Jazz Guitar Insights

For a jazz guitarist, learning licks is the equivalent to learning phrases in a language. However, it can often feel quite forced to use new licks in a solo - after all, aren't you supposed to be improvising?!

This podcast will help clarify things by giving you a method to practice jazz guitar licks, the right way. Marc takes a classic lick and runs it through his patented Jazz Guitar Assimilation Machine... you'll be amazed by what comes out!

Reference materials:

1. https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/jazz-guitar-licks-no-trouble

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJdc96Y4nJY

Developing a strong sense of internal time is an essential part of learning jazz guitar! No more chasing the beat - this skill will make your solos and comping sound steady as a rock at jam sessions and gigs.

In this podcast I'll cover some metronome "games" (ranging from beginner to advanced) that will strengthen your time feel! You'll learn how to set your metronome up for 4/4 and 3/4, playing double time, and a neat trick for playing fast tempos.

In this episode we decipher the whole mysticism behind "voicings in fourths", also called quartal harmony. The first few voicings on Miles Davis' "So What" immediately come to mind when think about quartal chords.

In the first part of the podcast, we'll discuss voicings built in fourths "under" all the notes of the C major scale, as their top notes ... and learn how to create so-called "quartal inversions" of those.

In the second part of the podcast, we'll discuss real world applications for chords such as Cm7, C7 and Cmaj7(#11) ... all using quartal-based chord voicings.

The original videos and sheet music are found here:

https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/quartal-harmony-for-jazz-guitar

As a jazz guitar player, you'll be asked to and will likely want to play the blues. It's a ubiquitous form and there are so many heads out there. Likewise, there have surely been times where you've heard someone play the blues and thought that it sounds way cooler than how it does when you play off of a lead sheet.

It's probably because they were using all sorts of jazz blues substitutions. In this podcast, I cover different blues substitutions and where and how to use them to make your blues sound hip and jazzy.

As a new jazz player, it can be tempting to want to jump into Giant Steps, a pillar of jazz music, and expect to be just fine! However, Coltrane changes are challenging if don't know how to approach them.

In this podcast, I give you a crash course on Coltrane changes including the context behind them and how to practice them!

This podcast originally appeared on the blog here: https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/podcast-38-coltrane-changes

It can be tough when you're out at a gig or jam session and you've gotta transpose for a singer. You've never played that song in that key...

Here's the podcast to explain how you can number chords in a tune to transpose on the fly, with All the Things You Are as an example.

This podcast originally appeared on the blog here: https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/podcast-37-numbering-chords-in-a-tune-to-transpose-with-ease

If you've ever run into the situation where you struggled to set-up a tune with a nice introduction or create a nice, smooth ending, this podcast episode is for you. Here, I'm discussing a few simple and effective approaches to do just that!

This podcast originally appeared on the blog here: https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/podcast-36-intros-endings

In this podcast, we'll look into an exercise that is relatively simple in concept, but that can go very deep (as far as helping you become a better improviser). The "big scales" exercise, so-called, deals with the entire range of the instrument. Start low, cover all the notes, climb all the way up. Then come back down! I challenge you to apply some big scales to your own favorite standard progression. See if you can keep playing the "right" scale (and change scales at the appropriate time) while your line keeps ascending/descending in the same direction. This is hard. You've been warned! :-)

This podcast originally appeared on the blog here:

https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/podcast-35-using-big-scales-unlock-fretboard

Jazz is intellectual, right? Or is it? Find out by listen to the latest podcast on this website!

This podcast originally appeared on the blog here:

https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/podcast-34-jazz-cerebral

As jazzers, we're often culprit of only learning "bits and pieces" of the stuff we learn. A scale, an arpeggio, a few licks (etc.), and off we go improvising. In this podcast, we discuss the relevance of learning actual "pieces" of music (or studies). Enjoy!

This podcast originally appeared on the blog here:

https://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/blog/podcast-33-studies-versus-bits-pieces