This week we finish up our series on learning tunes. We step back and talk about how you can really understand and be able to play over these tunes with complete freedom. Repetition and listening are the name of the game. We also demonstrate some ideas you can use in the practice room to make playing over these chord progressions interesting and fruitful. Enjoy! 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 … [Read more...]

This week we continue our series on learning tunes. We have finally arrived at learning the chords and some things you can do to make sure that there is never a chord or chords that intimidate you. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to grab the PDF! 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 every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions … [Read more...]

This month, as usual, we are looking at the same tune we did our Lick of the Month episode on, George Gershwin's, But Not For Me. We try to employ some of the things we learned from Roy Hargrove last week and just have a little bit of fun. Enjoy the episode! 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 every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including … [Read more...]

This week, we take a look at an entire chorus of Roy Hargrove's solo on But Not For Me! We very rarely present this much material in our Lick of the Month episode, but this is an exception due to the absolutely incredible material Roy plays on the first chorus of his solo. This is a great lesson in rhythmic variety, harmonic language, and several bebop devices that all combine to make this 32 bars something we could gain a lot from. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS … [Read more...]

Welcome back! This week we move on to talking about the hardest part of learning a tune, the chord progression! Depending on where you are in your jazz journey, I will give you some different advice on this part. Learning everything by ear is obviously the goal, but when it comes to chords (depending on what tune you are learning) it can be EXTREMELY difficult. In this episode, we talk about several different approaches and how they can help you. Enjoy the show! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG … [Read more...]

This week we continue our series on learning tunes by finally talking about the melody! Of course, I want you to learn melodies by ear and in this episoee, we talk about some of the challenges and advantages that come along with the process and how to approach different styles of melodies. Enjoy! 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 every other. We will also be bringing you many extras … [Read more...]

This week we take a look at one of my favorite jazz standards by Ferde Grofe, On The Trail. I wasn't really trying to do anything specific with this etude but did take some inspiration from the great, Joshua Redman and his licks that we studied last week. Enjoy the etude and don't forget to grab the PDF! 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 every other. We will also be bringing you many … [Read more...]

This month we take a look at a couple of fantastic Joshua Redman lines from his solo on Walter Smith III's album TWIO. This excerpt is from one of my favorite jazz standards, "On The Trail." Enjoy the episode and have fun with this material! 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 every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a … [Read more...]

This week we take a look at a few more essential progressions that we didn't have time for last week. Then we talk about how to figure out the basics of form, simply by using our ears. Here we go one step further to actually learning some tunes. Enjoy the episode! 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 every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including … [Read more...]

This week we start a brand new series on learning tunes! As always, it's not as simple as diving into your favorite tune. We have some legwork to do first. In this episode we talk about some of the most common chord movements and how to practice hearing them. This is sure to make your life much easier when you get down to actually learning a jazz standard. Enjoy the episode and be sure to practice this material! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon … [Read more...]