by Richie Zellon | Jazz Improvisation, John Coltrane
Take The Coltrane-7 Motivic Types When we think of John Coltrane, we usually jump straight to the harmonic minefield of Giant Steps or the spiritual heights of A Love Supreme. But if you want to understand how he actually built his language, you have to look at John...
by Richie Zellon | Jazz Improvisation, Pat Martino
Pat Martino’s Pet Licks What are Pat Martino’s most played licks — and what makes them so hard to detect? In this lesson, I dig into Pat Martino’s solo over Along Came Betty using data from the Dig That Lick project, a collaboration between...
by Richie Zellon | Jazz Improvisation
Wes Montgomery- Bebop Reverse Engineered This lesson constitutes the second installment of Bebop Reverse Engineered, a series devoted to the analytical study and systematic reconstruction of bebop vocabulary. Whereas the first installment examined phrases drawn from...
by Richie Zellon | Jazz Improvisation
Most Played Bebop Lick In this lesson I trace the most played bebop lick using findings from Dig That Lick. The project, led from Queen Mary University of London beginning around 2017, combined automated melody extraction with curated sources (including the Weimar...
by Richie Zellon | Jazz Improvisation
Charlie Parker-Bebop Reverse Engineered Bebop Reverse Engineered presents a step-by-step method for reducing classic bebop lines to their essential harmonic and melodic framework, then rebuilding them into new, stylistically faithful variations. Using excerpts drawn...
by Richie Zellon | Jazz Improvisation, Jazz Standards
Master “Minor” Rhythm Changes As you most likely know, back in 1930 George Gershwin wrote “I Got Rhythm” based on the major I-VI-II-V progression which is the basis for hundreds of standards, as well as the initial portion of what jazz musicians refer to...
