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…
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