Diminished post imgs (7)

Master The Jazz Language (Premium)

By

Eric

Jazz Language, Premium Only, Transcribing

You know that you should be transcribing jazz solos. That you should be learning the language of Bird, Miles, Coltrane, and Monk. You’ve heard time and again that it’s the unwritten “secret” to becoming a better improviser… The only problem is that transcribing is also frustrating, time-consuming, and with hundreds of solos to choose from, …

Read more

overcoming obstacles in jazz transcription

Overcoming Obstacles in Transcription

By

Eric

Transcribing

Whether it’s figuring out difficult double-time passages, navigating advanced technical lines, or even finding the motivation to do it everyday, transcribing can be difficult. Transcribing, while essential to learning to play the jazz language, is often one of the most demanding tasks to complete on a regular basis for improvisers. Two readers recently asked questions …

Read more

Master the Transcription Process: A Step-by-Step Guide to Learning from the Pros (Premium)

By

Eric

Jazz Advice and Tips, Premium Only, Transcribing

Over the years I’ve attended dozens of masterclasses. Poured through hundreds of interviews with master musicians, and took lessons with the best players I could find. However, after a few years ONE thing kept surprising me – there was a disconnect between what these great players said and what they actually did… In fact, some …

Read more

8 jazz improvisation improvement projects

8 Improvisation Improvement Projects That Will Change Your Playing

By

Eric

Ear Training, How to Practice Jazz, Jazz Advice and Tips, Perspectives, Playing Techniques, Transcribing

Practice is an essential part of your journey as a musician. We all do it every day…or at least we try our best to, however daily practice doesn’t always guarantee improvement. Why? Simply because not all practice is created equal. If you look at the big picture there are two basic types of practice: (1) …

Read more

Miles Davis Doxy

Learn Doxy From Miles Davis: How Charts Mislead You

By

Forrest

Jazz Musicians, Tunes

Doxy is one of those classic Sonny Rollins tunes that gradually made its way into the jazz standard repertoire. Originally recorded in 1954 and released on the album Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins, its compact form and changes make for a great improvisational vehicle. And today, Doxy has become one of the most recommended tunes …

Read more

never be overwhelmed again

Never Be Overwhelmed Again

By

Forrest

Inspiration

In today’s world, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. We live in a time of excess information and much of it is misleading. But supposing you’ve separated the good stuff from the stack, it still feels like there’s so much to learn… Take this site for instance. I’d like to think that we have a ton …

Read more

Sonny Stitt Minor Exercises

The Sonny Stitt Playbook – His 2 Exercises to Master Minor (Premium)

By

Forrest

Jazz Language, Jazz Musicians, Premium Only, Transcribing

What if you had Sonny Stitt’s practice journal in your hands right now? All his genius lines and exercises written out. Everything, literally everything, complete with diagrams and descriptions of what he practiced…wouldn’t that be nice? Well, unfortunately, unless he’s your relative, chances are this will never be the case. You’ll never have those practice …

Read more