Lesson

Hey everyone,

Part 3 in the series on how to solo over diminished chords melodically. The diminished IV chord (Bbo7 in the key of F) comes up a decent bit in standards -- like "The Nearness of You" and "I Remember You," among others -- and it's important to be able to meaningfully solo over! Full disclosure, I'll often treat it as an A7b9 chord, or a C7b9 chord! But watch the video if you'd like to know why.

Also, make sure to watch parts 1 and 2 if you haven't already, as there might be some some things in this video that won't make sense if not.

Just some ideas to get some of you going with pentatonics.

Line Building Blocks Exercise

Hey everyone,

Here's part two in the little diminished lesson series. In this lesson, I'll show you how to better think of flat 3 diminished chords to give you more melodic material.

Hey everyone,

Here is a dampening master in the works!

Hey everyone,

Another lesson on comping on ballads! We're looking at rhythmic density and ways to create an overall sense of arc with your comping, or while you're playing solo. Let me know if you have any thoughts!

Hey everyone,

The next couple comping lessons will be focused on ballads. In this one, I share how I think of the range of the instrument -- like an orchestra, with a low range for bass movement, a middle range for melody and/or chords, and an upper register useful for subtle effects, upper structure triads subtle, and counter-lines. I think this is especially important when playing ballads!

Hey everyone,

Here's the third and final part of my series on comping over a medium swing F blues, and how to give it that rhythmic drive a full rhythm section has. This is an interesting lesson, because I, myself, am still figuring it out! We're talking about sliding -- like a glissando, and how to use it the way guitarists and pianists do.

Let me know if you guys have thoughts on this! I obviously don't think it's applicable in all situations, but I think it certainly has some use in swing and rhythm music.

Hey everyone,

Another lesson on comping. This time I'm looking at octave displacement (a lot less crazy than it sounds in this context) and rolls -- two things vibes players could do more, I think!