🎵 Play A Great Rhythm Changes In 3 Months – Week 4
Over the first three weeks of this series, we've built a solid foundation:
• Learning the form
• Internalizing common voicings
• Introducing basic comping rhythms
• Developing a feel for the harmonic movement of rhythm changes
This week, we take another step forward.
👉 We're introducing more syncopated comping rhythms.
🎵 Play A Great Rhythm Changes In 3 Months – Week 3
Over the first two weeks of this series, we've focused on building a harmonic foundation:
• Learning the form
• Internalizing common voicings
• Hearing the movement of the harmony
• Developing familiarity with rhythm changes
The rhythm was intentionally simple so all of our attention could be placed on the chords.
This week, that changes.
👉 We're introducing comping rhythms.
Many of the voicings in this lesson will already be familiar from Weeks 1 and 2. That's by design.
🎵 Play A Great Rhythm Changes In 3 Months – Week 2
Last week, we focused on learning the form and internalizing a set of common rhythm changes voicings. The rhythm was intentionally simple so all of our attention could be placed on the harmony.
This week, we're continuing that approach.
👉 The focus is still harmony, not rhythm.
The written rhythm remains simple because we're trying to build a larger vocabulary of voicings before we start introducing rhythmic comping concepts.
🚨 New Series Alert – Play A Great Rhythm Changes In 3 Months
Over the past few months, we worked through Play A Great Blues In 3 Months, building a complete approach to the blues through comping, guide tones, lines, vocabulary, melodies, and chord melody.
Now it's time for the next challenge:
👉 Rhythm Changes
If the blues is one of the foundational forms in jazz, rhythm changes is the next major milestone.
🚨 Play a Great Blues in 3 Months – Week 14
We’ve covered a lot over the course of this series:
• Guide tones
• Blues comping
• Chromaticism
• Whole tone and diminished language
• Chord melody textures
• Harmonic movement underneath simple melodies
For our final lesson, we bring many of those ideas together using:
👉 “The Intimacy of the Blues”
This arrangement continues the idea of using a relatively simple melody as a framework for richer harmonic movement underneath.
This week introduces:
🚨 Play a Great Blues in 3 Months – Week 13
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been combining blues melodies with chord voicings and moving toward a fuller chord melody approach.
This week, we use a very simple melody:
👉 “C Jam Blues”
Because the melody is so minimal, it gives us room to focus on something else:
👉 Dense harmonic movement underneath the melody
This lesson introduces several important concepts:
🚨 Play a Great Blues in 3 Months – Week 12
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working with blues melodies and combining them with chord voicings—moving toward a more complete, chord melody approach.
This week, we introduce a new tune:
👉 “Sonnymoon for Two”
This melody has a slightly different character than Bag’s Groove—it’s more rhythmically active and sits differently against the harmony.
In this version, you’ll notice:
🚨 Play a Great Blues in 3 Months – Week 11
Last week, we started working with a real tune—“Bag’s Groove”—combining the melody with chord voicings in the spaces.
This week, we take that idea a step further.
👉 We move toward a more chord melody approach.
In this version, you’ll notice:
• Some melody notes are now harmonized with chords
• Additional voicings fill out the texture
• Certain harmonies are slightly modified for a fuller sound
• The line and harmony are more integrated
🚨 Play a Great Blues in 3 Months – Week 10
Up to this point, we’ve been building a blues vocabulary through:
• Guide tones
• Chromaticism
• Augmented, diminished, and whole tone sounds
• Full chorus line studies
This week, we shift into something more practical:
👉 Applying these ideas to a real tune
We’re using the melody to “Bag’s Groove” as our starting point, and combining it with chord voicings in the spaces.
This is an important step.
Instead of thinking separately about:
🚨 Play a Great Blues in 3 Months – Week 4
Up to this point, we’ve stayed in F and focused on building a strong foundation:
• Clear guide tone movement
• Controlled upper voice motion
• Consistent Charleston rhythm
This week, we take a big step forward.
👉 We move to the key of B♭, one of the most common blues keys.