Inspiration for improvisers
Jazz chords are at the very heart of why jazz sounds the way it does and as a player, these sounds are essential to have in your ear on a deep level. But what makes this so difficult? What are jazz chords and why do they sound different than regular chords? And what makes them …
Chord function is a confusing topic that is intricately tied to other just as confusing topics like voice leading, harmonic tension and resolution, intervallic content, chord voicings, chord families and more! Today we’ll unravel the slew of questions that arise from exploring chord function. Questions like, how do you build chords within a key? Why …
In our first article of Fundamental Ear Training Exercises, we covered how to choose an ear training partner, the correct mindset to approach ear training with, and exercises about singing & hearing intervals, harmonic intervals, and triads. After you feel you’ve got a pretty good handle on everything presented in that previous article, it’s time …
Minor harmony is everywhere in jazz. Whether you’re playing a tune in a minor key or a jazz standard that shifts to the relative minor for a section, you need a solid understanding of how minor harmony works in jazz. From this understanding, you’ll memorize jazz standards faster, understand chord progressions on a deeper level, …
So you want to learn how to improvise jazz and that’s great, but where on Earth do you start jazz improvisation?!?! There’s so much information out there that figuring out where to begin playing jazz is a complete nightmare. But I’ll tell you this right now…If I could start jazz improvisation again today, I’d do …
In the recent article Hearing in Color, we discussed how to develop the technique of hearing individual chord tones in the context of triads and 7th chords. Just as the individual chord tones in a chord have identifiable colors, the chords themselves have distinct sonorities that set them apart from one another. The key to …
How do I connect chords when I’m soloing? You’re asking yourself this question in the practice room and you’re frustrated when there doesn’t seem to be an easy answer. But you’re not alone. This is a question that every improviser struggles with as they create solos over tunes. Improvising over one chord is simple enough, …
Many chords are pretty easy to understand. But dominant seventh chords with an assortment of alterations…they’re a whole different animal! What’s with all this b9, #9, b13, #11, b5 stuff! There seem to be a million ways you can alter them and so many available scales. And even when you know the theory, playing over …
The melodic minor scale is a scale that every musician should be familiar with and eventually master. But what many players don’t realize is that this scale encompasses much more than 8 notes to drill in the practice room… Aside from a minor scale variation to memorize, the melodic minor scale presents a number of …
Jazz ear training – What makes it different from general ear training? That’s a great question and when a reader recently asked this, it definitely made me think. They both focus on intervals, chords, root movement, and have other common ground, but how are they actually different? Over the years, I’ve taken quite a few …
At some point in your musical journey, regardless of what instrument you play, you’ll find yourself in front of that 88-keyed beast we call a piano. This can be a daunting task for many musicians. Often times, one of the biggest fears or stumbling blocks for non-pianists is that of comping chord changes. This simply …
Things are not always what they appear to be. Sometimes the standard advice does not get you where you want to go. Here’s an idea: approach what you’re trying to achieve by doing the opposite. Now, this won’t work for everything, but it very well may solve the nagging problems you just can’t seem to …