This week is all about an exercise that combines two important concepts in jazz: fourths and triads. If I had to pick some of the most important facets of music with which to work your butt off, these would be on the top of the list. You may have even heard some of these exercises before, but what makes it the never ending exercise is the amount of options and variations you can create within a simple concept. Part 1 goes into some of the more simple forms this progression can take. Next week … [Read more...]

This week I recount a great anecdote from the legendary educator and pianist, Charlie Banacos. This story reminds us that we need to connect with the music on a spiritual and meditative level. Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! … [Read more...]

Branford Marsalis is a one-of-a-kind musician. He has developed his own unique sound and approach to playing the saxophone and should be an inspiration to us all. This week we are going to look at some great material he plays over the bridge to one of my favorite tunes: Night In Tunisia. This tune is a must know for all of us jazz musicians and what better way to kick start our learning of this Dizzy Gillespie classic than to check out how Branford Handles the bridge and take some of that … [Read more...]

Nick Finzer is a fantastic musician living in New York who runs the awesome record label, Outisde In Music. Nick is a very active player on the New York scene and beyond. Nick has a lot of great insight into everything from playing music to producing records and everything in between. Nick is not just a trombonist, but someone who is a creative force for putting more art into the world.  I really enjoyed speaking with Nick and he was able to shed a lot of light on some topics that I know you … [Read more...]

Last week we talked about using the VI chord in measure 8 of the blues. This week we are talking about another spot we can use this chord to give us some forward motion into the next chorus and make our solos more compelling. As we get more advanced as players, we like to add more and more to the progression because we can handle it. This is one of the last additions I make with my students because it's tough and requires some quick thinking. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to download the … [Read more...]

Are you sometimes too intimidated to actually take your instrument out of the practice room?? Don't be..... Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! … [Read more...]

This week we are going to talk about an important chord in the blues progression that you may not be using. We use the VI chord to create forward motion in the blues and add another layer of complexity to our lines and solos as a whole. This episode will double as an introduction to the VI chord on the blues and, if you're already using it, might shed light on how to approach this important part of the progression. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to grab the PDF from our Patreon site! WANT … [Read more...]

This week we take a look at a great email that one of our listeners, Bob, sent over and we continue the discussion on the best way to learn tunes! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! … [Read more...]

This week we delve a little bit further into the dominant chord and what various chord symbols mean. Last week we dealt with the basic versions of these chords and this week we'll get into some of the more complicated extensions and all of the implied scales and extensions that go along with them. We tackle diminished dominant and altered this week. Enjoy the show and make sure that you send me any questions you might have! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to … [Read more...]