Mousai – Live Recording
Here’s a short tune of mine I recorded on Aug 3rd 2022. It based on an augmented major 7 melody. I wrote the melody from those four notes and harmonized it afterwards. Jeff Harshbarger plays bass and John Kizilarmut plays
Lesson 138: 6 Bar Tune
Here’s a simple progression with a chromatic melody. It’s in the key of G starting and targets iii minor (maj7) and I using substitute secondary dominants. I became interested writing really short form tunes by both Monk (Light Blue) and
132: Using Space
If you’re like me, you may often listen back to one of your solos and think, ” I am playing too much, I’m not leaving any space and I’m not listening to the band “. I think that the main
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.
109: Relax, Wait, Listen.
In this video I’m working on developing or practicing what I consider to be good performance habits. These are the 3 habits I’m focusing on: relaxing, using space and listening. Staying relaxed helps you stay aware and helps you communicate
Skype Lessons
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
Lesson 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. Within the first bar of this melody a major triad a whole step above the
-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 triad with surrounding embellishment from the major scale although the concept can be applied to
New CD – Anima
This album was a pleasure to record. Pianist Leonard Thompson and I did 6 hours of live takes at a Church in Kansas City with a huge Steinway grand and great acoustics. Playing with Leonard is always a pleasure as
Lesson 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 more the older I get. I’m always shocked when I put on a side I’ve
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 a lot of the feedback I got from people about vol. 1. This book is bigger in size but should
Lesson 19: Maj7 #9 #11 Melody
Using unusual modes from scales can help produce some interesting melodies. This major #9 #11 melody comes from the 6th mode of harmonic minor (i.e. Ab to Ab from C harmonic minor). This mode is a wonderful substitution for Lydian
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