Most Popular Lessons

? Working on Time Pt. 6 – Wave A Section Voicings with Rhythmic Variation #4

In this lesson, we expand on the rhythmic comping vocabulary introduced in Pt. 5 by applying Variation #4 to the entire A section of Jobim’s “Wave.” This segment combines voice leading and rhythmic consistency, helping develop both harmonic awareness and a deeper connection to groove within the bossa nova style.

Check out the attached PDF!

Check out the attached PDF!

Check out the attached PDF!

I've done many of these type of lessons. But you know what, they're super important. You have to spend time experimenting with voicings to build your chord vocab. It takes time and work! 

I made a cool play along and made a sort of etude. It's a chance for you guys to play over 2 simple chords and play some 4 mallet stuff and some lines. I will make a video and talk about the etude very soon. 

But play this, learn this. Play along with me, and then use this stuff on your own. I use neighbor tones, bridges between whole steps. I.E. D Db C. If this was over a Dmin7 the important notes would be D and C and the bridge between them would be Db. Get it????

🚨 Tune Deep Dive: “Wave” – Pt. 8: Putting It All Together 🚨

In our final lesson, we bring everything from the series together into a full chorus etude over Wave. This written solo combines guide tones, arpeggios, scale fragments, motifs, and tension–resolution lines to show how each concept can flow seamlessly in a musical context.

Hello everyone,

This lesson is on how to pedal smoothly, which may seem simple, but I find a lot of people don't know how to actually do it.

🚨 Soloing Through the Changes Pt. 8 – Soloing with the Altered Scale

In Part 8, we explore the altered scale (seventh mode of melodic minor) as a way to create tension over dominant chords before resolving back to the tonic or next chord. This scale contains altered chord tones—♭9, ♯9, ♯11, and ♭13—which provide a wide palette of colors for jazz soloing.

I love the tune Recado Bossa Nova. My fav part is the Eb to A. What a cool sound. 

I wrote a very detailed (for me) etude with sticking. So you can really see how I think of things. I try to take a very minimalist approach to the vibes (most of the time). 

Notice how the harmony works and there is not a lot of chords. I think this works as a solo piece which means you don't need a lot of notes and chords for a solo piece.