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 solos, the task might seem daunting or way over your head. In fact many beginners who want to play jazz completely shy away from transcribing ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 more! Today we’ll unravel the slew of questions that arise from exploring chord function. Questions like, how do you build chords within a key? Why ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
The Confusion Around Minor Chords FINALLY Explained
Remember the first time you played a modal tune like Impressions and how fun it was to wail over a minor chord? Maybe you’ve had this experience, or maybe it’s in your near future, but one thing is for sure: it’s fun just to let loose on a minor chord vamp and solo for hours! ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 minor scales—get passed-off as the most important aspect of learning to improvise. It’s as if by magic, you learn a couple scales and their modes, and ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 handle on things, a chord comes out of nowhere that makes you go “What is that?!?!” And not only do you have to figure out what ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 to learn dozens of scales to solo effectively. In reality, you only need a small number of essential jazz scales and a clear understanding of ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 improving with standards doesn’t lie in making long lists, spending hours memorizing chord progressions, and then trying your best to conjure up melodic lines. …because ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
15 Mistakes Beginner Jazz Improvisers Make
Every single person who wants to play jazz starts out as a beginner. There’s no way around it!! And over the first couple years of learning how to improvise, only a small handful of beginners develop quickly toward the player they want to become…most actually have difficulty improving and never really get out of the ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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 it’s something that every serious player should spend some time studying. Chances are you’ve heard of Bird & Diz and the contribution of players like ...
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 this guide, you’ll learn how jazz chords are built, how to recognize their sound, how to understand their symbols, and how the most important chord ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
The Secrets Behind Herbie Hancock’s One Finger Snap Solo
Herbie Hancock is one of the most renowned and creative musicians in the world – and for good reason! His career has bridged the gap from the roots of this music, performing with masters like Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter, to exploring the possibilities of improvisation with his own groups…. And for any musician looking ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM
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” or something that only beginners should play… The ability to create a musical solo on this tune requires a surprisingly deep understanding of harmony and ...
FREE PRO PRO & PREMIUM