104: Modes of Harmonic Minor
In this video I’m working on the modes of C harmonic minor. I play up and down the 7 scales or modes and I play up and down the 7th chord for each of the modes. The modes and their
Free Jazz Education and Music
In this video I’m working on the modes of C harmonic minor. I play up and down the 7 scales or modes and I play up and down the 7th chord for each of the modes. The modes and their
Having taught hundreds of Skype lessons over the last ten years, I’ve come to believe that Skype is a great way to both teach and learn from the comfort of your own home. Although I’m teaching full time at KU
This is Vol.2 of the Drum and Bass, Roots and Rhythm “play along” which is designed for both practicing and teaching. Vol. 1 has been well received and I thought one in 7/4 would be a nice addition. I’ve been
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. This simple ii-7b5, V7#5, i-6/9 melody utilizes broken arpeggios and underlying step-wise voice leading. By
In lesson 63 we look at a simple melody that uses both the natural 9 (the #11) and the b9 on a dominant 7th chord. Within the first bar of this melody a major triad a whole step above the
While working on major 7th and minor 7th “drop 2” chord voicings, I found a nice shape to work on through the keys. Drop 2 is a great way to voice chords and has been used in classical and
This lesson covers a great melody from one of the Bach Cello suites which has been extended slightly to cover the whole major scale. The sequence outlines the main seven chords found in the major scale (in the key of
I thought it might be nice to work with a variation on Lesson 1 (Spread Triads) – In this exercise we play spread major triads a tri-tone apart, a sound which will work nicely over a dominant 7th chord with
I’ve put together mattotto.org blog lessons 1 through 22 in a 60 page, 8.5 by 11, spiral bound book for easy reference. I did omit the Long Tone and Drone exercises since they don’t include written material, but I’ve expanded
I played a gig a few weeks ago with a wonderful alto player from NYC named Logan Richardson. While playing over Without a Song in Eb using Joe Henderson’s changes, Logan played a nice pentatonic idea over the concert B
Here’s a quartet album we did on Origin Records. We recorded it in 1999 and released it in 2005. You can download this for free by clicking on the album cover below. ~Enjoy! Matt Otto, “Red”Origin 82445 click
Here’s an easy way to begin to introduce some wider intervals into your improvisation while still maintaining melodic and harmonic integrity. This exercise uses a dominant 7th chord, and also includes it’s upper-structure tensions (9, #11, and 13). The melody