Practice Scales For Speed

How To Practice Scales For Speed

By

Forrest

Jazz Advice and Tips, Scales

How to practice scales for speed is something every musician wants to know. What scale exercises can you practice to quickly attain a high level of speed and accuracy? Are there certain keys you should start with, or specific approaches you should try? Today we’re going to teach you some valuable tactics to practice all …

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what to think about while improvising jazz

What to Think While Improvising

By

Forrest

Chords, Perspectives, Playing Techniques

A reader recently wrote us asking about what we think about while we improvise. He writes: “I’m a tenor saxophonist and still pretty new to the whole improvising scene. I was wondering what musicians “think” in their minds while improvising. Are you consciously focused on the scales and chord structures? Or do you just not …

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The Altered Scale Jazz

Keys to the Altered Scale

By

Forrest

Chords, Music Theory, Playing Techniques, Scales

The Altered Scale, also known as the Super Locrian scale, allows access to the most beautiful tensions of a dominant chord in a flash. But using this scale effectively is not easy. In this lesson, we’ve assembled the keys to utilizing the Altered Scale to its full potential. We’re going to get into all of …

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4 Ways to Use the Melodic Minor Scale

By

Eric

Chords, Composition, Music Theory

The melodic minor scale is a scale that every musician should be familiar with and eventually master. But what many players don’t realize is that this scale encompasses much more than 8 notes to drill in the practice room… Aside from a minor scale variation to memorize, the melodic minor scale presents a number of …

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half diminished chord techniques

How to Not Suck at Half-Diminished Chords

By

Forrest

Chords, Jazz Advice and Tips

For most people, half diminished chords remain a mystery. Also known as minor 7b5 chords, they seem to fall by the wayside, never getting as much attention as major, dominant, or minor chords… The result: nearly everyone sucks at them Think about it. Are you as comfortable on Bb half diminished as Bb major? if …

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