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 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 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 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 PostLesson 64: Book ii-V-I
In this lesson we’ll look at the first ii – V7 – I melody found in the “Modern Jazz Vocabulary vol. 2” book. This melody…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 47: Dizzys’ Bebop
I always liked the introduction to the Dizzy Gillespie tune Bebop. A close friend and wonderful alto player Gabe Eaton and I learned this tune…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 45: Bird Line
Bird may be my all time favorite melodic improvisor. His sound, feel and ideas still seem fresh and alive and I enjoy him more and…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 34: V7 Altered Scale
Here’s a simple ‘cliche’ bebop melody that uses an altered scale (the 7th mode of melodic minor) over and altered dominant (#11, #9, b9, #5).…
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