Lesson 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 coming from the 6th mode of harmonic minor which works nicely over a major 7
Lesson 140: Cycle 4 Melody – Altered
In this live discussion I outline the entire process I go through when I work on a new idea. In this case, I have written a short 7 note melody which comes from the Altered scale (also called diminished-whole-tone or
Lesson 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 (or relative minor pentatonic) as a theoretical basis for all or part of the melody.
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 when we where young, only faster. That is, instead of learning better melodic material as
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 of jail and although was still learning to play on fake teeth an addict he
131 b: 4-3 Suspension on Have You Met Mrs. Jones?
This video is is an extension of lesson 130. here I’m just practicing a simple 4-3 suspension on each cord in the standard have you met Ms Jones. I’m using a natural four or 11 on every cord and the
Composition using the 7 diatonic chords from the major scale.
This is an original composition of mine using a common writing tool. all the chords and melody to this piece come from one major scale.
Lesson 150: Blues Etude – 4 note cell
Here’s a blues etude that uses some different 4 note cells (tetrads) and various scales. By writing an etude you can learn to hear melody that specifically reflects an underlying concept and later improvise using the concept alone. The original
Lesson 149: What is This Thing Called Love.
Using only the 1,3,#11,7 Tetrad (or 4 note set) I’ve been using this 1, 3, #11, 7 Tetrad (4 note set) for years in both composition (voicings for big band or small group part writing) and as a group of
121: Fool To Want You
Today I’m working on the first melody of the standard “I’m a Fool to Want You”. I’m singing the opening phrase at the piano while visualizing the fingerings on saxophone. I’m using the piano to help with my pitch and
108: Stardust
In this video I play a short melodic phrase from Stardust through the 12 keys. This is the melody that I was practicing singing in the car (Daily Practice 7). By doing all the visualization of the melody and fingerings
107: Car Practice
In this video I demonstrate one of the many things I do to practice while driving. This is the type of routine that can really help make a commute or any drive a great time to practice working on music,
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