The B Section

Yes. You should. Metronome work helps us keep ourselves accountable with playing in time and there are many creative ways to use it. Start with the metronome giving you every beat in the measure and then start taking beats away. There are many free and cheap metronome apps available!

What makes the bebop scale worth learning about? It's just like other scales we know but with an added half step, right? Yes, but that added chromatic note gives us a peek into one aspect of what makes bebop have the sound it does. By learning this scale and moving where the half step occurs around, we can begin to use passing notes to make our lines more interesting and fluid.

As a professional jazz musician, it is expected of us to know quite a lot of standards and jazz standards but some stand out more than others. Here are 10 tunes you should know as a jazz musician!

During this pandemic, it's safe to say that probably all of us have had zero or very few gigs at least for some lengthy duration of time. This extra time at home grants us an opportunity to get some practicing in which is great but what about when it comes time to play live again? In this episode, Brett gives some suggestions of what to practice to keep you in shape for when gigging returns.

Voice leading is the way in which you connect your lines and resolve your tension in music. Typically, the smoother the voice leading, the more satisfying and effective the resolution is. Smooth voice leading is the means in which you can make almost any line or chord "work". In this case, it's not about the journey but the destination!

Do you consider the flow of your set when performing? Do you consider your audience when selecting material? Episode 18 is all about how to construct a meaningful and effective set list that has a nice flow to it while remaining flexible if need be.

If you could only learn 5 scales to get yourself started in jazz, what would they be? In this episode, Brett picks 5 scales that you need to know to help you improvise. Listen until the end for a few honorable mentions and remember that there are many more scales worth learning beyond these!

Pianist Jonathan Lovett makes a guest appearance and discusses with Brett what chord substitutions are, which ones you should know, and some personal favorites of his. Chord subs are a fun way to imply different harmony to achieve new sounds over the original chord. Chord function is key!

Do you know your modes? If so, do you know how to apply them to your playing? In this episode, Brett gives you a couple of ways to think about modes and how to apply that knowledge to your improvisation.

In part 2 of the interview, Brett and Charlton discuss the origins of Ranky Tanky and what it was like to win the Grammy for Best Regional Roots album. Go check out Charlton and Ranky Tanky!