All tutorials (page 1)
-
Mining Bud Powell: an applied analysis⟶
★ Featured free tutorialThis tutorial takes eight bars from Bud Powell’s solo on ‘Oblivion’ from The Genius of Bud Powell and works with it in different keys, at different tempos, and in different contexts.
Transposing a few bars of Bud’s solo from E flat major to G major: how I think when transposing, in terms of key, chord progression, and scale degrees • Transposing just a single phrase • Taking phrases and using them in other contexts: in another jazz standard, over a rhythm changes bridge, and in a contemporary jazz context
-
Comping and soloing over complex changes
★ New tutorialA case study on comping behind and soloing over a complex, 22-bar chord sequence. Includes two composed ‘ideal’ comping run-throughs (complete with notes about the voicings and techniques used), and exercises on improvising a solo based on chord tones only and then chord tones with passing notes. Finally, have a go comping and soloing yourself with a backing track.
‘The Boyfriend Chord’ head (section A) • Composing an ‘ideal’ comping run-through, version 1 • Bonus PDF: “George Shearing-style ‘locked-hands’ block chords” • Diatonic planing block chords over B major 7 • Composing an ‘ideal’ comping run-through, version 2 • Planing with So What voicing • Improvising a solo based on chord tones • A more realistic improvised solo, with passing notes • Jamming: have a go yourself
-
Playing outside the changes⟶
★ Featured free tutorialPlaying ‘outside’ or ‘outside the changes’ is a cool sound that builds tension and adds additional interest and excitement to your soloing.
Example 1. Jungle/drum and bass • 2. Chilled Latin • 3. Straight-ahead bebop • Jungle/DnB and chilled Latin backing tracks to jam along to • Exercise 1. Jungle, minor 3rds ascending • 2. Medium swing, major 2nds descending
-
12-bar jazz blues example
A twelve-bar jazz blues in G major for solo piano (melody and walking bass), and a twelve-bar blues in E flat major (walking bass and right-hand comping patterns).
-
Bebop enclosures⟶
A brief intro to bebop ‘enclosures’, a foundational jazz pattern.
Contains several examples of phrases with enclosures, including a real-world example in the form of four bars from a Keith Jarrett solo.
-
Bebop figure 1
A 16th-note bebop phrase that works over a number of different chord types.
Bebop figure 1 (works over major 7th, minor 7th, dominant 7th and Phrygian chords) • Variation 1 (minor sixth and half diminished chords) • Variation 2 (altering the figure) • A variation that works over diminished 7th chords • Exercise: putting it into practice in a tune (rhythm changes)
-
Bebop figure 2
UpdatedAnother 16th-note bebop phrase.
Includes three rhythmic variations on the original phrase (over a minor 7th chord) and versions that work over Phrygian and diminished 7th chords. New, April 2025: Using the lick to build a coherent solo (rhythm changes).
-
Bebop licks: ii-V7-I (2-5-1): major key
A collection of bebop licks over ii-V7-I cadences in the major key.
ii-V7-I in: F major (198bpm) • F major (140bpm) • F major (200bpm) • E major (184bpm) • B flat major (236bpm) • E flat major (190bpm) • E flat major (Keith Jarrett) (164bpm)
-
Bebop licks: ii-V7-i (2-5-1): minor key
Some bebop licks for ii-V7-i cadences/chord progressions in the minor key, where the ii is a half-diminished (or minor 7 flat 5) chord.
ii-V7-I in: D minor (184bpm) ✕ 2 • B minor (184bpm) • E minor (190bpm) • G minor (190bpm; lick from Keith Jarrett playing ‘Stella…’) • A minor (147bpm) • C minor (189bpm; lick from Bill Evans’ ‘Bill’s Hit Tune’) • A note about scales and chords
-
Blues licks for piano⟶
A collection of blues licks for piano (electric or acoustic).
Blues lick 1 (F major, 120bpm) • Blues lick 2 (B minor/major, 120bpm) • Blues lick 3 (B flat major, 121bpm) • Blues lick 4 (F major, 120bpm) • Blues lick 5 (F minor, 114bpm) • Blues/rock ’n’ roll lick 6 (D major, 119bpm) • Suggested listening
-
Blues licks for piano 2
Eight more blues licks.
Blues lick 7 (B minor/major, 120bpm) • Blues lick 8 (Eb minor/major, 140bpm) • Blues lick 9 (A minor, 120bpm) • Blues lick 10 (E major, 131bpm) • Blues lick 11 (F minor, 127bpm) • Blues lick 12 (D minor, 145bpm) • Blues/rock ’n’ roll lick 13 (E flat major, 158bpm) • Blues lick 14: blues ending (B flat major, 91bpm)
-
Bonus: general guidance
A bonus post, with some thoughts and opinions on playing jazz. YMMV.
Not a sprint • Certainly a mystery • Scales and technical exercises • Record yourself • Practising improvisation • Performance anxiety • Sound issues: A cacophonous environment; Bad pianos; Acoustic pianos in an amplified environment (or where there’s a loud drummer) • Context switching and moving between different genres of music
-
Funk groove 1⟶
A slow funk groove built around a ‘4-3’ bluesy crunch/double-stop.
Includes an additional section, ‘Jamming on the fly: creating your own grooves’, demonstrating how to begin improvising your own grooves by starting simple. Mute my keyboard to jam along with the drums yourself.
-
Funk groove 2
An up-tempo funk groove, with a focus on interplay between the hands.
-
Funk groove 3
A medium tempo funk groove over A dominant 7.
Includes a look at a Mixolydian ‘chord scale’ that is formed if we continue moving the groove’s main voicing up and down the dominant 7 scale.
-
Funk groove 4 (12-bar blues)
A funk groove over a twelve-bar blues in G major.