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...]

This week we take a look at some real life examples of the concepts we have been studying all week. We have lines and lessons from Hank Mobley, Sonny Stitt, and Clifford Brown that illustrate how powerful blues lines can be when used in the right place, in the right way. Enjoy the episode and happy blues-ing to everyone out there! 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 … [Read more...]

This week is the natural extension of last weeks episode. We covered how to use the blues over a ii-V-I, now we also check out how the same concept can work over a cadence with more chords and motion. We look at this progressions from two different angles resulting in wildly different results so make sure you tune in and grab the PDF for maximum benefit. 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 … [Read more...]

This week starts a brand new series where we look at simplifying things in the best way possible. Many times on this show we are talking about some complicated and heady topics. This week, we learn how to play simple, soulful phrases that catch our listeners off guard and make them want to hear more. 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 … [Read more...]