Some good intro note reading exercises: The Dreidel Song & Jingle Bells. They also flow nice together when you play them back to back.

I’ve been enjoying my Rhapsody subscription for almost a month now. I’ve been able to get back in touch with a lot of music that I forgot I loved. I was going through a Wayne Shorter phase when I stumbled upon Ponta De Areia from his Native Dancer album. It was one of those tunes [...]

Back in February of this year, I posted a transcription of Keith Jarrett’s Radiance #8 on my practice blog. Shortly after posting it I realized I’d written the rhythms out wrong. I’ve been receiving some mail about it recently and decided it was time to go back and draft a correction.

I should have more to say about this than I do.  It’s just an amazing lick.  Charlie plays it so effortlessly on “Blues For Alice.”  Check it out.  I’ve been working on it for two days now, I’ve just about got it at half-speed.  whoo!

Bach's Prelude No.1 of the Well Tempered Clavier is a beautiful piece.  It illustrates his mastery of harmony, development and suspense.  It's like a well written thriller.  I was working on this with a student this morning, and was so inspired, that I had to put it in my book.  Rather than photocopying the piece [...]

  Today's lick is from my Joe Pass book.  It's a nice bebop(py) lick outlining a Dom 7 chord.  I included it in two octaves so it could be associated with the two basic types of the Dom 7 chord (5th & 6th string rooted). Now that I think of it, I think I've heard [...]

I had to learn a Grateful Dead tune for a wedding early this year. I found this lick while transcribing, and getting a feel for the tune. It's a very simple bluesy/jazzy, scale built of the Major Pentatonic. The b3rd is added (like a blue note), as well as the b7 & major7, to build [...]