We concentrate a lot on 7ths when it comes to playing jazz. But what do we do when we see a major chord that has no 7th?? This is a tricky thing for us improvisers in certain cases. I know that I had trouble doing this before some of my teachers clarified it for me. This week we take a look at 3 different phrases and how we can adapt them to major triads or major 6th chords. This month is going to be themed and all leading toward a culmination with our tune of the month episode. Enjoy! WANT … [Read more...]

This week features a book review of one of the most interesting things I've been reading lately! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! … [Read more...]

This month's tune of the month and etude are a carry over from last week's episode where we talked about a phrase from the great Charlie Parker composition, Ornithology. In this episode, we are going to explore a very specific melodic device based on triplets and surrounding chord tones. We are using this particular set of changes because it puts us in many different keys and situations where we need to be flexible. This is a great facet of a complete musician, flexibility, and this week's … [Read more...]

This week is all about what I learned from listening to over 50 saxophonists this weekend... Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much!   … [Read more...]

This week continues our wildly popular Lick of the Month Series. This month, we are taking things in a different direction. We all look toward transcriptions and recordings to get vocabulary for our own playing. This is because it's a fantastic way to study the masters and let them guide us through what sounds great over chord progressions. But have you ever used a melody that you really like to develop some vocabulary? It may be something that we all overlook as a non-traditional place to get … [Read more...]

Not much to say about this week's episode, you know what to do. Still requiring you to sing and these are our most complicated lines yet. This is going to be the last in our series of voice leading exercises and I want to reiterate: this is some of the most important stuff you can be doing in your practice time! If you're having trouble with this material, make sure you go back and try the other episodes again, it will get there eventually. Enjoy the episode and work hard! WANT THE PDF THAT … [Read more...]

This is the last in our series on what to think about for an effective and successful practice routine. This week's discussion comes after you leave the practice room. Enjoy! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! … [Read more...]

This week continues our series on voice leading and doing something that many of you will find uncomfortable: SINGING! We continue to make the kines more difficult by turning our half notes into quarter notes. What you will notice, however, is the basic direction and voice leading of the line stays the same throughout. This follows logic that we perform a lot on this show, which is slowly increasing the difficulty of something until it is sounding amazing. One more episode in this series next … [Read more...]

This week is about the part that many of us love but may not allow ourselves to do, have fun! Would you like to support the creators of this podcast? If so, please head over to our Patreon page and show your love by donating $3 or more each month. You get incredible benefits and this keeps the podcast coming at you regularly. Thanks so much! … [Read more...]

This month we take a look at yet another Monk tune and we focus our efforts on phrasing. Phrasing is the biggest and most important factor when it comes to playing a solo that makes sense and is memorable.  Our goal with this month's episode is to get you to think about phrasing over the chord changes. We have a tendency to play these little self-contained phrases that stop right before the chord moves on. When we break this habit, so many of our limitations disappear. Enjoy this episode and … [Read more...]