Original Contrafacts written by Matt Otto. Buy The Contrafact and Blues Book for 10$ Writing contrafacts (new songs written over standard Jazz changes) has long…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 173: How To Write A Contrafact
In This Video lesson I go through the process of writing a Contrafact from scratch. There are many methods one can use to do this…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 172: How To Write A Song #2
In this video I demonstrate a simple method for writing music that uses an “aleatoric” or random system. Here’s the basic outline: Using 3 by…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 171: Byzantine – Double Harmonic Scale.
In this lesson we look deeply at the Byzantine or Double Harmonic Scale. Each mode has a unique sound and can add some interesting color…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 170: I Love You Etude
Here is an Etude written over “I Love You”. Three of my trombone students at KU learned the etude by ear and memorized it for…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 169: How To Write A Song.
In This Video I cover how to use the your singing voice and a “chord palette” to write a song. This is how I write…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 168: The Half Whole Diminished Scale
The Diminished Scale is one of the most important scales in Jazz. In this (video) lesson I explain as clearly as possible the C half…
Read Full Blog PostZoom or Skype Lessons
Having taught thousands of Zoom/Skype lessons over the last ten years, I’ve come to believe that Skype is a great way to both teach and…
Read Full Blog PostNew Book! Tetrads Vol. 2: TRIAD ADD b9
BUY TETRADS VOL. 2: TRIAD ADD b9 HERE A Complete overview of the Triad add b9 Tetrad including warm ups, melodic patterns, 2 – 5…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 164: Yardbird Suite Etude
Here’s an Etude I wrote for Bari Sax player Andrea Edwards. Andrea is an excellent Bari player studying Jazz at KU. This Yardbird Suite Etude…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 163: Blues For Alice Etude
This is an etude I wrote for Alto saxophonist Keegan Kaiser. It’s one chorus of 8th notes and uses the bebop scale, chromatic approach notes,…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 162: Rhythm Changes Etude.
There are very few living Jazz musicians that have not spent countless hours working on improvising over Rhythm Changes. There’s a often retold story that…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 161: Recorda Me Etude.
Here’s a short Etude I wrote for Nic over the chord changes to Recorda Me (Joe Henderson). The Etude uses some triad pairs from the…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 160: Conception Etude
Here’s a fun Etude I wrote for KU Computer Science Major Spencer Addis over Conception by George Shearing. I wrote this in real time during…
Read Full Blog PostNew Recording: The Landscape Listens
I recorded a new CD over the summer in Portugal with my friend and fellow saxophonist Xose Miquelez and Abe Rabade (piano). We each contributed…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 159: Lee Konitz – Sing a phrase – play it back.
When I lived in New York City, I had the transformative experience of taking lessons with Lee Konitz. In his remarkable Central Park apartment, which…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 158: Cycle 5 – Harmonic Major
This lesson covers one possible pattern using the Cycle motion concept through the modes of Harmonic Major. This is a short excerpt from a new…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 157: 96 Melodies from any 4 Notes.
In this lesson I explain how to find and practice the 96 melodies for any 4 note structure or 7th chord. In this example I…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 156: Staying Relaxed While Playing Saxophone
This video outlines one of the main practices I’ve used over the years to help me develop a conditioned relaxation response triggered by holding the…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 155: Blues Etude using Diminished and Triad Pairs
Etudes are a great way to learn new ideas, phrases, concepts and vocabulary. This is a short 12 bar etude I wrote and have been…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 146 Part 3: Countdown, Giant Steps, Tri-tonic
This is part 3 in my video series on Countdown. In this lesson on Countdown we’ll continue looking at ways of thinking about, conceptualizing and…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 154: Major 7 b9 Melody
The b9 is not commonly over a Major 7 chord. This melody is one a wrote to help me incorporate it’s use into my melodic…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 153: Minor Pentatonic Warm Up
Pentatonic scales are amazing 5 note sets that are comprised of stacked perfect 5th or stacked perfect 4ths. They can be used in a variety…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 152: Maj Triad add #11 Tetrad
The 4 note cell or Tetrad using 1, 3, #11, 5 has many harmonic contexts and can be used for creating voicings, improvising melodically and…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 148: I Hear A Rhapsody – Etude
Etudes are a great way to work on new material, vocabulary, phrasing and a whole host of positive musical skills. Here’s a one chorus etude…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 146 Part 2: Countdown, Giant Steps, Tri-Tonic
In this video lesson I’ll demonstrate a few ways to practice the minor pentatonic concept outlined in the first video (Countdown Part 1). I start…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 146 Part 1: Countdown, Giant Steps, Tri-Tonic
This is a 3 part series on ways to practice and think about Countdown my John Coltrane. This is on of his challenging tri-tonic tunes…
Read Full Blog PostEar Training Series II (Melodic Minor Modes)
Passive Ear Training: A Natural Approach to Hearing and Understanding Modes. This innovative ear training method, which I call “passive ear training,” mirrors the natural…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 145: Major Melody using #9, #11 and #5
Here’s a nice major melody I wrote today at the piano and began learning, singing and playing through 12 keys. This short two bar melody…
Read Full Blog PostFree Improvisations from 1988
While rummaging through my attic, I stumbled upon a treasure: a cassette tape containing practice sessions recorded during my time at Berklee around 1987 or…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 167: Giant Steps – Cycle 5 Melody
As a creative educator in improvisor, I often enjoy working on Cycle 4 and Cycle 5 melodies. This Etude is a vertical melody over the…
Read Full Blog PostNew CD “Umbra”
Another CD is now out on Origin records. “Otto is a true original in his compositional efforts. He sounds like no-one else. Free? Sort or,…
Read Full Blog PostNew CD ~ “Notebook”
Here’s the track “Esthesis” from the album: https://mattotto.bandcamp.com/album/notebook This new recording features two groups; essentially two EPs put together. One group is a tenor trio…
Read Full Blog PostCycle – Kansas City Trio
Here’s a pdf and video of a contrafact I wrote over the Sam Rivers tune “Cyclic Episode”. I love working on improvising over this progression…
Read Full Blog PostEar Training Series (Major Modes).
Passive Ear Training: A New Approach to Mastering the Modes of the Major Scale. Buy Here I’m excited to share a new ear training series…
Read Full Blog PostNew CD recording – Kansas City Trio
This recent CD is my first standards album. As jazz musicians we arguably spend most of our time improvising over the jazz cannon; old show…
Read Full Blog PostMousai – Live Recording
Here’s a short tune of mine I recorded on Aug 3rd 2022. It based on an augmented major 7 melody. I wrote the melody from…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 144: Barry Harris – Chromatic Chord Scales
Several of my students have been asking about various Barry Harris approaches to playing changes and creating strong melodic lines with chromatic notes (non-scale degrees…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 84: Visa – Charlie Parker
Here’s a brief look at another great Charlie Parker tune based on the Blues. I learned this out of the Omni Book when I was…
Read Full Blog PostSoul Eyes – Mal Waldron
My friend Richard Giddens came out to KC for some gigs and recording summer of 2022. Here’s a take of Soul Eyes by Mal Waldon…
Read Full Blog PostWanjiku – Live recording June 2022
I wrote this song in 2001. Wanjiku was inspired by the book Pedals of Blood, recommended to me by my step-father Bruce Baron, who studied…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 143: The Sus Chord – G7sus4
In the video below, I explain a few ways to conceptualize the Sus chord. Sus is short for suspension – in church music, the “ah”…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 142: Dominant Shell add #11
The 4 note structure or tetrad made up of 1, 3, #11 and b7 is a very useful note set for voicings and improvising over…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 141: Major #9 Melody
This is a short melodic phrase that I wrote that includes use of the #9 on a major chord. I often think of this sound…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 140: Cycle 4 Melody – Altered
In this lesson (which was originally a live stream discussion) I outline the entire process I go through when I work on a new original…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 139: Simple 3 chord Tune “Melisma”
Yesterday I wrote a short 3 chord tune by writing the melody first using a minor pentatonic scale. Many great songs use a pentatonic scale…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 138: 6 Bar Tune
Here’s a simple progression with a chromatic melody. It’s in the key of G starting and targets iii minor (maj7) and I using substitute secondary…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 137: All The Things You Are
This cell phone recording was from a quartet gig on Aug 15th 2019 at Ca Va in Kansas City. Matt Otto – tenor sax, John…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 136: Woody and You
Here’s a transcription of my tenor sax solo from the Alliance album (2020). This is over the chord changes to Woody and You (Dizzy Gillespie)…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 135: Practicing Major Scale Melodies
In this short video I attempt to demonstrate how I like to practice Major Scale melodies. Often times we practice the same way we practiced…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 134: Chet Baker – Just Friends
I took off a small phrase from a Chet solo today over just friends. This was a good period for Chet, he had gotten out…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 133: Singing all tensions on a Dominant 7th chord.
I came up with this easy ear training exercise today in which you sing each tension over a dominant 7th chord from easiest to hardest.…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 132: Using Space
If you’re like me, you may often listen back to one of your solos and think, ” I am playing too much, I’m not leaving…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 131 a: “Mrs. Jones” Natural 9
In this lesson I’m practicing playing the natural 9 on every chord of the standard Have you met Miss Jones?. I’m using a displaced quarter…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 130: Using the 9 on every chord
In this short video I’m playing the nine on each chord of the song I’ve Never Been In Love Before. You will truly get a…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 129: Varijashree Venugopal – Sings Naima
Here is a short yet beautiful improvised phrase sung by Varijashree Venugopal over the song Naima by John Coltrane. Varijashree is an amazing, world class…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 128: C Major Triad add #11
. You can use the major Triad add #11 tetrad or four Note cell in a variety of harmonic context. There are 96 ways to…
Read Full Blog Post127 Amazing Scale Warm Up!
I discovered this warm up with some help from my friend Peter Schlamb. I did if for a few days before a gig and was…
Read Full Blog PostAlliance ~ New CD
This new CD features some of my favorite musicians playing seven of my original compositions. Each track has a different configuration of players. You can…
Read Full Blog PostBlues in all 12 keys – play along
This is a simple educational play along – blues in all 12 keys – swing at 144 bpm
Read Full Blog PostLesson 125: Blues for Alice
Two of my friends, Peter Schlamb and Matt Villinger, mentioned working on Blues for Alice by Charlie Parker during The Pandemic. They’ve been playing it…
Read Full Blog PostAeon, an Original Piece for Marimba and Saxophone
I wrote a short original piece for my friend and Marimba player Michael Compitello. Mike is an amazing musician whom I’ve had the honor of working with at KU. This is a duo piece which is a study in cycle 5 motion using minor harmony.
Read Full Blog PostLessons Available Now $30
Covid19 has ended my gigging life for now and so I have more time to teach. Skype/Zoom/Hangouts are great ways to both teach and learn…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 123: Ear Warm Up
A warm up that activates both your ear and your sound. Trying to discover smarter ways to warm up and do ear training is often…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 122: Melody: Triplets grouped in 5
A Simple Major Melody: Exploring Diatonic Enclosures and Descending 6ths I’ve been working on a little melodic exercise that I think you’ll find really useful.…
Read Full Blog PostComposition using the 7 diatonic chords from the major scale.
This is an original composition of mine using a common writing tool. all the chords and melody to this piece come from one major scale.
Read Full Blog PostLesson 165: Harmonic Major Modes Over 2-5-1 in Minor
Harmonic Major modes over 2-5-1 in Minor. I’ve been working on using the 7 modes of Harmonic Major over various chords as alternate scale choices.…
Read Full Blog Post7 Note Diminished Scale
Steve Cardenas, one of my favorite guitar players, taught me how to create a 7 note diminished scale. These scales work over Dominant b9 (half/whole)…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 150: Blues Etude – 4 note cell
Here’s a blues etude that uses some different 4 note cells (tetrads) and various scales. By writing an etude you can learn to hear melody…
Read Full Blog PostComposition “Basheer”
I always enjoy writing contra-facts over chord progressions I like to improvise on. This is an easy one that is based on the Gigi Gryce’s…
Read Full Blog PostRing – CD release!
The CD is pressed – here are all the tracks on one post. You can also listen to the whole album for free or buy…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 149: What is This Thing Called Love.
Using only the 1,3,#11,7 Tetrad (or 4 note set) I’ve been using this 1, 3, #11, 7 Tetrad (4 note set) for years in both…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 166: Thriving After College
In this video I offer you my advice on how to survive and thrive after college in your early 20’s. This can be a challenging…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 84: Miles -Trane
In this lesson we’ll look at 2 short phrases played by Miles Davis and 2 short phrases played by John Coltrane on a live recording/video…
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