February 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Core Lesson 47 Jazz Lines over Standards Series: Chord Tone Soloing – ‘Green Dolphin Street’

In this lesson we take a different tack and work on building related ideas that carry similar themes, either harmonically, rhythmically or melodically. Again it is advisable that you: 1. Print off the attached PDF of the chords to ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ provided in the concert key of C major; you may wish to make multiple copies. 2. Have a pencil ready for altering or adding music or notes to the chart. 3. To get a more solid understanding of the chord changes, adopt a similar process as we did in the earlier videos of this series: write the … [Read more...]


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February 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Core Lesson 46 Jazz Lines over Standards Series: Chord Tone Soloing – ‘Just Friends’

  In this lesson we build on the ideas developed in the first 3 related videos in this series. Our focus is on playing melodically using lines constructed mainly of chord tones (arpeggio). Again it is advisable that you: 1. Print off the attached PDF of the chords to ‘Just Friends’ provided in the concert key of G major; you may wish to make multiple copies. 2. Have a pencil ready for altering or adding music or notes to the chart. 3. Map out the 3rd, 5th and 7th of each valid chord in notation (or note name) on the … [Read more...]


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February 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Core Lesson 45 Jazz Lines over Standards Series: Chord Tones: Resolving towards the 3rd – ‘Summertime’

In this lesson we focus on building lines that resolve towards the 7th of each chord. Again, as in the two prior related videos, I advise you to do the following steps: 1. Print off the attached PDF of the chords to ‘Summertime’ provided in the concert key of Dmi, you may wish to make multiple copies. 2. Have a pencil ready for altering or adding music or notes to the chart. 3. Map out the 7th of each valid chord in notation (or note name) on the staff near each written chord, then find this on your guitar (try … [Read more...]


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January 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Core Lesson 44: Jazz Lines over Standards Series: Chord Tones: Resolving towards the 5th – ‘Blue Bossa’ [CL 44]

In this lesson we focus on building lines that resolve towards the 5th of each chord. So again, as in the first video, I advise you to do the following steps: 1. Print off the attached PDF of the chords to ‘Blue Bossa’ provided in the concert key of Cmi, you may wish to make multiple copies. 2. Have a pencil ready for altering or adding music or notes to the chart. 3. Map out the 5th of each valid chord in notation (or note name) on the staff near each written chord, then find this on your guitar (try … [Read more...]


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January 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Core Lesson 43: Jazz Lines over Standards Series. Chord Tones: Resolving towards the 3rd – ‘All of Me’ [CL 43]

In this lesson we focus on building lines that resolve towards the 3rd of each chord. To make this as easy to follow as is possible, I advise you to do the following steps: 1. Print off the attached PDF of the chords to ‘All of Me’ provided in the concert key of C, you may wish to make multiple copies. 2. Have a pencil ready for altering or adding music or notes to the chart. 3. Map out the 3rd of each valid chord in notation (or note name) on the staff near each written chord, then find this … [Read more...]


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March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 42: Mode 7 Altered Scale [CL42]

To hear this scale, play any melodic minor parent scale from the seventh step and continue through to the 14th step. This one octave, seven note series of tones is the second mode of the melodic minor, referred to as the ‘altered’ scale (because all the degrees except the tonic are‘altered’ or lowered by one semitone and because this is the common harmonic basis for ‘altered dominant chords, as covered in the video and in more depth below). It is also referred to as the ‘Super Locrian’ scale because it has the same degrees as a Locrian scale (1, b2, … [Read more...]


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March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 41: Mode 6 Locrian Sharp 9 [CL41]

To hear this scale, play any melodic minor parent scale from the sixth step and continue through to the 13th step. This one octave, seven note series of tones is the second mode of the melodic minor, referred to as the Locrian #9 scale. (Note – the Locrian scale as derived from the major scale, has the tones 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6 and b7 so the Locrian #9 scale contains a sharpened b9 = natural 9th degree – hence the two names in common use). It contains the scale tones: 1 2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 And … [Read more...]


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March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 40: Mode 5 Mixolydian Flat 6 Scale [CL40]

To hear this scale, play any melodic minor parent scale from the 5th step and continue through to the 12th step. This one octave, seven note series of tones is the fifth mode of the melodic minor, referred to as the Mixolydian b6 scale. It contains the scale tones: 1 2 3 4 5 b6 b7 And the extensions: 9 11 b13 From these tones you can construct the following chord types: Major triad, Sus, sus7, dom7, +7, +9, dom9, sus9, Dom7/9(b13) Although this is close to a Mixolydian scale, the upper tones of the b13 mean we have to … [Read more...]


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March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 39: Mode 4 Mixolydian Flat 6 Scale [CL39]

To hear this scale, play any melodic minor parent scale from the 4th step and continue through to the 11th step. This one octave, seven note series of tones is the fourth mode of the melodic minor, referred to as the Lydian Dominant scale. It contains the scale tones: 1 2 3 #4 5 6 b7 And the extensions: 9 #11 13 From these tones you can construct the following chord types: Major triad, dom7, dom9, dom13, and 7/9/13(#11). Lyd-dom (as it is commonly referred to) is popularly used as the scale and chord that provides tension momentarily before resolving … [Read more...]


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March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 38: Mode 3 Lydian Augmented Scale [CL38]

To hear this scale, play any melodic minor parent scale from the third step and continue through to the 10th step. This one octave, seven note series of tones is the third mode of the melodic minor, referred to as the Lydian Augmented scale. It contains the scale tones: 1 2 3 #4 #5 6 7 And the extensions: 9 #11 13 From these tones you can construct the following chord types: Augmented (+) triad, maj7(#5) or +ma7, +ma9 (uncommon due to the diminished triad that is derived from the #5, ma7 and ma9 chord tones), ma13(#5), ma7 or ma6/9(#11, … [Read more...]


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March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 37: Mode 2 Dorian Flat 9 [CL37]

To hear this scale, play any melodic minor parent scale from the second step and continue through to the 9th step. This one octave, seven note series of tones is the second mode of the melodic minor, referred to as the Dorian b9. I would consider it has more in common with the Phrygian scale, in that it has a minor 3rd and a flattened second degree (and therefore flattened ninth also) and so I may refer to it also as the Phrygian #6 (or natural 6) scale. The mi7(b9) tends to be an uncommon chord in general composition, with … [Read more...]


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March 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 36: Melodic Minor Scale [CL36]

The melodic minor scale is popularly used as the harmonic blueprint for chords or even entire progressions in jazz compositions. It is also used as a harmonic improvising tool that extends beyond the harmonic capabilities of the major scale modes. It has a particular character that while distinctively melodic, is often thought of as a dissonant or ‘out’ sound; until perhaps the listener develops an ear for it. The melodic minor scale is a powerful device for developing an understanding of what I would call the second tier of basic harmony that can be drawn from the twelve tone scales … [Read more...]


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March 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 35: Two Beat Changes [CL35]

Try these ideas when learning to improvise over fast paced, two beat, modulating (not of the same key) changes. Work through each concept at a slow tempo and increase speed gradually – grading yourself at each stage of practice (tempo wise) and recording yourself wherever possible. The focus of this lesson is on the first 4 bars of the Rhythm Changes ‘A’ section where the chords are | Bb    G7(b9) | Cmi7    F7(b9) | There is a separate lesson (coming soon) which deals with different harmonic approaches to the bridge, where the chords are: | … [Read more...]


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March 26, 2011 by 1 Comment

Lesson 34: Walking Baseline [CL34]

When learning to walk a bassline and play chords at the same time, there are essentially 3 separate ideas happening. Firstly, there’s the bassline. Secondly, the chord set or progression. Lastly, there is the combining of these separate parts into a musical piece. The focus of this lesson is on the bass line – rather than the chords. A video on this will come in the second set of core lessons. My personal approach is to learn and practice the first two aspects separately, that is: 1. Pretend to be a bassist for an entire practice session and just walk … [Read more...]


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March 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 33: Symmetrical Scales Whole Tone Scale [CL33]

There are two wholetone scales – one that begins on the note C, and is identical to 5 other keys and one that begins on C# and is identical to 5 other tones, thus: Type 1: C = D = E = F# = Ab = Bb Type 2: C# = Eb = F = G = A = B For the purposes of this lesson I will call the first row of identical wholetone scales type 1 (or the C type), and the other identical set type 2 (or the C# type). The wholetone is commonly played on the … [Read more...]


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March 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 32: Symmetrical Scales Diminished Half Whole [CL32]

The diminished half-whole (Dim H/W) scale contains 8 tones (octatonic), set in a symmetrically repeating pattern within each octave. There are a few different ways to practice this scale over one or two octaves. As always I would encourage you to learn it on one string only first, playing it very slowly against any of the chords described below*. Try this exercise: This scale intervallically is described as: half step, whole step, half step, whole step, half step, whole step, half step, whole step or: semitone, wholetone, semitone, wholetone, semitone, wholetone, semitone, … [Read more...]


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March 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 31: Secondary Dominants [CL31]

In any major scale and key centre there are seven triads we can construct by using tertian stacking (see triad chords). These are: If we insert the leading tone (VII) diminished triad on top of the V major triad we have built a dominant 7th chord, the sound most commonly used for ‘movement’ back towards a given tonic. In classical terms, this movement is called a cadence, and given the title ‘perfect’. There are many other types of cadences – in the classical world each is given a certain title and each elicits a specific feel or colour depending … [Read more...]


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March 25, 2011 by 4 Comments

Lesson 30: Improvisation Concepts 2: Thematic Development [CL30]

This lesson continues on from the first improvisation video (lesson 15 on static vamping) in our core lesson series – which dealt with methods for learning how to play the basic sounds of one particular scale or grouping of notes. In this video, we deal more specifically with applying themes (that may come from extensive positional playing, static vamping and personal exploration etc) to a moving series of chords – or modulating progression (where the chords are quickly moving and not all from the same tonal centre or key centre). In the video, we have examples over a common … [Read more...]


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March 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 29: Pentatonic Scales [CL29]

The pentatonic is a 5 note scale found in most western forms of pop music, blues, jazz, funk in melodies and popularly in guitar solos, being an easy shape to learn and play and to form melodic ideas from. It can be thought of in a few different ways from a construction perspective. You could see it as being derived from our 7 note major or natural minor scales, with two notes extracted: Major Pentatonic = 1 2 3 5 6 or Major scale with no 4th or 7th tones. Minor pentatonic = 1 b3 4 5 b7 or a … [Read more...]


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March 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 28: Pardido Alto [CL28]

The focus of this lesson is on the ‘Partido Alto’ rhythm (which I have seen spelled as Pardido Alto / Partito Alto in different texts). When written over two bars in ‘normal 4/4 time’ it appears thus: Or written in double time in 4/4 where two beats (or a minim / half note) = one beat or a crotchet / quarter note) thus: Please note: The piece I composed for the video will be scored in double time to save space (the PDF would be over 6 pages long) although in the video I am counting in normal 4/4 time. … [Read more...]


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