This is our third installment of our series on Rhythm Changes. Last week we took a look at the 'A' sections of the form and learned some exercises to get us through these rapid fire chords. This week we will focus on the bridge, where the chords spread out considerably. Because the chords come at us a little bit slower, we have to approach this section in a different way than we did on the 'A' sections. In this episode we look at a couple of different approaches. The first, is using our … [Read more...]

In today's episode we get deeper into rhythm changes and start working on a couple of concepts that will start you into the world of improvising over this important form. In this episode we will be concentrating on the "A" sections of the rhythm changes progression. We'll save the bridge for the next episode. We will start with an exercise that explores a simple linear concept over the chord changes that will start you on getting familiar with each and every chord. We then move into a more … [Read more...]

This week we start looking at another concept that is a must for any improviser to master. Rhythm changes are a staple in the jazz language and happen to be a little more complicated than the blues. We use part 1 to tach you some quintessential rhythm changes melodies. If we hope to master rhythm changes we need to have some heads to play over these changes. This will also serve the purpose of getting used to the sound of rhythm changes if you have never played them before or have limited … [Read more...]

In Part 2 of our series on diminished dominants, we get a little deeper into this concept and create some vocabulary we can use in real life improvising situations. Our vehicle is going to be ii-V-i progressions, which are the most common progression in almost any tune you will see. By learning this vocabulary and plugging it into our solos, you will start to hear this concept reflected in your playing. Once you have incorporated the scales from part 1 of the series, start working on these … [Read more...]

In Episode 3 we start our journey into the concept of diminished dominants. This episode, again, is the start of a two part series. This concept is a must for any improviser to have in the arsenal and we are going to introduce you to it step by step. This episode focuses on exactly what a diminished dominant is and takes you through the basic knowledge and scales that you will need when we start to look at how to employ this device in our solos and improvisations. We will show you how to … [Read more...]