Looking to immerse yourself in music over the summer? Summer music camps are a great way to add some education and meet new musicians. There are all kinds of camps all over the United States and wider that will allow you to get better at music even when school is out for the summer. I have made many life long friendships from attending camps like this over the years. Only people that are fairly serious about music are going to take time out of their vacation to go and intensely study music … [Read more...]
Episode 015: The Whole Tone Scale: Part 2
Are you ready for part 2 of our whole tone series? If you haven't checked out part one, make sure that you go back and check that out. It's required listening if you want to get the most out of this week's episode. Part 1 was geared towards getting the whole tone scale into your brain and under your fingers. This week we get to the fun stuff! We are going to start plugging the whole tone scale into chord progressions that we will see on a regular basis. We start with augmented ii-V7-I … [Read more...]
A Great Chris Potter Masterclass
Youtube is so wonderful. My morning routine requires getting inspired for the day of practicing and making music. I'll type something random into Youtube like "jazz masterclass," and start my search from there. Within a few minutes I have usually found something amazing that is going to get my brain going and possibly show me something new and exciting to get my juices flowing. Today I found this fantastic Chris Potter masterclass from the Jamey Aebersold summer camp. Before Youtube, you … [Read more...]
Episode 014: The Whole Tone Scale: Part 1
This week we are going to take a look at an important scale in jazz: The Whole Tone Scale. there are many different uses for this scale in all kinds of situations and we will get to that in part 2. This week we are going to cover the basics and get this scale under our fingers. I'm presenting you with some select exercises to get the whole tone scale into your ears and under your fingers. We are going to start developing some flexibility with the scale so next week we have the technique down … [Read more...]
Ingrid Jensen With A Great Lesson On Sound And Intonation
Ingrid Jensen is one of the best trumpet players out there right now. I have also had the pleasure of working on some of this stuff with her in person when she was a guest artist where I went to grad school. She kicked my butt on this stuff and made me realize that I needed to work on this material. The stuff that she talks about in this video is REALLY important. Using your ears to start playing with good intonation is more important than using a tuner. The tuner has it's uses but connecting … [Read more...]
Episode 013: Supercharge Your Transcription Routine!
Figuring out what your favorite musicians are thinking when they play is an essential part of getting better. It allows us to get deeper into their playing and incorporate our favorite material into our own solos. It's like having a jazz legend giving us a private lesson in our own home! It is also an important ear and rhythmic training activity. We are figuring out hundreds of notes just using our ears and our instrument. You'll be amazed by how your ears open up and you can start doing so … [Read more...]
Episode 012: Building Your Vocabulary!
This week we are going to learn how to do one of my favorite things. Learning vocabulary has paid off in a huge way for anyone who has ever practiced this important part of improvising. Just like when we speak a language, we have to have a good base vocabulary to be able to converse and make sense. When it comes to jazz, this means taking some of our favorite players' material and putting it into our own playing. In this episode, I will take you through an overview of the way I take a phrase, … [Read more...]
Get Your Mind Blown By Hal Galper
This is one of my favorite videos on Youtube. I have probably watched it 20 times at this point. Hal Galper is a legendary jazz pianist and educator and this video will make you rethink everything about approaching your instrument and your time feel. We were always taught to play with as much emotion as we possibly can, right? What Hal says about minimizing emotion in this lesson is astounding. We can still create a very real emotional connection to the music we are playing without letting … [Read more...]
Melissa Aldana: A Rare Talent on The Saxophone
Have you all checked out Melissa Aldana yet? If you haven't you should do yourself a favor and check out one of the most exciting young tenor players on the scene today. This is one of my favorite videos of her playing with her trio. Check out other videos of her and her fantastic bands. There are plenty of them! Her sound is so unique and refreshing, if this is the standard that younger players coming out of school are setting, we are in for some good years ahead in the jazz world! Check … [Read more...]
Episode 011: The Bebop Scale!
This week's episode brings you a lesson on the bebop scale. This device is a great way to quickly incorporate some chromaticism into your playing and get those snaky lines you always wanted. I have to warn you though, this might be the biggest amount of work I have given you in any episode so far. We start by learning the dominant and major bebop scales and then learn them starting on every chord tone available to us. This seems like a lot of work but isn't anything worth practicing a ton … [Read more...]
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