Exploring 7/8
This piece is not meant to be a theory lesson in meter and time signatures. Rather, it is meant to help you open up some new doors and hopefully get your creative juices flowing!
Most of us have grown up listening to music characterized by the familiar time signatures of 4/4 or 3/4. 4/4 is the [...]
Exercise and trust your ears!
Years ago, I jammed with an incredible pianist. Classically trained, he could play anything you put in front of him. Not only was he a great sight-reader, he would also put a lot of feeling into everything he played. His only problem was that without sheet music, he was lost. If we played a 12 [...]
Improvisation Blues in A (Swing Feel)
This is standard blues progression with a jazzy feel to it that is great to solo over. Work with the A Minor Pentatonic scale over this progression. Try to play it in all 5 [...]
Improvisation: Am7 FMaj9 Progression with MP3
This is a slow and moody groove that is wonderful to solo over. Start of by working with the A Minor Pentatonic scale over this progression. Try to play it in the 3 positions mentioned in the A Minor Pentatonic [...]
Some Thoughts on Improvisation
Literally, volumes have been written on the subject of improvisation. These are some of my thoughts on what I find to be one of the most pleasurable and satisfying aspects of playing music.
Be Musical:
Being musical is a [...]
