The 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Podcast

You probably guessed this would be the tune of the month, but here it is. This month we will be taking a look at the great Sonny Rollins composition and, as always, I've prepared an etude for you over the chord progression. In this etude, I really focused on using the syncopation style we spoke about in episode 257. I also went ahead and borrowed a phrasing idea used by Clifford Brown in episode 2...

We are back with a listener favorite Lick of the Month episode! This month, we take a look at a genius excerpt from the great, Clifford Brown on the fantastic jazz standard, Pent Up House. Brown displays many of the concepts we discussed this month in his lines, including a ton of syncopation and altered tones. Enjoy and don't forget to grab the PDF! ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patr...

This week we continue talking about strategies to turn rather vanilla lines into fantastic sounds! In this episode, we talk about strategically removing notes in measures to produce interesting syncopation and free up some space in our playing. It's all about the balance between sound and silence. Enjoy the episode ad don't forget to do the homework! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?...

This week we continue our series on making your lines more interesting and hip. Last episode we looked at call and response, this week, we take a look at morphing your lines from diatonic to altered which created a ton more tension and interest. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to do the homework assignments! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when...

This month we are going to look at how we can turn uninspiring lines into interesting, well crafted pieces of vocabulary. Whether you're feeling uninspired or just plain stuck, I hope these suggestions will be things you can write down and save for later whenever you're hard pressed to find some new sounds. This week we talk about using call and response to give our lines new structure and flavor....

This week we take a look at one of Miles Davis' original compositions, Nardis for our tune of the month episode. we will be attempting to use the concepts we talked about over the month involving diatonic playing and space. I'm not going to lie, I had a lot of trouble with this etude and don't think it's my best work. We talk about this difficulty and how you can get through something that doesn't...

This week we are going back to the concept we talked about in 251. This time we are looking at how to use purely diatonic notes over ii-V-I progressions and make them sound just as good as if we used the most advanced harmonic material possible. The juxtaposition between simple and complicated will definitely take our solos to the next level. Enjoy the episode! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH TH...

This week is all about, perhaps, the most well known jazz solo of all time. We are taking a looks at Miles' use of negative space on his solo over Freddie Freeloader. Talking about space and resting may seem boring, but don't let this important topic go unaddressed in your playing! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over to our Patreon page and when you donate $3 or more a month...

Welcome to a new month and a new series! This month, we will be studying one of the greatest musicians in the history of jazz, Miles Davis. In the first episode, we look at how just how effective harmonic simplicity can be by studying a few phrases from Miles' solo on Oleo. Most of us get caught up in trying to play the most advanced, complicated material we can on rhythm changes. Let's take a les...

This month's tune comes from Cy Coleman and is one of the most interesting chord progressions I have come across. It actually manages to demonstrate all three modulations we have been talking about this month! This is a wonderful walking ballad and I hope you enjoy the etude I have prepared for you and you can hear all of the wonderful key changes contained in this harmony. Have fun! WANT THE PDF...

This week we get into a bit of a tough modulation. Modulating up a major third happens in some important jazz standards and every musician should know how to accomplish this key change in a smooth and consistent manner. 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 a...

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 a...

Welcome back to a new series on the podcast! This month we will be looking an element of jazz we should all be familiar with, modulation. Most compositions have at least one key change. What do we do as improvisers to make the transition from one key to another as seamless as possible? That is what we will be discussing in this episode and for the rest of the month. Enjoy and don't forget to do yo...

Welcome to another Tune of the Month episode! This month we are finishing up our series on the playing of the legendary Charlie Parker by writing an etude over one of his most well known tunes. I strove to use the concepts from the previous three episodes this month in my writing and I think you will find a nice mix of the things we have talked about and explored. The challenge for this etude is t...

Welcome back to our third installment of episodes on the great Charlie Parker and how you can sound more like a bebop master! This week we are looking at the varied and amazing rhythmic phrasing that Bird uses to keep you on the edge of your seat. Through a combination of eighth notes, triplets, and sixteenth notes, we can learn how to form our own phrases with the same fantastic rhythmic sense an...

Welcome back to part 2 of our series on what we can learn from the great, Charlie Parker. This week we take a look at the shape of Bird's lines and how his combinations of horizontal and vertical playing lead to some very exciting sounds. The explosiveness these elements produce is unparalleled and if we can even get a little bit of this into our playing it will really pay off. Enjoy the episode a...

Welcome back! I wanted to try some new things this year and in the month of January we will take an up close look at some of the aspects of Charlie Parker's playing that makes it so unique and special. Bird was the architect of so many of the concepts we study today and his playing is just as relevant today as it was in the 1940's. We will kick this series off by looking at the way Parker connects...

Happy New Year everyone! Let's kick off 2021 the right way by starting a brand new transcription project. This episode will feature a recording from 1946 by Lester Young. 'No Eyes Blues', is all about how to play an effective melodic statement. Think more about the delivery rather than the content when transcribing this tune. Looking forward to hearing you all play this! https://www.youtube.com/wa...

Welcome back everyone! This is the final episode of 2020 and I want to thank all of you for a fantastic year (under less than ideal circumstances). I hope you have enjoyed the material we presented in 2020 and I'm very excited for this final episode, bringing our series on the minor blues to a close. This week I have prepared an etude for you with some pretty adventurous changes. Your job is to an...

Welcome back everyone! This week we continue our journey on the minor blues and making it as interesting as possible. In this episode, we take a look at what we can do to reharmonize measure 8 of the progression and go over two interesting variations. Hope you are enjoying this series and getting something out of it in your practice time! WANT THE PDF THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE?? Head over...

This week we continue our series on the minor blues. In this episode we add a few chord changes, giving the progression a unique sound and giving our lines more direction. Enjoy the episode and don't forget to complete the homework assignments before moving on to the next 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...

Welcome to a new month and a new series! This series was spurred by one of our listeners. They were wondering if I could do some episodes on the minor blues progression and how to handle it. This form is very common in jazz and it will pay off to dive into this set of chords more deeply. In this episode we take an overview of the changes, learn the basics, and lay some ground work for more advance...

This week we wrap up our series on composition. In keeping with the tradition, this is a tune of the month episode but this time, instead of using a jazz standard, we use the composition that I have been writing this month for you. I'm taking the chord progression from last episode, writing my own melody over it, and providing you with an etude as well. We talk about some of the decisions I made w...

Welcome back! This is our third episode on the art of composing and what you can do to get started with this important part of being a jazz musician. This week, we talk about writing chord progressions before melodies and some tips and tactics you can use to come up with your first chord progression from scratch. There is some homework in this episode so make sure your ready to put in some time! W...

This week we look at the age old question, should I write the melody or the chord changes first when composing? My answer is; both! This episode will be all about writing short melodies with prompts and a few rules. This will be the first time you are faced with a blank page but don't worry, we will try to make it as easy as possible for you to write a few simple melodies. Composition is fun, valu...