3 Tips To Improve Your Rhythmic Sight-Reading Skills
Rhythmic accuracy when reading is highly important. You might get your pitches right but if they are out of tempo or off the rhythm, they become meaningless. One of the hardest parts of being...
How to Play 7th Chords Like a Pro
One of the characteristics of jazz standards are the lush, colorful chords that populate
their harmonies. Jazz musicians often use chords that offer more harmonic information
than simple triads. These basic types of chords are called...
3 Polyrhythmic Exercises Every Jazz Musician Should Master
Rhythm is one of the most important aspects of jazz. If you want to take your playing to the next level – no matter where you’re at in your musical development – you must...
How to Develop Your Ear to Instrument Connection
I get a lot of emails asking me questions like, "how do I learn songs by ear?", "how do I learn solos by ear?", "how do I play the music I'm hearing in my...
How to Improvise Over “Stella By Starlight”
Stella By Starlight is arguably one of the most popular jazz standards of all time. As one of the most commonly called “workhorse” songs on gigs and jam sessions, this is a must-know tune...
How to Learn Chord Progressions by Ear
One of the freedoms we want to have as musicians is to be able to recognize chord progressions and learn songs by ear. Being shackled by a reliance on sheet music can be draining,...
How To Develop Musical and Organized Jazz Drum Solos
Playing drum solos is one of the first great challenges a jazz drummer faces in his/her career. Keeping the audience hooked to a long drum solo is definitely not easy. Many times I see...
How to Build Chord Extensions and Alterations
It’s important that you understand that all 7th chords can be extended and altered. This is not only important to comprehend if you play a chordal instrument, like a piano or guitar, but it’s...
How to Identify 7th Chord Extensions By Ear
If you want to become an excellent improviser, you need to have a solid ear. You need to have ears trained to hear anything that comes your way and ready to react quickly to...
How to Level Up Your Odd Meter Playing
Back in my formative years, I thought I was good at playing odd meters. However, when I had to deal with it in a more professional context, later on, I realized my language and...