This week we wrap up our series on composition. In keeping with the tradition, this is a tune of the month episode but this time, instead of using a jazz standard, we use the composition that I have been writing this month for you. I'm taking the chord progression from last episode, writing my own melody over it, and providing you with an etude as well. We talk about some of the decisions I made when writing this melody based on tempo and feel, a motive, and a few other things that will … [Read more...]

Welcome back! This is our third episode on the art of composing and what you can do to get started with this important part of being a jazz musician. This week, we talk about writing chord progressions before melodies and some tips and tactics you can use to come up with your first chord progression from scratch. There is some homework in this episode so make sure your ready to put in some time! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you … [Read more...]

This week we look at the age old question, should I write the melody or the chord changes first when composing? My answer is; both! This episode will be all about writing short melodies with prompts and a few rules. This will be the first time you are faced with a blank page but don't worry, we will try to make it as easy as possible for you to write a few simple melodies. Composition is fun, valuable, and exciting so let's dive in. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS … [Read more...]

Composition is an important part of any well rounded jazz education path. With that being said, let's figure out how to get you started down this path! One of the most intimidating parts of composing is starting at an empty page. It can stop even the most enthusiastic blossoming composers in their tracks. In this episode, we talk about how to get started with your own, original material doing away with the empty page and providing a starting point. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES … [Read more...]

This week's episode brings our series in October to a close. Do you feel like you gained some valuable information on learning tunes in multiple keys?? I sure hope you did. We are going to finish up the series with an etude written over, It Could Happen To You. There is a catch, however. The etude is written in the key of concert F (which is a key you should know this tune in). Your challenge is to learn the melody in concert F before you even touch the etude. Good luck and have fun! WANT THE … [Read more...]

The month of October has five Fridays, so I decided to put out an episode that was more of a discussion than a lesson. We have spent the past three episodes talking about techniques for learning and understanding tunes in multiple keys, but haven't really asked why we are doing this. This week, I wanted to just talk about the advantages both immediate and long term of learning tunes in more than one key. Turns out, there are very practical and immediately useful reasons for this, which are … [Read more...]

This week, we continue our series on learning tunes in multiple keys. In this episode, we move on to another amazing jazz standard, How High the Moon. In a vacuum, this melody is much easier to play than Au Privave. But upon closer inspection, we realize there may be more hiding under the surface that make things a bit more difficult. We explore what to do when a melody has several key changes and how to make it easier to memorize and, ultimately, move it into other keys. Enjoy! WANT THE PDF … [Read more...]

This week we continue our journey to learn how to play melodies in multiple keys. Last episode, we looked at a very simple melody, Sonny Moon for Two. This week, we are diving into a much more complicated melody, Au Privave, by the great, Charlie Parker. We get down to business numbering the different notes in the tune, exploring the technical side of a task such as this. Ultimately, we are looking to use our ears at the end of the day to put this melody in different keys. Enjoy! WANT THE PDF … [Read more...]

New month means a new series here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson. This month we are going to cover a topic that I think is extremely important to the aspiring improvisor which is learning melodies and tunes in multiple keys. We are going to start with a bridge between learning licks and entire melodies with a tune that is based on a lick. In this episode we will be covering some helpful tips on learning Sonny Rollins' melody, Sonny Moon for Two in every key. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT … [Read more...]

This episode culminates our work on using blues phrasing in places we may not have thought of in the past. So far we have discussed using the blues on the ii-V progression, the iii-VI-ii-V progression, and we have looked at some amazing examples of legendary musicians using these techniques. Now it's time to put all of these things together in the form of an etude and see what we get. In this etude you will notice many techniques being used side-by-side in an effort to create a complete … [Read more...]