Most lead sheets for standards don’t bother including the turnaround at the end of each section – it’s just assumed that you’ll know what to play. In case you don’t know, this article will run through the most common first…
Blog Archives
Turnarounds
Tagged with: 3d printing, escher, harmony, jazz, theory, tritone substitution, turnarounds
Posted in b) Harmony & Comping
Posted in b) Harmony & Comping
Finding Your G Spot
No, it’s not that kind of article. But it’ll probably drive up the hit count a bit… So set spam filters to maximum and we’re going in… Go to your instrument and play a single simple G, nothing more. Listen…
Tagged with: Cedar Walton, Hal Galper, jazz, Kenny Werner, practice, theory
Posted in c) Musicianship, i) Reviews
Posted in c) Musicianship, i) Reviews
Coltrane’s Substitution Tunes
On two groundbreaking albums, Blue Train (1957) and Giant Steps (1960), John Coltrane presented a group of original tunes that stretched to breaking point the possibilities of functional harmony. Shortly after these albums he began increasingly to turn his back…
Tagged with: Giant Steps, harmony, jazz, John Coltrane, Ladybird, Lazybird, Moment's Notice, Tadd Dameron, theory
Posted in b) Harmony & Comping
Posted in b) Harmony & Comping
Using Upper Structures in Solos
The key to using “upper structures” is to observe that simple major and minor triads exist in the upper reaches of altered dominant chords. These structures are often used by pianists and guitarists in chord voicings, but they are also…
Tagged with: altered dominant, harmony, jazz, melodic minor, theory, upper structures
Posted in a) Soloing Scales & Modes, b) Harmony & Comping
Posted in a) Soloing Scales & Modes, b) Harmony & Comping
Bebop Part I – Perpetual Motion Exercises
Bebop is much more than just one particular style, it is pretty much the “grammar” of modern jazz, and bebop “licks” are not so much cliches as essential elements of speech within the jazz language. Here are some bebop exercises…
Tagged with: bebop, Charlie Parker, Chord progression, exercises, jazz, theory, turnarounds
Posted in a) Soloing Scales & Modes
Posted in a) Soloing Scales & Modes
How to Handle a Sus Chord Part II – Sus Blues
Most learning players approach a blues by combining the following two approaches: Using figures from the blues scales over quite straight old-fashioned blues harmony. Using bebop scales and language over elaborated “jazz blues” changes. There’s another way to go about…
Tagged with: blues, fourths, Inception, jazz, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Nights of Ballads & Blues, Real McCoy, sus chords, theory
Posted in a) Soloing Scales & Modes, b) Harmony & Comping
Posted in a) Soloing Scales & Modes, b) Harmony & Comping
How to Handle a Sus Chord Part I – the Real McCoy
It’s a common problem among people learning how to improvise that they freeze when faced with a sus chord. I’ve often found that the reason people don’t know what to play over this chord type is that they don’t really…
Tagged with: fourths, jazz, McCoy Tyner, Passion Dance, Pentatonic scale, pentatonics, sus chords, Suspended chord, theory, transcription
Posted in a) Soloing Scales & Modes, b) Harmony & Comping, h) Transcriptions
Posted in a) Soloing Scales & Modes, b) Harmony & Comping, h) Transcriptions
A Simple Technique for Outside Playing
This article will give you a simple, easy to remember, but very effective formula for taking a solo line outside the changes. When I say simple and easy to remember, I mean it. You’ll grasp the principle inside ten minutes,…
How to Hear the Clave in Salsa
If your experience is anything like mine, you may have struggled to hear clave direction when playing or listening to salsa (and its precursors, son, guajira and mambo). Sure there are differences, but rhythmically these styles are largely the same,…
Transcription: Tommy Flanagan on Mr PC
I’ve posted this solo because someone recently asked me for advice on bebop playing over minor blues changes. I first transcribed it years ago and developed a bit of an obsession with it at the time. I can honestly say…
Tagged with: jazz, John Coltrane, minor blues, Mr PC, piano, theory, Tommy Flanagan, transcription
Posted in h) Transcriptions
Posted in h) Transcriptions
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Pents book is recommended reading on Gary Burton's Berklee course.
Jason Lyon on Music 