Here’s an intervallic diminished sequence that I wrote while in Leipzig on a short avant-garde tour in the late 90’s. We had many long days…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 40: HW diminished
The use of the “half -whole” diminished scale over a dominant 7th chord can create some interesting and complex sounds. This “octatonic” scale outlines specific…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 42: Synthetic Scale
Sometimes working with a synthetic scale can be rewarding and help free you from your normal melodic ideas. I still have a 12 sided die…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 41: Shell + Tension
Oftentimes, as a single note improviser, it is difficult to recognize harmonic tensions by ear. For example, when playing just an A natural, it sometimes…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 24: Major Melody
This is a very simple melody that clearly outlines the major 7 sound (with a passing natural 11). First learn to sing the melody in…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 39: Bach Cello Suite
Here’s a very simple lesson taken from the 1st two bars of the second Bach Cello Suite prelude. The melody outlines the chord progression i…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 38: 1st Inv Triads
Over the years I consistently hear from my students, “I know all my triads” and, “I know all my major scales”. After closer examination, it…
Read Full Blog PostModern Jazz Vocabulary Vol.2
Modern Jazz Vocabulary Vol. 2 The second volume of Modern Jazz Vocabulary is finally done. I made some changes in the books format based on…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 37: Singing Modes
This is an exercise I came up with since I have carpal tunnel syndrome and can’t play as much as I’d like to. I either…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 36: ii-V-i Harmonic Min.
This exercise is a (second) example of using a harmonic minor scale to create a melody over a minor ii-V-i progression. To do this we…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 35: ii-V-i Harmonic Min
This exercise is an example of using a harmonic minor scale to create a melody over a minor ii-V-i progression. To do this we use…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 32: Bach – Minor V7 – i
Here’s another beautiful melody from the Bach 2 part inversions that comes from the harmonic minor scale. In this lesson I sing the phrase in…
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