THE JAZZ GUITAR VLOG
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Billie’s Bounce
If you’re not familiar with my music background, in my teens I was into rock and mainly blues for almost 10 years before getting into jazz and formally pursuing music studies. Who knows, this might be your case too as it is with many current jazz guitarists! But I...
Moose The Mooche
This is the third video in the Charlie Parker for Guitar series! And for this lesson I’ve picked one of the many tunes Bird wrote over the chords to “I Got Rhythm”, a progression commonly referred to as “Rhythm Changes”. It’s called “Moose The Mooche”. Although this...
The Bebop Anacrusis
If you’re wondering what on earth anacrusis means, it’s simply the proper term in written music for what we otherwise would call a “pick up”. And in this lesson I am excited to demonstrate this seldom taught melodic and rhythmic device in the unique context that it is...
Yardbird Suite – Charlie Parker for Guitar
This is the second in a series of Charlie Parker compositions that I recently started teaching. Previously I posted a lesson on “Ornithology”, which as most of you know is a great bebop melody over the changes to “How High The Moon”. If you missed it, be sure to check...
Drop Voicings Complete!
Most likely you already know what drop voicings are, but just in case, “...it simply consists of dropping one or two of the notes in a closed 7th chord, down an octave.” For us guitarists this allows us to spread the notes in a way that we can assign them to different...
“Ornithology” – Charlie Parker for Guitar
This is the first in a series of Charlie Parker compositions I will be teaching in the coming months. I believe these pieces are important to learn for any guitarist aspiring to become a jazz player. And that is simply because the lines that make up these tunes embody...
Don’t Play That II-V! (Diatonic Reharmonizations)
If you’re like most players, when you’re comping and come across a II-V, you likely play the prescribed changes! If you see Dm7 and G7, maybe you even play a Dm9 and a G13...But did you know that with just a basic understanding of how functional harmony works, you can...
Master the Dorian in Record Time
If you are transitioning from being a blues/rock player to learning jazz, in this lesson I show you the 7 note scale that is easiest and fastest to learn first! And no, it’s not the traditional major scale! In this video I reveal 3 powerful reasons why it’s preferable...
Neo-Soul Jazz Chord Melody
If from the title, “If Jimi Played Jazz” on the thumbnail, you’re wondering what on earth Hendrix has to do with jazz, please keep an open mind and read on... There are several unique clues in Jimi’s playing that lead us to imagine what he might have sounded like if...
What A Wonderful World
For my last post for 2022, in view of the crazy state of our world, I should have probably posted a chord melody for “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (lol). But like John Lennon sang, “I’m a Dreamer”, and so I chose to end the year on a positive note! Instead I put...
Holiday Jazz Chord Melody
This post features a download of all my Holiday Season chord melody arrangements for a special discount! Included are jazzy versions of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Frosty The Snow Man”, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, “The Christmas Song”, “Rudolph The...
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Here's a jazzy chord melody arrangement of a holiday season classic, which needless to say, I’m sure you’ve heard a gazillion times... “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”. The beauty of these Christmas classics is that they were written by many of the same composers that...
Mick Goodrick – GMC Major II-V-I
On November 16, 2022, Mick Goodrick, one of the most influential guitar mentors in the history of jazz, sadly passed away! You may be familiar with some of Mick’s cutting edge jazz guitar books, such as “The Advancing Guitarist”. But needless to say, you may not be...
Self Accompaniment-Major II-V-Is
If you’re a jazz guitarist, at some point you’ve probably experienced what I like to call... pianist envy! This is the result of watching keyboard players use their left hand to comp with chords, while independently improvising intricate lines with their right hand....
Moanin’
Can you spare a minute? That’s roughly how long this chord melody video lasts! You might or might not know the tune, but it has become part of most jazz musicians repertoire. "Moanin'" was written by pianist Bobby Timmons and first recorded, by Art Blakey's band the...
Miles-So What Live
In 1959 Miles Davis recorded what was to become the best selling album in jazz history...Kind of Blue. Through this recording he also introduced the world of music to modal jazz. A few weeks after the historic studio recording, Miles taped a live TV recording using...
Major b6 Pentatonics: Coltrane Perspectives 3
This is the 3rd in a series of Coltrane Guitar Perspectives on using pentatonics. In the previous 2 installments, I showed you how the legendary John Coltrane pioneered the use of the common minor pentatonic and the kumoi pentatonic of Japanese origin by...
L-O-V-E
PDF & AUDIO DOWNLOAD: The "L-O-V-E" lesson files, can be downloaded for $8.00. The download includes the following files: PDF with both regular notation and TAB of the arrangement, MP3, a Band in a Box file, as well as a Midi file so you can practice using the...