula in Every Standard
One of the keys to developing a more musical approach to navigating chord progressions is not only learning the definitions of chords – but understanding how they relate to each…
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The Two Types of Chords You’ll Find in Any Piece of Music
Here’s something that you’ve probably realized by now on your musical journey…that jazz improvisation can get very complicated, very quickly. In the blink of an eye your enjoyable musical hobby…
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Are You Trying To Learn Jazz Improvisation in Reverse??
You learn scales. You faithfully practice triads and arpeggios in every key. You memorize chord progressions & learn tunes. And then you improvise… Sound familiar? This is the standard approach…
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10 Must-Know Jazz Chord Progressions
Getting to the next level as an improviser means moving beyond the basics of chords and scales. Specifically, it’s all about focusing on the harmonic relationships in the jazz repertoire…
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Jazz Harmony: Why You’re Overlooking This Crucial Skill
When I started learning how to improvise, the one thing I really wanted to figure out was how to create improvised lines like my musical heroes… Listening to players like…
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Mastering Chords in Jazz: The Flat VII7 Chord
Learning jazz chords can be a frustrating obstacle on your path to becoming a better improviser. But what a lot of players forget is that the process isn’t just about…
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Modal Jazz 101 – Tricks, Tips, & Approaches From Miles Davis
Always searching for a new sound to explore and share with the world, jazz musicians are constantly trying to evolve and push the music forward, reaching for something different and…
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The Definitive Guide to Phrygian & Sus Flat 9 Chords
After you’ve been improvising jazz for a while, most chords are pretty familiar. You’re used to major, minor, dominant, and half diminished…but just as you thought you were getting a…
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Jazz Scales: The Complete Guide for Improvisation
Jazz scales are one of the most talked-about topics in jazz improvisation, but also one of the most misunderstood. If you’ve studied jazz before, you’ve probably been told you need…
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Jazz Chords: The Complete Guide to Symbols, Sounds & Voicings
Jazz chords can seem overwhelming at first, but they’re much easier to understand when you have a clear foundation: intervals, triads, chord symbols, essential chord sounds, and practical voicings. In…
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Music Theory Basics: The Circle of Fifths
Music theory is packed with quite a few dense explanations of esoteric concepts that plague the performer, and while music theory can be incredibly helpful to performing musicians, it has…
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Coltrane Concepts to Dominate Half Diminished Chords
Half Diminished chords are one of the trickiest chord qualities for developing jazz musicians. Also known as Minor7b5 chords, their structure, sound, and very nature are tough to grasp for…
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Tune Up – 3 Legendary Solos
Tune Up is one of those classic up-tempo jazz standards that every player should work on. Composed by Eddie Vinson, It became super well known when legendary trumpeter player Miles…
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11 Modern Jazz Compositions That’ll Transform Your Playing
Beyond standards and bebop melodies lie what what we might call modern jazz tunes – the compositions of musical innovators who pushed the music in a new direction. And navigating…
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Jazz Harmony: Why You’re Overlooking This Crucial Skill
When I started learning how to improvise, the one thing I really wanted to figure out was how to create improvised lines like my musical heroes… Listening to players like…
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Jazz Chords: The Complete Guide to Symbols, Sounds & Voicings
Jazz chords can seem overwhelming at first, but they’re much easier to understand when you have a clear foundation: intervals, triads, chord symbols, essential chord sounds, and practical voicings. In…
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How to Learn a New Jazz Tune Every Day
Learning tunes goes hand in hand with being a jazz musician. But if you’ve ever tried to learn a tune by ear or attempted to memorize a list of jazz…
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The Art of Playing One Chord: A Lesson with Miles & Trane
There are a lot of skills you need in jazz improvisation…Developing great ears, a knowledge of tunes, instrumental technique, and a mastery of jazz language… But there’s one question that…
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Mastering Chords in Jazz: The Flat VII7 Chord
Learning jazz chords can be a frustrating obstacle on your path to becoming a better improviser. But what a lot of players forget is that the process isn’t just about…
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Well You Needn’t – How to Dominate This Jam Session Tune
If you’ve ever been to a jam session before, you’ve probably encountered the famous Thelonious Monk tune Well You Needn’t. Over the years, it’s become one of the most popular…
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6 Easy Ways To Improve Melodic Improvisation
You dream of becoming the type of player that can improvise with ease over any tune. A musician with an endless supply of creative ideas to play at a moment’s…
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Hot House – How to Unravel Complex Bebop Heads
Bebop “heads,” what jazz players sometimes call the melody of a tune, tend to be some of the trickiest and most technically demanding strings of notes you’re likely to encounter.…
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Master Maiden Voyage – Bobby Hutcherson’s Perfect Solo
Maiden Voyage is a classic jazz standard that all improvisers will encounter at some point in their musical journey. With only four chords, beginners tend to gravitate toward this Herbie…
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Modal Jazz 101 – Tricks, Tips, & Approaches From Miles Davis
Always searching for a new sound to explore and share with the world, jazz musicians are constantly trying to evolve and push the music forward, reaching for something different and…
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How to Learn a New Jazz Tune Every Day
Learning tunes goes hand in hand with being a jazz musician. But if you’ve ever tried to learn a tune by ear or attempted to memorize a list of jazz…
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Your Jazz Improvisation Audit: 36 Questions That Will Show You What You REALLY Know
It’s time to get down to business…The business of finding out if you’re on track to achieve your musical goals and develop into the musician you want to become. While…
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Jazz Scales: The Complete Guide for Improvisation
Jazz scales are one of the most talked-about topics in jazz improvisation, but also one of the most misunderstood. If you’ve studied jazz before, you’ve probably been told you need…
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How to Build Your Jazz Vocabulary Fast
When you’re first starting out on your journey learning how to play jazz, you’ll typically come across two different camps of how to go about things… One camp believes that…
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What To Practice: A Free Presentation on The 3 Essential Pieces of Practicing Jazz Improvisation
Nearly every day we get asked, “What should I practice?” And, this is not an easy question to answer. In fact, it’s pretty complicated. So, in an attempt to help…
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How The Chord-Scale System Has Failed You: 6 Steps to Freedom With Scales and Modes
The Chord-scale system has become the most established and widespread method for teaching jazz improvisation…And it’s no mystery why. So often, scales—more specifically the modes of the major and melodic…
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How to Beat the “I Don’t Know What to Play” Syndrome in Your Solos
You’re staring at a chord progression on a lead sheet. Thinking through the first few bars of a jazz standard. You’re getting ready to start your solo and carefully choosing…
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How to Practice in Your Head – Brain Training 101 For Jazz Musicians
After hours spent in the practice room are you still having trouble remembering the chord changes to a standard you endlessly practiced, or the details of a jazz line you…
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10 Diminished Patterns That Will Transform Your Next Jazz Solo…
What comes to mind when you hear the word diminished? A chord? A scale? Wait, is it whole-steps and half-steps…or the other way around? If you’re like most players, the…
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Master All the Things You Are – Part I: The A Section
All the Things You Are is one of the first tunes musicians learn when it comes to jazz improvisation. But unlike many players think, it’s not exactly an “easy tune”…
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Mulgrew Miller’s Secrets to All the Things You Are
All The Things You Are is a timeless jazz standard…Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra…these are just some of the legends that recorded it. But with its traveling tonal…
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Why This Simple Jazz Transcription Hack Will Change Your Playing
It’s just past one in the morning. I’m standing on the sidewalk in lower Manhattan as garbage trucks rumble by and panhandlers hustle for loose change. I’ve just stepped outside…
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The Art of Teaching and Being Taught
Acrobatics is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. The physical prowess needed to do even the most basic maneuvers is on par with that of the Incredible…
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Inside Mulgrew Miller’s Solo: You Stepped Out of a Dream
A great solo can teach us many things (on many levels) about the way we improvise – from simply finding the “right notes” that fit a progression, to the finer…
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Mastering Essential Chord Progressions: Major to Parallel Minor
When it comes to learning tunes, expanding your repertoire, and improving the way you improvise over jazz standards, most players are taking the wrong approach… You see, the secret to…
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Master All The Things You Are Part III: The Walkdown
All the Things You Are is one of the first tunes musicians learn when it comes to jazz improvisation. But unlike many players think, it’s not exactly an “easy tune” or…
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How Master Improvisers Actually Think About Tunes
As a musician, you often find yourself listening to the best improvisers you can. Searching for inspiration, guidance, and answers to the challenges you’re facing. Especially when it comes to…
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5 Secrets for Mastering the Altered Scale
The dominant chord is one of the most versatile chords in the jazz repertoire, and it’s your best bet for adding harmonic tension and melodic interest to your lines. The…
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Master All The Things You Are Part II: The Bridge
All the Things You Are is one of the first tunes musicians learn when it comes to jazz improvisation. But unlike many players think, it’s not exactly an “easy tune”…
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9 Incredible Jazz Piano Solos You Should Know
The piano is a cornerstone of this music, lending some of the finest composers, soloists, and forward thinking improvisers throughout history. And as a serious musician, you should be studying…
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9 Incredible Jazz Piano Solos You Should Know
The piano is a cornerstone of this music, lending some of the finest composers, soloists, and forward thinking improvisers throughout history. And as a serious musician, you should be studying…
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Bill Evans: 4 Tools for Creating Harmonic Motion
For any improviser learning jazz standards, one of the greatest challenges isn’t just learning the chords to a tune – it’s making music with them when you take a solo.…
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Herbie Hancock Plays You’re My Everything
As a listener, it’s thrilling to hear world-class musicians improvise flawless solos over crazy tempos & impossible progressions. But one of my favorite things, is listening to my musical heroes…
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Miles Davis Chromatic Tactics: 3 Key Phrases To Know
When you think of intricate and flowing chromatic lines, you probably think of Miles Davis. In particular, those amazing musical phrases he often played with his second great quintet in…
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Inside Mulgrew Miller’s Solo: You Stepped Out of a Dream
A great solo can teach us many things (on many levels) about the way we improvise – from simply finding the “right notes” that fit a progression, to the finer…
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Learn Doxy From Miles Davis: How Charts Mislead You
Doxy is one of those classic Sonny Rollins tunes that gradually made its way into the jazz standard repertoire. Originally recorded in 1954 and released on the album Miles Davis…
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Joe Henderson Plays Recorda Me
Recorda Me is one of Joe Henderson’s most famous compositions. Recorded on his epic album Page One from 1963, he actually composed the popular jazz standard when he was only…
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Master Maiden Voyage – Bobby Hutcherson’s Perfect Solo
Maiden Voyage is a classic jazz standard that all improvisers will encounter at some point in their musical journey. With only four chords, beginners tend to gravitate toward this Herbie…
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Chick Corea: 7 Essential Dominant Chord Techniques
Chick Corea is one of the true giants of this music. A name that’s synonymous with dizzying technique, stunning harmonies, and an unmistakeable creativity that is apparent on every one…
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6 Roy Hargrove Minor Exercises on What Is This Thing Called Love
When you start to transcribe and discover what your musical heroes are doing, you begin to open up a whole new understanding about how to improvise and approach chord changes.…
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5 Kenny Garrett Concepts on Night and Day
Learning a jazz standard or solo transcription can be a tricky process for any musician. But what many players forget is that you don’t have to tackle the entire piece…
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10 Tritone Substitution Tactics from Kenny Dorham
Tritone Substitution is one of those terms you often hear tossed around in music theory classes. A definition to memorize, but not something that actually makes it into your playing……
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Tom Harrell Plays There Will Never Be Another You
One of the best ways to learn a standard and find answers when you’re completely stuck is simple: check out the masters playing the same tunes you’re working on. Not…
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Jazz Trumpet Players You Should Know
Developing as an improviser means knowing the history of the important players and recordings that came before you – and a crucial part of this musical history centers around jazz…
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The Jazz Trumpet Solos Collection: 16 Transcriptions (PDF)
In the jazz lineage, there are certain solos on every instrument that stick out and withstand the test of time. Landmark moments of improvisation that serve as a guiding light…
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5 Bud Powell Tunes Every Improviser Should Know
Every musician dreams of creating solos full of flowing melodic lines. To play compelling ideas over fast tunes, ballads, complex chord progressions, and standard forms like the blues or rhythm…
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How To Play Like Michael Brecker For Mortals
Michael Brecker is one of the greatest saxophonists to arise after John Coltrane. Like Trane, he took the instrument places it had never gone before, adding new fingerings, effects, and…
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Coltrane Concepts to Dominate Half Diminished Chords
Half Diminished chords are one of the trickiest chord qualities for developing jazz musicians. Also known as Minor7b5 chords, their structure, sound, and very nature are tough to grasp for…
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Are You Trying To Learn Jazz Improvisation in Reverse??
You learn scales. You faithfully practice triads and arpeggios in every key. You memorize chord progressions & learn tunes. And then you improvise… Sound familiar? This is the standard approach…
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8 Awesome Blues Solos for Beginners to Transcribe
If you want to learn the language of jazz, then transcribing a blues solo should be at the top of your list! But if you’re just starting to transcribe jazz…
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Mastering Essential Chord Progressions: The I to IV Relationship
When it comes to improving as an improviser, there are only so many tunes you can memorize. Only so many chord symbols and progressions you can force into your brain……
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM![The Sonny Rollins II V Workbook: 8 Exercises from Pent-Up House [PDF]](https://www.jazzadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Sonny-Rollins-Workbook-768x484.jpg)
The Sonny Rollins II V Workbook: 8 Exercises from Pent-Up House [PDF]
Sonny Rollins is one of those rare musical masters that seems to have it all figured out when it comes to improvisation. And if you’re a musician that’s been searching…
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4 Sonny Rollins Tools to Tackle The V7 of V7 Chord Progression
I can still remember the day I discovered how amazing the ii V7 chord progression could be. After struggling for years, It was as if a locked door finally opened…
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Learn Doxy From Miles Davis: How Charts Mislead You
Doxy is one of those classic Sonny Rollins tunes that gradually made its way into the jazz standard repertoire. Originally recorded in 1954 and released on the album Miles Davis…
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How To Master The ii-V-I Progression: 25 Essential Lines You Need To Know
There are certain things that you need to do if you want to improve your musical skills…Setting aside time each day to practice. Listening to important recordings. Seeking out teachers to…
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Tune Up – 3 Legendary Solos
Tune Up is one of those classic up-tempo jazz standards that every player should work on. Composed by Eddie Vinson, It became super well known when legendary trumpeter player Miles…
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15 Jazz Improvisation Projects You Can Do at Home
As musicians, we often dream big and set lofty goals for where we want our playing to go. And the one place where we go to turn these dreams into…
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7 Musical Devices That Will Give Your Solos Irresistible Style
Open up a music theory book and you’ll likely find pages and pages of definitions. Terms like apogituras, retograde inversions, mordents, hemiolas, turns…Good information, but not exactly stuff that you’d…
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Want to Master Rhythm Changes? Here are Six Solos that You Should Know…
Here’s a question for you…Are you making the process of learning to play jazz standards harder than it has to be? …searching for answers in theory books, obsessing over scales, and…
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Master The Jazz Language
You know that you should be transcribing jazz solos. That you should be learning the language of Bird, Miles, Coltrane, and Monk. You’ve heard time and again that it’s the…
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How to Use Sequences Like Paul Desmond in 5 Simple Steps
Paul Desmond plays the alto saxophone unlike any other…sweet, melodic, and precise, always leading the listener through a clear story from one musical idea to the next – It’s as…
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5 Kenny Garrett Concepts on Night and Day
Learning a jazz standard or solo transcription can be a tricky process for any musician. But what many players forget is that you don’t have to tackle the entire piece…
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8 Easy Ways to Play Minor Chords Like Clifford Brown
Minor chords are found in every style of music, especially in the jazz repertoire. From popular jazz standards and the minor blues, to the ii-V-I progression and the minor vamps…
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The Powerful Rhythmic Principles of Charlie Parker
With his unique improvisational style and innovative approach, Charlie Parker not only revolutionized how to play alto saxophone, but how to play jazz as a whole. He had a concept…
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Mulgrew Miller’s Secrets to All the Things You Are
All The Things You Are is a timeless jazz standard…Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra…these are just some of the legends that recorded it. But with its traveling tonal…
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM![The Clifford Brown Workbook: 11 Exercises on Joy Spring [PDF]](https://www.jazzadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Clifford-Brown-Workbook-768x484.jpg)
The Clifford Brown Workbook: 11 Exercises on Joy Spring [PDF]
Clifford Brown is one of those rare musicians that always seems to play the perfect solo. Every phrase is expertly crafted, every note is musical, and each idea is delivered…
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Miles Davis: The Power of the Triad
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the musical masters that we look up to isn’t their ability to create incredibly fast and complex lines or even their vast library of…
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Miles Davis Chromatic Tactics: 3 Key Phrases To Know
When you think of intricate and flowing chromatic lines, you probably think of Miles Davis. In particular, those amazing musical phrases he often played with his second great quintet in…
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
Chick Corea: 7 Essential Dominant Chord Techniques
Chick Corea is one of the true giants of this music. A name that’s synonymous with dizzying technique, stunning harmonies, and an unmistakeable creativity that is apparent on every one…
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
Jazz Chords: The Complete Guide to Symbols, Sounds & Voicings
Jazz chords can seem overwhelming at first, but they’re much easier to understand when you have a clear foundation: intervals, triads, chord symbols, essential chord sounds, and practical voicings. In…
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
Mastering Chords in Jazz: The Flat VII7 Chord
Learning jazz chords can be a frustrating obstacle on your path to becoming a better improviser. But what a lot of players forget is that the process isn’t just about…
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
5 Secrets for Mastering the Altered Scale
The dominant chord is one of the most versatile chords in the jazz repertoire, and it’s your best bet for adding harmonic tension and melodic interest to your lines. The…
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
Mastering Essential Chord Progressions: The I to IV Relationship
When it comes to improving as an improviser, there are only so many tunes you can memorize. Only so many chord symbols and progressions you can force into your brain……
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
Learn the Secrets Behind This Crazy Freddie Hubbard Line
There is a common saying in learning the art of jazz improvisation… “If you want to sound like your favorite player, don’t just copy them, copy their musical heroes.” The…
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How to Beat the “I Don’t Know What to Play” Syndrome in Your Solos
You’re staring at a chord progression on a lead sheet. Thinking through the first few bars of a jazz standard. You’re getting ready to start your solo and carefully choosing…
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4 Sonny Rollins Tools to Tackle The V7 of V7 Chord Progression
I can still remember the day I discovered how amazing the ii V7 chord progression could be. After struggling for years, It was as if a locked door finally opened…
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6 Surprisingly Modern Solo Techniques from Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong is called many things: a musical pioneer, the father of American music, the first great soloist, and the catalyst for countless creative musicians around the world… But for…
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The Most Tricky Chord in Rhythm Changes: The Flat VII7 Chord
In every tune, there’s always a measure or two that’s tricker than the rest of it, and Rhythm Changes is no different. Of course, if you’re unfamiliar with the form,…
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Demystifying Dominant 7 Chord Alterations: A Visual Guide
Many chords are pretty easy to understand. But dominant seventh chords with an assortment of alterations…they’re a whole different animal! What’s with all this b9, #9, b13, #11, b5 stuff!…
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How to Play V7 to I like a Pro: 5 Techniques from the Masters
One thing that gets lost in the day to day mentality of practicing jazz improvisation is this simple fact – you don’t have to solve EVERY musical problem each time…
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Bird Blues: A Player’s Guide
Charlie Parker’s iconic take on the Blues form, commonly referred to as the “Bird Blues,” is a staple of the modern jazz repertoire and a rite of passage for every…
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10 Charlie Parker Blues Heads Everyone Should Know
We all know about Charlie Parker the revolutionary soloist, but we often overlook Charlie Parker “the composer.” Bird wrote a number of songs over popular song forms that quickly became…
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Hot House – How to Unravel Complex Bebop Heads
Bebop “heads,” what jazz players sometimes call the melody of a tune, tend to be some of the trickiest and most technically demanding strings of notes you’re likely to encounter.…
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A Night in Tunisia: Navigating the Interlude & Solo Break
The interlude and solo break of A Night in Tunisia is a scary moment. The build up. The intensity. All eyes are on you. The band drops out, and somehow…
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The Sonny Stitt Playbook – His 2 Exercises to Master Minor
What if you had Sonny Stitt’s practice journal in your hands right now? All his genius lines and exercises written out. Everything, literally everything, complete with diagrams and descriptions of…
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10 Hidden Gems from Charlie Parker on the Blues
When it comes to the blues, few voices sing as clearly, or as creatively, as Charlie Parker’s. While Bird is often celebrated for his iconic solos and well-known standards, there’s…
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5 Roy Hargrove Phrases to Master Yardbird Suite
One thing that often gets lost in the music theory and technical exercises of our daily practice is the fact that improvisation at it’s core, is musical storytelling… Think about…
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5 Bud Powell Tunes Every Improviser Should Know
Every musician dreams of creating solos full of flowing melodic lines. To play compelling ideas over fast tunes, ballads, complex chord progressions, and standard forms like the blues or rhythm…
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The Ultimate Guide to Bebop Tunes: 30 Essential Songs
Bebop, or the innovative musical revolution of the 1940’s led by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, is one of the pillars of learning to improvise as a modern musician. …and…
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How to Build Your Jazz Vocabulary Fast
When you’re first starting out on your journey learning how to play jazz, you’ll typically come across two different camps of how to go about things… One camp believes that…
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The Sonny Rollins II V Workbook: 8 Exercises from Pent-Up House [PDF]
Sonny Rollins is one of those rare musical masters that seems to have it all figured out when it comes to improvisation. And if you’re a musician that’s been searching…
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The Inverted Arpeggio Trick
Bebop is by no means easy, but if you know specific bebop tricks that the great players use, you’ll set yourself up for success. In today’s video, you’ll learn one…
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8 Easy Ways to Play Minor Chords Like Clifford Brown
Minor chords are found in every style of music, especially in the jazz repertoire. From popular jazz standards and the minor blues, to the ii-V-I progression and the minor vamps…
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Everything You Don’t Know About Minor Harmony in Jazz
Minor harmony is everywhere in jazz. Whether you’re playing a tune in a minor key or a jazz standard that shifts to the relative minor for a section, you need…
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Chord Function: Music Theory Fundamentals You Need To Know
Chord function is a confusing topic that is intricately tied to other just as confusing topics like voice leading, harmonic tension and resolution, intervallic content, chord voicings, chord families and…
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Master The Minor Blues: A Deep Dive into John Coltrane’s Mr. P.C.
The Blues is an essential form to master for every jazz musician, but just like most things in jazz, there are dozens of variations to explore. One of the most…
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The Two Minor Tactic: More Tools for Rhythm Changes
After building your fundamentals on Rhythm Changes, you’ll open up a ton of new ways to think about these chords, but the truth is you never stop acquiring tools for…
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The Relative Minor Formula in Every Standard
One of the keys to developing a more musical approach to navigating chord progressions is not only learning the definitions of chords – but understanding how they relate to each…
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6 Roy Hargrove Minor Exercises on What Is This Thing Called Love
When you start to transcribe and discover what your musical heroes are doing, you begin to open up a whole new understanding about how to improvise and approach chord changes.…
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How to Beat the “I Don’t Know What to Play” Syndrome in Your Solos
You’re staring at a chord progression on a lead sheet. Thinking through the first few bars of a jazz standard. You’re getting ready to start your solo and carefully choosing…
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12 Dexter Gordon Lines on Blue Bossa You’d Never Think Of
Blue Bossa is often referred to as a beginner jazz tune, but as you quickly find out as you start your journey into jazz, even these so-called “beginner” tunes are…
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Mastering Essential Chord Progressions: Major to Parallel Minor
When it comes to learning tunes, expanding your repertoire, and improving the way you improvise over jazz standards, most players are taking the wrong approach… You see, the secret to…
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The Sonny Stitt Playbook – His 2 Exercises to Master Minor
What if you had Sonny Stitt’s practice journal in your hands right now? All his genius lines and exercises written out. Everything, literally everything, complete with diagrams and descriptions of…
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Jazz Chords: The Complete Guide to Symbols, Sounds & Voicings
Jazz chords can seem overwhelming at first, but they’re much easier to understand when you have a clear foundation: intervals, triads, chord symbols, essential chord sounds, and practical voicings. In…
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