Inspiration for improvisers
Forrest 
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Chords, Jazz Musicians, Playing Techniques
It’s late. I’m exhausted. Been out all night at the jazz clubs and I just want to get home. I hop in the first taxi I see and get on my way. I’m listening to the radio and I hear something that sounds familiar. Trane? I know it’s him. His sound is unmistakable. But what …
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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! …
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Jazz Musicians, Jazz Standards
Confirmation is one of those tunes that gives most people a difficult time. But somehow Charlie Parker had no problem playing the most beautiful lines over it time and time again. His lines flow naturally and effortlessly as if he’s composing a perfect solo in real-time… In fact, I remember Eric Alexander telling us students …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Standards
Some tunes seem to make absolutely no sense, like the chords changes are some random crazy collection of complex sounds…But with a little know-how, using the same tactics we showed you in our recent lesson on learning tunes quickly, even the most difficult tunes can be deciphered in just a few minutes. Today’s lesson comes …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Standards, Premium Only
What if I told you there’s a simple little trick to learn chord changes to a tune in a just a few minutes? That the countless hours you’ve spent reading tunes out of the Real Book can finally come to a close and you can begin to have chord changes live in your head, where …
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Chords, Composition, Jazz Education, Scales
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 …
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Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips
Let’s be real. New Year’s Resolutions don’t work. Every year, January 1st comes and people act as if they’re going to entirely reinvent themselves, that this is the year. The year that’s different than all other years. The year of making things happen and achieving goals. But just after a few weeks, the smoke from …
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Believe me. I know how frustrating jazz improvisation can be. There have been many periods where I’ve wanted to quit for good. Never play again. Times when I’ve seriously considered putting my horn on Ebay, no reserve, shipping it off to an international buyer, somewhere far far away, and hanging it up for good… But …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives
Let’s be completely honest…My amazing teachers did tell me many of the things that I’m about to tell you…I just didn’t listen! Why didn’t I listen? I don’t know. Immaturity. Stubbornness. The belief that there had to be something else. Something more important. Something more complex. Something better, that mattered more… But these 8 pieces …
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Playing Techniques, Premium Only, Rhythm
It’s the subtleties of articulation that make melodies come alive. But, being so subtle, articulation is one of those concepts that’s difficult to grasp, or for that matter, even teach. And it’s personal. Nearly every player has their own distinct method of articulating, which yields a different result. With all this ambiguity, how can we …
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How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Musicians
As he stood in the hallway, the students gathered round. You could see the crowd growing, one-by-one as the people walking by heard what was happening. Harold, animated and speaking with vibrant energy, was sharing his experiences with a group of lucky students that happened to catch him in-between classes. While I was at music …
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Jazz Language, Jazz Musicians, Jazz Standards, Premium Only, Transcribing
Kenny Garrett is an incredible musician. He’s arguably had one of the largest impacts on alto saxophone since Charlie Parker. In fact, when he started to gain popularity, most every alto player in the world had to rethink their concept. All of a sudden, copying Charlie Parker didn’t seem that cool anymore. But the thing …