I wanted to talk today about a very practical tip that can improve your improvisations on the bandstand. Everything we do in jazz improvisation is about creating music in the moment. Today’s tip is simple, yet one that is often overlooked with younger or intermediate level players. That is the importance of starting out strong…
Analyzing Lines – Donald Byrd on Nica’s Dream Analyzing Nica’s Dream. In 2012, I started a series on Analyzing Lines. We took a look at a few lines of some of the giants of jazz and broke them down to see why and how they worked. If we can uncover those questions we can learn…
Welcome to the last part of the Map It Out series. In today’s post we will finish looking at the song Stand Firm by completing the “B” section and then creating a route through the whole progression. If you haven’t looked at the earlier parts in this series, I highly encourage you to check those…
Welcome to part 3 of the Map It Out series. If this is your first time visiting this site I’d like to welcome you to check out the previous posts on this topic as well as a number of other categories you can find on my blog. Also, be sure to check out the Lick…
Last week we looked at mapping out a plan of attack when looking at a new chart or chord progression. We’re going to take the same chart (Stand Firm which will be on my album Mountain, Move later this year) and go further into the progression mapping out a plan. Last week we looked at…
Today’s post is simple, but one that might take a few moments of reflection if you haven’t thought about it in a while. Who has influenced the way you improvise? Who do you listen to the most? Who, when you listen to them, inspires you to grab your instrument and shut out the rest of…
Welcome back to my site…I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick series on jazz rhythm solfege! If this is your first time visiting this site, please feel free to browse around and check out previous posts or go to my Digital Store today where you’ll find great resources that will help you unlock your potential in improvisation…
I had a recommendation from a new friend, George Martin, on our Facebook wall to write a post on using solfege rhythm in jazz. I’ve used this with students (especially beginners) and it was something I was taught back in Middle School by my first teacher-Craig Swartz. There are a few sources out there that…
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