Mulgrew Miller’s Secrets to All the Things You Are
All The Things You Are is a timeless jazz standard…Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra…these are just some of the legends that recorded it. But with its traveling tonal centers and unfamiliar keys, this tune is sure to give every improviser quite a challenge! When it comes to figuring out the secrets to a ...
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Crazy John Coltrane Techniques Only For The Brave
It’s late. I’m exhausted. Been out all night at the jazz clubs and I just want to get home. I hop in the first taxi I see and get on my way. I’m listening to the radio and I hear something that sounds familiar. Trane? I know it’s him. His sound is unmistakable. But what ...
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How to Memorize Even the Most Difficult Tunes Right Now
Some tunes seem to make absolutely no sense, like the chords changes are some random crazy collection of complex sounds…But with a little know-how, using the same tactics we showed you in our recent lesson on learning tunes quickly, even the most difficult tunes can be deciphered in just a few minutes. Today’s lesson comes ...
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The Secret to Unlocking the Lydian Sound: From Boring Modes to Killing Solos
Open up any music theory book and you’ll find the term “lydian.” A funny sounding word that refers to the fourth mode of the major scale. You’ve, no doubt, played this scale. You’ve probably even practiced it in every key and studied it’s relationship to the tonic… But what if I told you that you don’t ...
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How to Play Cherokee like a Pro: 24 Melodic Tricks for Insanely Fast Tempos
Have you ever wondered how the best players can play incredibly fast, regardless of the key, the chords, or the tune? I’m not just talking about running memorized licks and technical patterns…I mean soloing at breakneck speed with actual melodic lines over the progression. Trying to improvise on uptempo tunes can be frustrating and the truth ...
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10 Modern Improvisation Techniques That’ll Rock Your World
Every musician wants to sound hip and modern. To play complex lines that move outside of the harmony and above the time. Solos that’ll make your fellow musicians shake their heads in disbelief and leave the audience speechless… The only problem is that few players actually get to this point, and even less sound authentic, ...
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4 Steps to Mastering the Solo Break: A Lesson With Clifford Brown
Improvising over any chord progression can be a challenge. But the true test of your skills as an improviser comes in those moments when the band drops out and you’re forced to improvise alone, without any accompaniment. The solo break… All of a sudden the spotlight is on you and you’ve got a split second ...
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Killer Triadic & Pentatonic Lines Made Easy
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, almost 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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8 Techniques Mark Turner Uses to Dominate the Blues
If you’ve ever listened to Mark Turner you’ve probably wondered the same thing as me…What the hell is he playing? Rather than coming from the mind of an improviser, his solos sound like the work of an ambitious architect. Complex structures reaching into the stratosphere, lines with impossibly wide leaps, columns of arpeggios, and winding ...
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How To Create the Perfect Solo: A Lesson With Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock is one of the greatest living improvisers. From his work with the great Miles Davis Quintet to his own musical explorations, he has spent decades evolving and pushing musical boundaries. But the thing that stands out most is his ability to craft a musical moment for the listener. To transport them out of ...
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10 Diminished Patterns That Will Transform Your Next Jazz Solo…
What comes to mind when you hear the word diminished? A chord? A scale? Wait, is it whole-steps and half-steps…or the other way around? If you’re like most players, the diminished sound often creates more questions than answers. But it’s a sound that the greatest players – from John Coltrane to Michael Brecker and beyond ...
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Why Giant Steps is Easier Than You Think: 4 Simple Steps to a Stellar Solo
Most improvisers cringe when they hear the words Giant Steps. Their hearts start pounding and they frantically try to remember the patterns they’ve worked out over the chord progression. If you’ve ever tried to play over this tune, I’m sure you know the feeling… Chords flying by at a breakneck speed, awkward changes, and fingers ...
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