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Why do we practice? To get better? (Whatever that may mean) To master our instrument? To learn new material? A new technique? Why? The answer is different for everyone. In order to achieve the purpose we set out for practicing we have to do decide what we are trying to achieve. This week’s tip is [...]
The (almost) lost art of reed preparation. What is reed preparation? Quite simply it is the way you maintain and process your reeds for further use and eventually for longevity, or one may prepare their reeds in order to make corrections to them, such as the case when a reed has been cut unevenly for example. I stated for [...]
Building an Improvisational Vocabulary Download the Video
I’d like to take this moment to apologize to all subscribers. I’ve been drastically delayed in providing a video lesson this month due to some pretty heavy dental work I’ve had done that prevented me from being able to function well, nor speak clearly. I’ll get out a video and exercises as soon as I [...]
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Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Whole Tone Scale and the Diminished Whole Tone Scale their uses. Download the Video From Wikipedia.org: In music, a whole tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbours by the interval of a whole step. There are only two complementary whole tone scales, both six-note or hexatonic scales: {C, D, E, F♯, G♯, A♯, C} Synthesized [...]
Often times when we are improvising in jazz or any other idiom for that matter, we come to a point where we are in search for new ideas. There has never been a shortage of scales and patterns to try and utilize. Improvisation can also be looked upon as spontaneous composition. So what about using one of the essentials for composition?
I have often had this experience with some of my students; they practice patterns, a study, an exercise or tune, and they get stuck at some point and can’t seem to understand why they can’t get further. They tell me, “I’ve practiced it 100 times, but I can’t seem to get it into my head”. [...]
Attention!: I have been having problems with this month’s video. After recording this month”s lesson, it had come out with very poor quality and I’ll have to re-record this lesson. It should be done this week. In the meantime, I provide here the texts and examples and exercises this month. Please excuse the delay and [...]
Have you ever been stuck trying to figure out what to practice next? Well, this video should destroy all excuses from now on. Check it out.
In this month’s lesson, we will be investigating the use of the “Bebop Scales”. Introduction to Bebop Scales Download the video Part I: Bebop Scales – How they are formed. Download the video PDFs: Major Bebop Scales, Dominant Bebop Scales Part II: Bebop Scale Exercises with Dominant Cycles. Download the video Part III: Encircling Techniques [...]
