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. And for many of us, that x-factor is imitation… You see, relying solely on a theory approach can make the process of improvising and playing ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 the mid to late 1960s… This clip of “Agitation” is a perfect example of this magic with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, and Ron ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
Unlock Any Jazz Line With These 5 Simple Steps
In your daily search for musical information you’ve probably come across a “lick of the day,” various short musical excerpts from world famous jazz solos that are neatly written out… These brief phrases from the likes of Charlie Parker to Roy Hargrove seem to hold the musical secrets you’ve been seeking out for years – ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
A Pentatonic Approach to Playing Outside on the Blues
As an improviser, the blues is central to everything that you do…at once a sound, a form, an expressiveness, and a medium through which you can tell your musical story. And it’s something that you’ll be dealing with as long as you play an instrument. You see, the best players not only understand this song ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 you need a lot of music theory, particularly scales and modes, along with an understanding of how modes are applied to chords. Many refer to ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 of my personal favorite bebop tricks and I’ll show you exactly how to practice it with a series of clear exercises that you can download. ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
12 Dexter Gordon Lines on Blue Bossa You’d Never Think Of
The jazz standard 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 not easy to sound great on. Playing beautiful lines through the changes that connect and flow from one chord to the next ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
How to Stop Playing the Same Ideas in Every Solo
Do you ever get the sneaking suspicion that you’re playing the same solo over and over again? As if you’re traveling down a familiar well-worn path in every single tune, regardless of the key, the tempo, or even the chord progression… Minor chords get your favorite minor lines, major chords get major scales, ii-V’s get ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 what he practiced…wouldn’t that be nice? Well, unfortunately, unless he’s your relative, chances are this will never be the case. You’ll never have those practice ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
How to Decode Greatness – The Process to Solve Any Musical Problem
Every single musician to ever embark on learning to improvise jazz runs into countless musical problems. That’s just the way it is. One problem after another, figuring out different ways to approach a progression in hopes of clarifying their musical ideas and better communicating them to the listener. So if you want to play jazz, ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 reality is the practice room… This is your precious time to focus on the areas of your playing that have been ignored, that need improvement, ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
A Lesson With Chet Baker: But Not For Me
What if there were a jazz musician that didn’t rely on scales, licks, or patterns, but instead sought only to play what they’d sing? What would this musician sound like? What kind of playing techniques would they use and how would they approach taking a solo? This kind of musician is what I hear when ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM