Free Jazz Education and Music
Lessons
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 two original songs for the project and performed a small concert in Porto the day
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 had a grand piano in every room, he guided me through exercises that left a
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 book on using 4ths and 5ths in improvisation that I’ve been working on for some
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 play the 7th chord through the modes or chords of the major scale. This method
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 saxophone. This is an ongoing practice as the tension and stress associated with performance and
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 digesting over the last 6 months or so. Memorizing the etude is just the beginning,
This is the last lesson outlining various ways to work on improvising over progressions like Countdown, Giant Steps, 26-2, Satellite etc. Start by playing the 18 orders of notes for the minor triad over the progression based on the system
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 improvising over Countdown. This method uses minor triads over each chord of the progression. On
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 improvisation. In this context it functions as a passing tone between the root and the
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 of harmonic contexts. Keep in mind that the Major pentatonic and the (relative) minor pentatonic
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 composing. This lesson outlines one simple melody from the tetrad the descends skipping voices. After
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 I wrote for Bari player Andrea Edwards who is earning her Bachler’s in jazz at
