Most Popular Lessons

This etude should give you some chordal ideas.

I've been recently working on a solo version of Bobby Hutcherson't "Little B's Poem". It's a 16 bar tune with no bridge. The form is simple but getting the feeling of the tune plus feeling good about the time and the groove have taken me quite a long time. Although I've been "dabbling" in the tune for years I feel I'm finally kind of getting it down. It's a killer. Questions like, "What should I play in the left hand?" "Should I play every change?" "Sould I comp during the solo or just play lines?" Lots of things to consider.

I think we might have done this tune before. But I thought we should revisit it. It's perfect and no matter what level you are at, if you really study this tune a bit, you will learn quite a bit about harmony and what's happening.

It's a tune of 2 5's and that needs to be the basis of our studies. If you can navigate easily through two fives you are really on your way to get through harmony.

This tune is a study of Major two fives, even though it's a minor tune.

Here we go!

Simple line I like over dominant chords

Probably should have called this "Getting Bluesy", but I think of it as "Getting Church". African American Church musicians are some of the funkiest, bluesiest best players I have ever seen. It's incredible what some people get out of church. I would never have gotten that kind of musicality out of my church. The music was lame as I remember.

I'm not even religious, but I have gone by some churches and wanted to go in and listen and watch really bad!

So.... Get Church.