"What To Practice"

    7 Musical Devices That Will Give Your Solos Irresistible Style

    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

    A Lesson With Bill Evans: 14 Techniques to Master the Minor ii V Progression

    What do you play over a minor ii V? Minor ii Vs are notoriously tricky. As compared to their brother, the ii V in major, the ii V in minor adds quite a few more...Read More

    What do you play over a minor ii V? Minor ii Vs are notoriously tricky. As compared to their brother, the ii V in major, the ii V in minor...Read More

    The Definitive Guide to Phrygian & Sus Flat 9 Chords

    Premium Only

    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...Read More

    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...Read More

    How to Play the Blues Like a Pro: A Lesson with Wynton Kelly

    Every serious improviser has to deal with the blues. From the players just starting out in school, to the musicians at local jam sessions, to the biggest names performing on international stages. Because the blues...Read More

    Every serious improviser has to deal with the blues. From the players just starting out in school, to the musicians at local jam sessions, to the biggest names performing on...Read More

    How to Steal like a Pro: 3 Incredibly Useful Tactics for Better Jazz Solos

    Your mother probably taught you not to steal…That taking something that wasn’t yours was wrong or that pocketing an item from the shelves of a store could land you into a world of trouble. But what...Read More

    Your mother probably taught you not to steal…That taking something that wasn’t yours was wrong or that pocketing an item from the shelves of a store could land you into a...Read More

    5 mistakes you’re making with major chords you have to fix now

    Premium Only

    Major chords are the easiest type of chord, right? We learn our major scales on Day #1 and from then on, soloing over a major chord is a piece of cake…or so we thought. One...Read More

    Major chords are the easiest type of chord, right? We learn our major scales on Day #1 and from then on, soloing over a major chord is a piece of...Read More

    Breaking Down the Jazz Repertoire: “It Could Happen To You”

    You've got a list of tunes that you're excited to learn. Song titles scribbled on a piece of paper, lead sheets saved on your phone, and videos of your favorite players killing the changes. However,...Read More

    You've got a list of tunes that you're excited to learn. Song titles scribbled on a piece of paper, lead sheets saved on your phone, and videos of your favorite...Read More

    What Most Players Are Missing When They Transcribe Solos…

    The typical jazz transcription process usually goes something like this...you start with a solo, you listen to the recording a few times, maybe even slowing it down a bit, then you figure out the notes...Read More

    The typical jazz transcription process usually goes something like this...you start with a solo, you listen to the recording a few times, maybe even slowing it down a bit, then...Read More

    The Crucial Step For Mastering Any Tune You Play

    One of the most frustrating things about learning to improvise is the expectation that you can simply jump in and start creating a great solo right away... The belief that you can learn a single...Read More

    One of the most frustrating things about learning to improvise is the expectation that you can simply jump in and start creating a great solo right away... The belief that...Read More

    The Clifford Brown Workbook: 11 Exercises on Joy Spring [PDF]

    Premium Only

    Clifford Brown is one of those rare musicians that always seems to play the perfect solo. Every phrase is expertly crafted, every note is musical, and each idea is delivered with impeccable sound ... If...Read More

    Clifford Brown is one of those rare musicians that always seems to play the perfect solo. Every phrase is expertly crafted, every note is musical, and each idea is delivered...Read More

    Paul Desmond’s Secrets to Take The A Train

    Take The A Train is one of the most classic jazz standards you’ll ever come across. Composed by Billy Strayhorn, the tune quickly became the featured tune of The Duke Ellington Orchestra after his son...Read More

    Take The A Train is one of the most classic jazz standards you’ll ever come across. Composed by Billy Strayhorn, the tune quickly became the featured tune of The Duke...Read More

    Master The Minor Blues: A Deep Dive into John Coltrane’s Mr. P.C.

    Premium Only

    The Blues is an essential form to master for every jazz musician, but just like most things in jazz, there are dozens of variations to explore. One of the most exciting variations and one that’s...Read More

    The Blues is an essential form to master for every jazz musician, but just like most things in jazz, there are dozens of variations to explore. One of the most...Read More

    Jazz Improvisation is Hard…and Why That’s a Good Thing!

    Think about this for a moment. Your favorite musicians. Michael Brecker. Freddie Hubbard. Chick Corea. Sonny Rollins. Each and every one of them started at the bottom. Every single one of them began without any...Read More

    Think about this for a moment. Your favorite musicians. Michael Brecker. Freddie Hubbard. Chick Corea. Sonny Rollins. Each and every one of them started at the bottom. Every single one...Read More

    Why You Should Be Hearing Music in Your Mind

    I have a vivid memory of the first time I tried to play in an early jazz group. I was in school and was asked to play the trumpet part in an ensemble that met...Read More

    I have a vivid memory of the first time I tried to play in an early jazz group. I was in school and was asked to play the trumpet part...Read More

    Do You Know Your Four Triads?

    In the recent article Hearing in Color, Forrest discussed the technique of how to develop hearing individual chord tones in the context of triads and 7th chords. Just as the individual chord tones in a...Read More

    In the recent article Hearing in Color, Forrest discussed the technique of how to develop hearing individual chord tones in the context of triads and 7th chords. Just as the...Read More

    Know the Rules then Break the Rules

    You have to know the rules before you can break them. You’ve probably heard this well-intentioned phrase before. It’s as common and overused as "Practice makes perfect" or any of the countless other sayings that...Read More

    You have to know the rules before you can break them. You’ve probably heard this well-intentioned phrase before. It’s as common and overused as "Practice makes perfect" or any of...Read More