While working on major 7th and minor 7th “drop 2” chord voicings, I found a nice shape to work on through the keys. Drop…
Read Full Blog PostLesson 52: Enclosures
Chromatic and diatonic enclosures are a great way to begin working with melodic embellishment. In this exercise the 3rd of both a major triad (with…
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 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 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…
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