playing transcribed solos backward

Playing Transcribed Solos Backward

By

Forrest

Transcribing

Lately I’ve realized that to get to specific parts of a solo that I’ve transcribed to memory, I’m quite dependent on the material that comes before them. In other words, I’ve learned the solo from start to finish, the way it was originally played, and therefore, have difficulty jumping around to different sections at will… …

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life advice from ibd

A Word From Investor’s Business Daily

By

Forrest

Inspiration, Jazz Advice and Tips

When I was younger, my father constantly cut out articles from Investor’s Business Daily that he found interesting or inspiring, and casually placed them throughout the house where I would stumble upon them. Not wanting to take parental advice, just like any other kid, most of these articles ended up in the circular file cabinet, …

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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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playing longer lines in your jazz solos

Playing Longer Lines in Your Solos

By

Eric

Playing Techniques

At a certain point in your development as an improviser it becomes necessary to evolve beyond just playing “right notes” and using your favorite licks and move onto playing longer coherent musical phrases that develop over the length of your solo. This can be an especially frustrating stumbling block to overcome in that it takes …

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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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master your intervals in ear training

Master Your Intervals in 28 Days

By

Forrest

Ear Training, Playing Techniques

Being able to quickly hear, sing, and accurately identify intervals is essential to developing your improvisational ear. In this article, we’ve put together a plan for you to master your intervals in 28 days… For beginners, this will give you a much needed foundation. And for more advanced players, it will give you a chance …

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Kenny Dorham Jazz Trumpet

Kenny Dorham. Not Just Another Trumpet Player

By

Eric

Jazz Musicians

Kenny Dorham was one of the first trumpet players that I checked out when I was starting to listen to jazz and after years of studying the music he is still one of my favorite trumpet players. K.D. was a prominent figure throughout the stylistic changes of the music from bebop to the modern jazz …

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