You want to play exciting solos. Ones that will make the audience sit on the edge of their seats, that'll make you stand out from every other musician in the room. But when you improvise...Read More
You want to play exciting solos. Ones that will make the audience sit on the edge of their seats, that'll make you stand out from every other musician in the...Read More
Open up a music theory book and you’ll likely find pages and pages of definitions. Terms like apogituras, retograde inversions, mordents, hemiolas, turns...Good information, but not exactly stuff that you'd want to put into your...Read More
Open up a music theory book and you’ll likely find pages and pages of definitions. Terms like apogituras, retograde inversions, mordents, hemiolas, turns...Good information, but not exactly stuff that you'd...Read More
In case you were starting to mistake jazz musicians for super-humans...Or highly talented individuals that know thousands of tunes, have perfect pitch, and transcribe solos in mere minutes, I thought I’d write a post to...Read More
In case you were starting to mistake jazz musicians for super-humans...Or highly talented individuals that know thousands of tunes, have perfect pitch, and transcribe solos in mere minutes, I thought...Read More
Nearly every day we get asked, "What should I practice?" And, this is not an easy question to answer. In fact, it's pretty complicated. So, in an attempt to help everyone who has always wondered...Read More
Nearly every day we get asked, "What should I practice?" And, this is not an easy question to answer. In fact, it's pretty complicated. So, in an attempt to help...Read More
Iused to frequent the Village Vanguard to go see my teacher Rich Perry perform all the time. As you gaze upon the walls of the Vanguard, you peer into the past...jazz legends, the inventors, live...Read More
Iused to frequent the Village Vanguard to go see my teacher Rich Perry perform all the time. As you gaze upon the walls of the Vanguard, you peer into the...Read More
There are certain composers in the jazz tradition...ones that have such a uniquely personal style that their compositions seem to take on a life of their own, becoming part of the jazz pantheon long after...Read More
There are certain composers in the jazz tradition...ones that have such a uniquely personal style that their compositions seem to take on a life of their own, becoming part of...Read More
Scales, Chords, Progressions, and Tunes... These are the words we all use to define and think about music. It's how we make sense of the songs we hear, how we talk about the solos we...Read More
Scales, Chords, Progressions, and Tunes... These are the words we all use to define and think about music. It's how we make sense of the songs we hear, how we...Read More
It's just past one in the morning. I'm standing on the sidewalk in lower Manhattan as garbage trucks rumble by and panhandlers hustle for loose change. I've just stepped outside of Smalls, the last note...Read More
It's just past one in the morning. I'm standing on the sidewalk in lower Manhattan as garbage trucks rumble by and panhandlers hustle for loose change. I've just stepped outside...Read More
Louis Armstrong is called many things: a musical pioneer, the father of American music, the first great soloist, and the catalyst for countless creative musicians around the world... But for many musicians today, his music...Read More
Louis Armstrong is called many things: a musical pioneer, the father of American music, the first great soloist, and the catalyst for countless creative musicians around the world... But for...Read More
Every musician knows the feeling...You've picked out a tune to learn in the practice room. You've figured out the melody and memorized the chord progression. And you're ready to start improvising your solo. Then it...Read More
Every musician knows the feeling...You've picked out a tune to learn in the practice room. You've figured out the melody and memorized the chord progression. And you're ready to start...Read More
On this site, we often talk about the specifics of learning improvisation: ear training, transcribing, chord progressions, language... But what about the big picture? How do you accomplish what you want to as a musician? ...Read More
On this site, we often talk about the specifics of learning improvisation: ear training, transcribing, chord progressions, language... But what about the big picture? How do you accomplish what you...Read More
A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention - Herbert Simon, Nobel Laureate. Let's be honest, we're pretty lucky as jazz musicians in this day and age. As a musician interested in jazz today,...Read More
A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention - Herbert Simon, Nobel Laureate. Let's be honest, we're pretty lucky as jazz musicians in this day and age. As a...Read More
Here's a collection of some of the best jazz improvisation educational video clips I've found. They include: Pat Martino, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Hal Galper, Joshua Redman, Bill Evans, John Scofield, Chris Potter,...Read More
Here's a collection of some of the best jazz improvisation educational video clips I've found. They include: Pat Martino, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Hal Galper, Joshua Redman, Bill...Read More
There are countless tips for jazz improvisation that you'll want to remember, but these 10 are essential! 1.) Think quality over quantity Often we are in a hurry to 'catch up.' Wherever you are...Read More
There are countless tips for jazz improvisation that you'll want to remember, but these 10 are essential! 1.) Think quality over quantity Often we are in a hurry to...Read More
Areader recently sent in this question: "I was wondering if you could explain to me how to interpret slash chords for soloing. It seems like different sources have conflicting information. Also, what would I do...Read More
Areader recently sent in this question: "I was wondering if you could explain to me how to interpret slash chords for soloing. It seems like different sources have conflicting information....Read More
We often get a ton of great questions from our readers about what to practice. These inquiries range from players that are stuck in a daily musical rut to aspiring improvisers that simply don’t know...Read More
We often get a ton of great questions from our readers about what to practice. These inquiries range from players that are stuck in a daily musical rut to aspiring...Read More