Day: July 29, 2011

Rock Improvisation Techniques – Bruce Hornsby For me, one of the reasons I love Bruce Hornsby’s music so much is due to his ability to infuse a jazz sound into a rock environment. Let me explain… In this article, I will break down one of the licks that I teach in our Bruce Hornsby, “The…

Recently I recorded a Willie Answers lesson on diminished harmony. Part of that lesson was using a diminished approach technique which I discuss in depth in the lesson. I also covered drop 2 voicings which generated some questions from our students. So, I figured let’s do an article to explain the concept! In this article, I am…

Using Quartals To Make Richer Chord Voicings I love the sound of those big, fat jazz chords. Don’t you? Those tensions and ‘extra’ notes really make the song go from dull to dazzling. Creating these rich chord voicings becomes much easier when we use quartals. A quartal is two stacked intervals. It is two perfect…

There are several ways that you can form chords: 1. Number the scale and choose the appropriate scale degrees 2. Use intervals to “stack” notes 3. Use your ear to “hunt and peck” at the notes Let’s work backwards. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –…

  Understanding Jazz Piano Chords Jazz piano chords can sometimes be confusing at first glance. In this article, I am going to explain how jazz players usually interpret chords and pick tensions to create lush chords. Bear in mind, every musician has their own “tricks” that they use to form their chords. However, there are some…

Where do I start? This is a question that I am often asked from new and potential students. I suppose if I only have two DVDs available, it would be easier to pick a place to start. However, I have dozens and dozens of DVDs available on many different topics. So, I completely understand why…