THE JAZZ GUITAR VLOG
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Giant Steps using the Symmetrical Diminished
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been fascinated by the symmetrical diminished scale! And I know that this is also the case with so many jazz musicians we all look up to. For example, the late Pat Martino used the symmetrical diminished as the source from...
Joe Diorio Tribute Lesson
On February 2nd 2022, I was saddened to hear that we lost a great jazz guitar pioneer...Joe Diorio. As a result I have decided to dedicate this lesson to his memory and share with you a sample of his unique contribution to the ongoing evolution of jazz guitar. When I...
Blue Bossa – John McLaughlin Style
Did you know that one of the primary ways in which great musicians incorporate new ideas such as licks into their vocabulary, is by first writing their own solos over a standard? As a matter of fact, the more they do this, when the time comes to improvise, the easier...
18 Licks by John McLaughlin
Whether or not you are a John McLaughlin fan, I’m sure you agree that he is an awesome musician! When I first heard him with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, I remember thinking he was from another planet (lol). And that’s because as a teenage rock guitarist who had just...
8 II-V-I Variations
Unless you are totally new to jazz, I’m sure you are well aware that its most frequent recurring harmonic progression is the II-V-I. And for this reason we tend to spend a great portion of our practice time, both learning to comp and improvise over it. But did you...
Charlie Parker’s Use of 8ve Displacement- Part 2
It is a known fact that if you want to master jazz improvisation you must first study the bebop idiom which is at the core of modern jazz. And to do so, you won’t find a better source than the music of one of its most celebrated pioneers, the one and only Charlie...
The Most Important Element of Jazz Improvisation?
Did you know that a few wrong notes played with great timing over a tight groove will often go by unnoticed by many, whereas the opposite, a great melodic line played with bad timing will be apparent even to most musically uneducated ears? In this lesson I demonstrate...
Charlie Parker’s Use of 8ve Displacement – Part 1
It is a known fact that if you want to master jazz improvisation you must first study the bebop idiom which is at the core of modern jazz. And to do so, you won’t find a better source than the music of one of its most celebrated pioneers, the one and only Charlie...
18 Bebop Licks by Pat Martino
If you’ve been keeping up with my videos, you’ve probably watched some of my 18 Bebop Licks lessons. So far I’ve featured and analyzed 18 licks by Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery and Grant Green. And by popular request, this is my 4th lesson in the series, featuring 18...
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
I hope you had a chance to check out my previous chord melody arrangement of Frosty The Snow Man. And since we’re still in time to learn one more for this season, due to numerous requests, I am excited to share another holiday favorite... “Have Yourself A Merry Little...
Frosty, The Snow Man
Here's a lesson of a classic Xmas standard arrangement featuring some jazzy chord melody...Frosty, The Snow Man. If you get a head start on it now, you might get it down in time to play for Santa...that is, if you haven't been naughty...ho,ho,ho! 🙂 PDF & AUDIO...
What Pat Martino Taught Me!
Last week I was very saddened to hear that one of the of jazz guitar passed away. I’m referring to Pat Martino (1944-2021) who will not only be remembered as a major influence guitarists worldwide, but also as a wonderful human being to those who had the good fortune...
18 Bebop Licks by Grant Green
If you watched and enjoyed my 18 Bebop Licks videos by both Charlie Parker and Wes Montgomery, you’ll love this one. And although Grant Green shouldn’t need an introduction, let me just say that he was one of the most recorded jazz guitarists, particularly during the...
Develop Your Own Bebop Vocabulary
Do you ever feel like you’re playing the same old ideas over and over again every time you take a solo? If you answered yes, you’re not alone! As a matter of fact, when I graduated from Berklee College of Music in the early 80’s, I was one of those players that knew...
Jazz & The Zen of Playing Wrong Notes
Have you ever transcribed or simply tried to analyze a solo by one of your favorite players and found that in more than one measure, there were notes that absolutely did not relate to the prescribed chord? Strangely enough, you listen to the recording in context and...
Corcovado
It’s bossa nova time again, and I’m back with a fingerstyle chord melody arrangement of the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic… “Corcovado” (a.k.a “Quiet Stars of Quiet Nights”). Throughout this arrangement I’ve tried to combine that cool bossa groove, with a touch of the...
18 Bebop Licks by Wes Montgomery
A few weeks ago I posted a lesson titled “18 Bebop licks by Charlie Parker”. Here is a video doing the same, only that with some Wes Montgomery transcriptions! In the Charlie Parker video I analyzed the makeup of 18 licks and showed you the architecture of a bebop...
12 Jazz Standards for Solo Guitar – VOL1
This is the first compilation of jazz standards for solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements I've put together. Even though all of these performances have been previously featured within videos pertaining to these standards, here you can watch and hear them back to back...