A Simple Way To Hear Difficult Intervals: The 2-step method

    Premium Only

    Hearing larger intervals is difficult for most people. After a couple weeks of practicing your intervals, half-steps, whole steps, major and minor thirds, perfect fourths, perfect fifths, and major sixths fall into place, but the...Read More

    Hearing larger intervals is difficult for most people. After a couple weeks of practicing your intervals, half-steps, whole steps, major and minor thirds, perfect fourths, perfect fifths, and major sixths...Read More

    7 Harmonic Breakthroughs that Completely Changed My Playing

    Every so often you'll make a musical discovery that will drastically change the way you approach improvisation. One day you're struggling over the same tunes, growing more and more frustrated with your own predictable patterns...Read More

    Every so often you'll make a musical discovery that will drastically change the way you approach improvisation. One day you're struggling over the same tunes, growing more and more frustrated...Read More

    Dealing With Frustration In Practicing Jazz Improvisation

    When you're frustrated with your playing it's difficult to excel at all. It's difficult to make a coherent musical statement, let alone even listen to yourself. These bouts happen to everyone. The key is to...Read More

    When you're frustrated with your playing it's difficult to excel at all. It's difficult to make a coherent musical statement, let alone even listen to yourself. These bouts happen to...Read More

    Turning Jazz Rules into Tools of Expression

    In jazz education, one thing that you encounter right off the bat are rules. There seem to be rules for every aspect of the music: Which scales you're allowed to use over certain chords, which...Read More

    In jazz education, one thing that you encounter right off the bat are rules. There seem to be rules for every aspect of the music: Which scales you're allowed to...Read More

    How To Effectively Use Enclosure

    IWe all have lines we use frequently. Some lines we use so much, that we can't stand them, criticizing ourselves for playing them over and over, thinking we're being unoriginal and uncreative... It's ok. Even...Read More

    IWe all have lines we use frequently. Some lines we use so much, that we can't stand them, criticizing ourselves for playing them over and over, thinking we're being unoriginal...Read More

    The Path to Playing What You’re Hearing

    Play what you're hearing in your head! These are the instructions that numerous books, videos, and educators tell us as we struggle to figure out how to play over chord progressions. The only problem in...Read More

    Play what you're hearing in your head! These are the instructions that numerous books, videos, and educators tell us as we struggle to figure out how to play over chord...Read More

    Why You’re Bored With Standards and What to Do About it

    Why is it so difficult to learn jazz standards even when we have access to so much information about each and every one? We can bring up recordings with a few clicks of mouse via...Read More

    Why is it so difficult to learn jazz standards even when we have access to so much information about each and every one? We can bring up recordings with a...Read More

    Getting to the Next Level: 5 Ways to Speed Up Your Musical Progress

    Learning to improvise is a path with many steps leading to many different levels. Contrary to the belief held by some that improvising is a talent, or even a skill allowed to only a special...Read More

    Learning to improvise is a path with many steps leading to many different levels. Contrary to the belief held by some that improvising is a talent, or even a skill...Read More

    Thoughts On Learning Tunes

    We practice long tones. We work on two-five progressions until our fingers bleed. We work on new ideas and concepts. The work is mostly enjoyable, sometimes frustrating, and hopefully productive... But what is all this...Read More

    We practice long tones. We work on two-five progressions until our fingers bleed. We work on new ideas and concepts. The work is mostly enjoyable, sometimes frustrating, and hopefully productive... ...Read More

    Why You Should Share Your Musical Knowledge

    There exists a hidden trap on the path of learning improvisation. One that you can fall into without even realizing it. In music school practice rooms, jam sessions, and even in the performance hall, the...Read More

    There exists a hidden trap on the path of learning improvisation. One that you can fall into without even realizing it. In music school practice rooms, jam sessions, and even...Read More

    6 More Mistakes You’re Making In Learning to Improvise

    In 6 Disastrous Mistakes You're Making In Learning To Improvise, we detailed some pitfalls that cause people to waste tons of time and cause years of frustration. Let's get right into it...here are six more...Read More

    In 6 Disastrous Mistakes You're Making In Learning To Improvise, we detailed some pitfalls that cause people to waste tons of time and cause years of frustration. Let's get right...Read More

    Don’t Sound Like A Jazz Robot: 5 Steps To Sound More Natural

    Ever feel like you sound mechanical, predictable, and boring, like a robot? Nobody wants to sound like a robot. We're human. We have thoughts, ideas, emotions...and we want to express these things in our music... ...Read More

    Ever feel like you sound mechanical, predictable, and boring, like a robot? Nobody wants to sound like a robot. We're human. We have thoughts, ideas, emotions...and we want to express...Read More

    Learn to Hear More Music with Selective Listening

    Hey, did you just hear that? Look, did you just see that? Wait, can you feel that? What's that smell? Wait...what?! On a daily basis our senses are bombarded with information. Sights, sounds, smells, and...Read More

    Hey, did you just hear that? Look, did you just see that? Wait, can you feel that? What's that smell? Wait...what?! On a daily basis our senses are bombarded with...Read More

    Dealing With Non-standard Progressions

    Premium Only

    Recently we received a question about non-standard progressions, specifically the type of progressions you see in Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson tunes... These types of tunes are notoriously difficult, as they don't seem to use...Read More

    Recently we received a question about non-standard progressions, specifically the type of progressions you see in Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson tunes... These types of tunes are notoriously difficult, as...Read More

    Time Management for the Improviser

    One of the most frequently asked questions that we get concerns finding time to practice or improving with a limited amount of practice time. "What should I do if I don't have enough time to...Read More

    One of the most frequently asked questions that we get concerns finding time to practice or improving with a limited amount of practice time. "What should I do if I...Read More

    Jazz Is A Language….Or Is It?

    The idea that jazz is a language can be quite confusing and ambiguous. We often make this statement, as do many teachers and professionals, but it takes time to understand what this phrase actually means...Read More

    The idea that jazz is a language can be quite confusing and ambiguous. We often make this statement, as do many teachers and professionals, but it takes time to understand...Read More