This week is a continuation of last week's lesson. Now we are taking our contrafact and writing new chord changes to it, effectively coming up with our own tune. This is a great exercise in many different ways because there are so many possibilities. You can make your re-harmonization as plain or as out there as you would like. Maybe you stumble upon a great set of chords that can be used outside of this exercise entirely. There are so many ways this can benefit your playing and writing skills! … [Read more...]

Writing a contrafact is the act of taking an existing set of chord changes and writing your own melody to it. This is great for a number of reasons. First, you can cure writers block beautifully with this tactic. Sometimes when we can't come up with anything new and fresh on our own, it's valuable to take someone else's creativity and put our own spin on it. Secondly, this is a great way to practice our own melodic writing using some of the best chord changes from the history of this … [Read more...]

The blues scale is a great device for beginners and an easy way to explain playing over the blues. At the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson, our goal is to move beyond the basics and expand your horizons into deeper levels of playing. This isn't always easy, but is usually very fulfilling and leads to quick improvement. This week we are going to move beyond the blues scale into what is called the Mixolydian Sharp 9 Scale. This may sound complicated when you first hear it, but is very close to the blues … [Read more...]

Chris Potter is a one of a kind musician. If you have ever heard him play you know what I'm talking about. His work ethic and skill level should be an inspiration to us all if not being slightly depressing at times :) This week we are going to take a look at a phrase that he plays over Cherokee and see what makes it tick. This material largely mimics the bebop language but with Potter's own special twist on it. If you don't take anything else away from this episode, just hear how flawlessly … [Read more...]

Laszlo Gardony is a living legend in jazz. Over his illustrious career as a teacher and performer he has crossed paths with some of the best musicians in the world and is a perennial favorite to jazz fans all over. This week, we caught up with Laszlo to hear about his new record, Serious Play and talk to him about some of the things that have made his career so long and fruitful. As a Boston native, I have been keeping up with Laszlo's work since I was a kid. It was a real thrill for me to talk … [Read more...]