This ii-7, V7, I melody that uses minor triads with an added 9th (or 2nd) i.e. 1,3,5,9 or 1,9,3,5 etc… The first part of the…
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 63: Nat 9 ~ Flat 9
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. …
Read Full Blog Post-Lesson 60: Diatonic Sequence
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…
Read Full Blog Post-Lesson 59: Spread Tri-tone
I thought it might be nice to work with a variation on Lesson 1 (Spread Triads) – In this exercise we play spread major triads…
Read Full Blog Post-Lesson 57: Scale Routine
Scales have been a popular thing to practice in both the jazz and classical world for years. Playing through scales as been compared to a…
Read Full Blog Post-Lesson 56: Giant Steps Etude
This is a short, 1 chorus etude over John Coltrane’s Giant Steps progression. It incorporates a few different conceptual ideas which I find useful. In…
Read Full Blog Post-Lesson 54: Triad w Neighbors
In this lesson we look at embellishing a triad with specific upper and lower neighbor-tones. The bulk of the exercise will focus on a major…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 53: pentatonic
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…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 51: Maj 7 #5 melody
Finding melodies on a single note instrument that really bring out the sound of more complex types of harmony is often a challenge. Here’s a…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 50: Wide Intervals
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…
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…
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