Lesson

🚨 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:

Let's work on comping! 

Do you know the chords!!! :-)

🚨 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:

check this out. Practice this way. Not that you will use it all the time, but you might use it a lot! 

this is my stuff. Those of you who have been on the site for a long time, have heard some of this before. 

It has to sound like the song when you solo. That means you know the changes or have AMAZING ears. 

My mantra is 'Does it Sound LIKE THE SONG". If you remember that you have to make it sound like the song first and foremost then all your practicing is with that in mind. 

David is stellar vibraphonist that resides in Paris, France. He's really a special player. He did a few lessons for us!

This lesson talks about a unique way to pedal a bossa and play a solo. It's cool! And short. You will get it right away.

🚨 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