THE JAZZ GUITAR VLOG
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Joao Gilberto’s Comping on “Girl from Ipanema”
If you want to learn a style of music that you are not that familiar with, your best bet is to go to the source! And when it comes to learning bossa nova, countless great musicians believe “Getz/Gilberto” is the quintessential recording thatefined the default for what...
What Michael Brecker Practiced (The 12 Bar Jazz Etude)
If you’re familiar with the late Michael Brecker, you already know that he has been regarded as one of the greatest improvisers in jazz history, right up there with John Coltrane, who in turn was one of his primary influences! And I’m not just referring to his...
Secret Love
Did you know that some of the greatest jazz standards are originally classic movie themes? To name just a few... “The Way You Look Tonight” (Swing Time / 1936), “Someday My Prince Will Come” (Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs /1937), “As Time Goes By” ( Casablanca...
Vertical Triad Pairs
In this lesson I want to introduce you to a concept that you’ve most likely heard in the playing of many great post bop improvisers such as Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, Joe Henderson and countless more! You’ve probably heard about triad pairs. Simply put, they...
Joe Pass Fingerstyle Arpeggios
I’ll never forget that day in 1974 when I walked into a record store in San Francisco. While sorting through the jazz section, I came across a newly released album titled Virtuoso by Joe Pass, a guitarist I had read about but had not yet listened to. I was intrigued...
Blue Bossa – George Benson Solo
Hope you had a chance to check out my recent lesson on harmonizing “Blue Bossa” using the 6th diminished concept associated with Barry Harris. As a follow up, I decided to transcribe one of my favorite improvised solos over Blue Bossa. And it’s by the great George...
“Blue Bossa” Barry Harris Style
In this lesson I show you how I take a standard in a minor key and harmonize the melody using the 6th diminished chord concept associated with the late Barry Harris. For this task I have chosen “Blue Bossa” by Kenny Dorham. Why? Well not only is it a great standard...
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
Sorry, the YouTube video has been removed due to copyright restrictions.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...
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 "I'll Be Home For Christmas", "Let It Snow!", “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Frosty The Snow Man”, “Have Yourself A Merry Little...