Line Building Blocks Exercise

Here's my (relatively mediocre) solo version of The Gypsy! Not sure why my brain went to mush in a few spots, but overall I think it went okay.

Hey everyone,

Here's the last part in my series on diminished chords and thinking of them as dominant chords instead. This isn't meant to be the singular approach when soloing over them, but to be used in tandem with blues sounds, the diminished scale, the diminished 7 arpeggio, etc.

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.

Memorize it.
Play it on the piano with bass notes in your left hand.
Play it on the vibes in all the keys.

Line Building Blocks Exercise

Here's another etude that I wrote, in F major this time. This has a much larger focus on dampening, with a repeated phrase throughout that the etude is built around. The motive is moved through different keys and modes before returning and ending on F major. Pedaling and dampening marks are in the .pdf attached.

After a lifetime of work trying to become a great improviser, I've come to understand that music can be broken down into basic challenges that venture off into more complex ones as you continue to search for the ultimate YOU in your music.

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.