This month is all about one of my favorite recordings, Saxophone Colossus by the great Sonny Rollins. The particular track we are going to be studying is Blue 7 and taking a special look at the relationship between the saxophone and bass. Enjoy! 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 … [Read more...]

Welcome to part 2 in our series on melodic fragments. This series is all about allowing you to center your solo around chord tones while using small melodic fragments to connect the important notes. Last week, we discussed two different fragments. One starting on the third and one starting on the fifth. This week, we discuss a fragment starting on the 7th and then talk about mixing the fragments up and how different they sound from each other. Enjoy the episode and remember to get this stuff … [Read more...]

This month we are working an amazing Chet Baker transcription. Work on effectively turning his vocal stylings into something you can play on your instrument. Enjoy! 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! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccLQWlVWLiM … [Read more...]

This week's episode introduces us to a brand new topic that I think will help your playing tremendously. Melodic fragments are any grouping of a given number of notes to focus your melodic intent and keep you from meandering through a solo. We start the series with a 3 note fragment based on 2 different scale segments. The goal here is to develop fluency and flexibility using these over a blues so we can later get more complicated and creative. Enjoy the episode and make sure to practice the … [Read more...]

This culminates our series on reading with an etude based around the minor blues. We tried to bring together everything we talked about in the last 3 episodes and implement it, providing for a very tough exercise! If you really want to go the extra mile, we have also written a version of the same etude up a half step. Enjoy the episode and good luck! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and … [Read more...]

I had a unique experience last week that allowed me to see, what I think, is the current state of jazz at the JEN Convention last week. 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 continues our series on reading and becoming a more well rounded musician. Remember, you will get a lot more gigs if you can read at a high level! This week brings us to syncopation. We have already done episodes on tough keys and sub-division, now it's time to take a look at one of the most important aspects of jazz: having a good handle on playing off the beat. Syncopation is a defining characteristic of jazz and we need to be able to land on each and every part of the beat. These … [Read more...]

In addition to giving you something to transcribe each month, we will now be giving you a specific thing to listen to with notes on what to listen for. This month: Chris Potter and Shai Maestro play All The Things You Are! 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 … [Read more...]

Welcome back to our second episode in the new year. This week we continue our work on reading with a great rhythmic exercise to test your flexibility and attention to sub-division. When reading and improvising, playing sub-divisions of beats correctly and accurately is very important to our overall sound. This exercise is meant to take the same idea and put it through 8th notes, triplets, and 16th notes all designed to prepare you for anything that's thrown your way. Enjoy and make sure to grab … [Read more...]

A new series on the podcast: Transcribe This will feature something I want you to transcribe each month and keep you on target toward your goals in 2020. This month: Dexter Gordon's Second Balcony Jump! 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! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3brLNLRBoPM … [Read more...]