Studying with George Garzone was always extremely inspiring and challenging. One seemingly simple assignment he gave me when I studied with him at Berklee in…
Read Full Blog Post~Lesson 83: No Tongue
When studying with George Garzone in the mid 1980’s, I learned to practice and play without using any tongue. In my experience, playing without any…
Read Full Blog Post~Lesson 82: Maj7 #5 Pentatonic
In lesson 82 we will look at an easy 5 note (pentatonic) scale that works well when improvising over a Major 7 #5 chord. This…
Read Full Blog Post~Lesson 81: Well You Needn’t
Here’s a one chorus solo I played over the chord changes to “Well You Needn’t” by Thelonious Monk for the “Jam Of The Week” facebook…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 80 -Triplets in 4’s
Improvising using odd rhythmic groupings or accent patterns while not getting turned around (loosing the harmonic rhythm) has always been something I enjoy working on…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 79: Broken Arpeggio
Broken arpeggios are one great way to integrate some larger intervalic material into your improvisation while still outlining the chords that you are playing over. …
Read Full Blog PostLesson 78: 8th Note Feel
Working feel of 8th notes seems like an ever ending process of refinement and over the years I’ve found an interesting and pretty fun way…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 77: Triadic Blues
Here’s a Triadic Blues etude I wrote a while back for one of my favorite trumpet players Josh Welchez. It is comprised of all major…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 76: 30 Day Challenge
I’ve done 2 posts on long tones in the past (long tone 1, long tone 2) and thought it might be fun to encourage a…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 75: Cycle Wheel pt.3 (Cycle 4 and 5)
This is the final part of a 3 part lesson series dealing with using Cycle Wheels to deconstruct any 7 note scale. The 3 cycles…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 74: Cycle Wheel Pt.2 (Cycle 3 and 6)
This is part 2 of a 3 part lesson series dealing with using Cycle Wheels to deconstruct any type of 7 note scale. The 3…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 73: Cycle Wheel Pt.1 (Cycle 2 and 7)
This is the 1st of a 3 part lesson on using what I like to call a Cycle Wheel to deconstruct a scale. I first…
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