Inspiration for improvisers
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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 …
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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, …
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Chords, Composition, Playing Techniques, Premium Only
Everybody wants to play “outside” the chord changes. They think there is something mysterious about getting outside the changes. In my experience, the phenomenal players that I’ve studied with along with the legendary players I’ve learned from on recordings, approach playing outside the harmony much in the same way they approach playing inside the harmony: …
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Blues, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Musicians, 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 exceptionally fun to play over for improvisers of all levels, centralizes the harmony around minor chords rather than dominant chords. …
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Jazz Musicians, Jazz Standards, Playing Techniques, Premium Only
For a long time, patterns in jazz have been popular as a way for jazz improvisers to expand their improvisational toolkit. You see, patterns have a natural order to them that make them perfect for many jazz different improvisation applications. But every great musician uses patterns in their own unique way… Today, we’ll be looking …
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Chords, Composition, Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Standards, Playing Techniques, Premium Only
The process of learning to improvise is a journey. A long and rewarding journey and one that is punctuated by a series of milestones. This can be hard to see from that comfy seat inside of your practice room, but take a step back from your daily routine and look at the path that brought …
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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 …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Playing Techniques
Think of a jazz standard that you often play. One that you’ve been working on in the practice room. Picture the chord progression in your mind and imagine yourself getting ready to play the first note of your solo. Now stop! This time I want you to take a different approach to the tune… Rather …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Musicians, Jazz Standards, Playing Techniques
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 Mercer Ellington found a draft of the tune in the trash… Clearly, Strayhorn was his own worst critic, so it’s …
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Jazz Advice and Tips, Premium Only
Have you ever felt like you’re missing a piece of the puzzle when it comes to improvisation? As if you’re following all the rules, yet still not playing the music you want to… Every musician has felt the sting of this frustration, especially when listening to all those important records and amazing players. It seems …
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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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Jazz Advice and Tips, Jazz Musicians
One thing that often gets lost in the music theory and technical exercises of our daily practice is the fact that improvisation at it’s core, is musical storytelling… Think about it, any tune that you play or any solo that you take is a platform for you to tell your own story…an opportunity to share …