The 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Podcast

This week is a continuation of last week's lesson. Now we are taking our contrafact and writing new chord changes to it, effectively coming up with our own tune. This is a great exercise in many different ways because there are so many possibilities. You can make your re-harmonization as plain or as out there as you would like. Maybe you stumble upon a great set of chords that can be used outside of this exercise entirely. There are so many ways this can benefit your playing and writing skills! This is also a great cure for writers block if you've ever experienced that headache. I have done my own re-harmonization of the melody I wrote last week so you can look into the process before doing your own. My suggestion would be to re-harmonize my melody from last week on your own and see what you come up with. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift  of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We hope that we bring you value every week here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson and we appreciate all of your support! SIGN UP TO BE A PATRON TODAY!

This week we discuss a positive reinforcement that you need to be doing every week to keep improving and stay motivated!

Writing a contrafact is the act of taking an existing set of chord changes and writing your own melody to it. This is great for a number of reasons. First, you can cure writers block beautifully with this tactic. Sometimes when we can't come up with anything new and fresh on our own, it's valuable to take someone else's creativity and put our own spin on it. Secondly, this is a great way to practice our own melodic writing using some of the best chord changes from the history of this music. In this episode, I have written a contrafact over the tune, Ladybird, by Tadd Dameron. We are using this tune because we have taken a look at it previously on the podcast so it should be familiar to us. The final step in getting the most out of a contrafact is taking your new melody and then re harmonizing the chord changes to make a completely original tune! Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift  of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We hope that we bring you value every week here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson and we appreciate all of your support! SIGN UP TO BE A PATRON TODAY!

This week we are taking the concepts that we covered last week and stepping up our game a little bit. This material is still based around the Mixolydian Sharp 9 Chord Scale, but this time we are going to add another color tone. The scale now becomes the Mixolydian Sharp 9, Sharp 11 Scale this week. If you're searching for more harmonic color and a more interesting solo, this is the episode for you. We talk about the scale on a micro level, and then talk about the broader implications of giving your solo some direction by making it more colorful the deeper you get into the solo. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift  of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We hope that we bring you value every week here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson and we appreciate all of your support! SIGN UP TO BE A PATRON TODAY!

This week is all about recording your practice and thoughts about music.

The blues scale is a great device for beginners and an easy way to explain playing over the blues. At the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson, our goal is to move beyond the basics and expand your horizons into deeper levels of playing. This isn't always easy, but is usually very fulfilling and leads to quick improvement. This week we are going to move beyond the blues scale into what is called the Mixolydian Sharp 9 Scale. This may sound complicated when you first hear it, but is very close to the blues scale we all know and love. By simply adding a note we get something completely different that reflects the chord changes more accurately. Have fun and enjoy the episode, don't hesitate to reach out with any questions you might have on this material! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift  of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We hope that we bring you value every week here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson and we appreciate all of your support! SIGN UP TO BE A PATRON TODAY!

This week is more of a challenge. Are your ears up to the task?

Chris Potter is a one of a kind musician. If you have ever heard him play you know what I'm talking about. His work ethic and skill level should be an inspiration to us all if not being slightly depressing at times :) This week we are going to take a look at a phrase that he plays over Cherokee and see what makes it tick. This material largely mimics the bebop language but with Potter's own special twist on it. If you don't take anything else away from this episode, just hear how flawlessly this type of language comes out of Chris and his ability to make some of the hardest material sound as easy as playing a nursery rhyme. Chris is a constant source of inspiration to me as a player and a human being. Let's all try to get to his level someday! Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift  of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We hope that we bring you value every week here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson and we appreciate all of your support! SIGN UP TO BE A PATRON TODAY!

Laszlo Gardony is a living legend in jazz. Over his illustrious career as a teacher and performer he has crossed paths with some of the best musicians in the world and is a perennial favorite to jazz fans all over. This week, we caught up with Laszlo to hear about his new record, Serious Play and talk to him about some of the things that have made his career so long and fruitful. As a Boston native, I have been keeping up with Laszlo's work since I was a kid. It was a real thrill for me to talk to him and I think our interview will shed much light on many things to think about and act on in your own playing and approach to music. Enjoy the episode! Get Serious Play here! Visit Laszlo's Website!

This week is all about a seriously painful part of practicing that everyone needs to do regardless of skill level.

This week is all about the 5 most common types of 7th chords and how to rapidly switch between them. Most of the time when we practice, we take the same exercise and put it in all keys. This is a great way of doing things and I've spent countless hours getting this side of my playing down. This week we are going to reverse things a little bit and instead of taking the same exercise through 12 keys, we are going to play in the same key but play all of the qualities in rapid fire succession. This works a different part of your brain and may be very hard for you. Take it slowly and really try to hear the chord qualities as you play through the exercises. Send me any questions and have fun with this week's episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift  of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We hope that we bring you value every week here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson and we appreciate all of your support! SIGN UP TO BE A PATRON TODAY!

This week is all about listening on a deeper level to discover much more than you ever imagined.                            

This week we are talking about one of my favorite things: rhythm. The difference between a good player and a great player tends to be their sense of time and rhythmic flexibility. This is an exercise I learned way back in high school that I still work on to this day. When we are able to place a phrase anywhere we want it, we gain several advantages. One of the biggest is the ability to play over the bar line. This opens up a world of possibilities for us and removes any limits on our phrasing. We always talk about avoiding predictability and this is one of the best ways to free ourselves. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift  of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We hope that we bring you value every week here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson and we appreciate all of your support! SIGN UP TO BE A PATRON TODAY!

This week we turn off our brain and open our ears!                        

This week we are talking about a horrible affliction that affects many jazz musicians. The good news is, this disease can be cured with a little bit of hard work and you don't even have to see a doctor! Many folks center everything they do around the root of the chord. It's a safe bet and the root of the chord is printed right on the sheet music, making it the easiest and most convenient note play at any time. The problem with this is that our solos and phrases become boring and predictable very quickly. The root is also not a very melodic note, leaving us with a somewhat underwhelming solo. Check out these exercises to cure yourself from root-itis and get on the path to recovery! Enjoy the episode. WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month you get this PDF and every other. We will also be bringing you many extras exclusively to our patrons including transcriptions and a FREE gift  of our latest Ebook, The Diatonic Method. We hope that we bring you value every week here at the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson and we appreciate all of your support! SIGN UP TO BE A PATRON TODAY!