Hey Jazz Guy, I’m tired of the same old 7th chord voicings, can you show me something different and new? –Tired in Toronto Dear Tired, One of the best signs you are improving is when you become frustrated with what you know and start looking for something else. Two voicing concepts that have a modern […]
Latest Posts
Hey Jazz Guy’s Top Ten
Hey Jazz Guy, I know that learning jazz takes years of study, but is there anything I can do to improve quickly? –Eager in Elmhurst Dear Eager, We all share your desire to speed up the improvement process! Although musical study is a life-long sport, these are a few of my favorite things you can […]
Minor Mysteries
Hey Jazz Guy, I feel totally lost with minor chords, there are so many different types. What on earth do I play? –Lost in Long Island Dear Lost, You are not alone. Minor harmony is a difficult topic precisely because there are so many variations. We will look at four types of commonly used minor […]
Contrasting Elements
Hey Jazz Guy, I feel like all my solos sound the same. Any advice on how I can diversify? –Uniform in Unity Village Dear Uniform, What a great question. This is more than just a jazz topic. No matter what style of music you are playing, this concept will give you a great palate from […]
Open Ended Questions
Open Ended Questions for The Advancing Musician What kind of music is your favorite to listen to? What kind of music is your favorite to perform? How will what you are practicing now be different than what you practice next year? What are your musical goals? (Playing, writing, recording etc) What are your non-musical goals? […]
Rhythmic Variation
Hey Jazz Guy, Im always playing constant eighth-notes, or the same rhythms. How can I get more rhythmic variety in my playing? –Constant in Colorado Springs Dear Constant, This is definitely an issue with improvising, especially for guitarists because unlike horn players, we don’t have to breathe. One method for enhancing your rhythmic vocabulary is […]
Putting It All Together – Part Two
Hey Jazz Guy, Now that I’ve got the inside playing down, how bout that ‘out’ stuff? –Inside in Indianapolis Dear Inside, How bout that ‘out’ stuff? Well, it is worth looking outside the box to examining some simple techniques that can sound fantastically outside. As with the inside examples, we use for practice the first […]
Putting It All Together – Part One
Hey Jazz Guy, I’ve got all my scales down pretty good, but still having trouble making all the changes. Can you give me some advice on how to put it all together?? –Fragmented In Fargo Dear Fragmented, A difficult part of improvising, is putting it all together, turning scales into great sounding lines. However, there […]
Melodic Minor
Hey Jazz Guy, I got the major scale down well, but I keep hearing about melodic minor, can you give me some tips on how it works?? –Major in Minneapolis Dear Major, The mysterious melodic minor’s many magical modes have always presented a myriad of possibilities. The sound is unmistakable and some of the modes […]
Reharmonizing Melodies
Hey Jazz Guy, What are some more ideas for re-harmonizing a melody? –Standard in Syracuse Dear Standard, Using re-harmonization to spice up a melody can be very exciting. One method that is useful and interesting is to change the bass note. In the examples here we’ve used F as the melody note, and re-harmonized it […]
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