Lesson 11
Lesson 11 • Motivic Playing on Giant Steps Part II Here’s the rest of the Giant Steps exercise, again with the emphasis on rhythmic motifs. While you’re at it, check […]
Lesson Ten
Lesson Ten • Motivic Playing on Giant Steps As discussed in the last lesson, a well-conceived solo usually consists of about 70% melodic ideas and 30% running eighth note lines. This […]
Lesson Nine
Lesson Nine • Developing Rhythmic Accuracy One important aspect of improvising is maintaining rhythmic interest. A well-conceived solo consists of about 70% melodic ideas and 30% running eighth note lines. […]
Lesson Eight
Lesson Eight • Reharmonizing with ii-7 V7s from the Diminished Scale Previously, we isolated four minor tetrachords found within the Diminished Scale. This lesson uses this material to give you […]
Lesson Seven
Lesson Seven • Diminished Scale Tetrachords When last we encountered the Diminished Scale, we isolated four 7th-chord arpeggios that are contained in it. This time out we’ll look at the minor tetrachords (four-note […]
Lesson Six
Lesson Six • Diminished Scale Structures The Diminished Scale in Jazz is mostly used as an expression of a dominant chord with b9, #9, #11 and natural 13. The exception […]
Lesson Five
Lesson Five • Using Triad Arpeggios Last time out, I wrote some triad fragments to get you started playing triad arpeggios. This lesson is about why you might want to […]
Soloing II
Soloing • Construction and Theory Part II When you are improvising on a set of chord changes, you are in effect telling the listener one of two things: what is the same about two adjacent chords or what is different about them. Notes that are the same from chord to chord are called common tones: […]
Soloing
Soloing • Construction and Theory The purpose of taking a solo should be that of playing any music: communication. To paraphrase Keith Jarrett, it is the process of taking the idea in your mind and putting it in someone else’s mind by the mechanism of playing a note. Listeners don’t care what you play, they […]
Jazz Guitar Basics
Chord of the Week Chord of the Week Jazz Guitar Basics Intro to Jazz Guitar Chords Scales Reading Picking Fingering Soloing Comping Lessons from Chops Factory (my old site) Theory Lessons on theory as they relate to jazz improvisation. Concepts about connecting ideas, and more! Respelling Chords/Scales Respelling Chords/Scales II How to Use Triad Arpeggios […]
Intro to Jazz
Introduction to Jazz Guitar If Jazz is new to you, this is a good place to get acquainted with some of the fundamentals. • Jazz Chords to get some chords to use right away. • Jazz Scales to check out some of the different ways of arranging seven notes • Comping to learn how to […]
Basic Scales
BASIC JAZZ SCALES AND MODES Major Scales There are only three Major Scales, and the only differences between them involve the 4th and 5th degrees. If you look at them this way, it allows you to realize that they are more similar than different. Which scale you use is then dictated by your taste and […]