We live in an increasingly visual world. A world of billboards, smart phones, computer screens, FaceTime, Instagram, Google ads, Facebook photos, Photoshop. But how about this – jazz music is all about listening. It’s all about sound. It’s an aural tradition. Jazz musicians say this all the time for good reason – because it’s true! […]
Stuck for ideas of what to play over that ii-V7? Give the octatonic (eight note) Diminished Scale a whirl. It’s a self contained, colorful, almost automatic source of melodic and harmonic tension and release that the masters have mastered since its inception. Within this symmetric, octatonic galaxy resides every available dominant tension (with the exception […]
Introduction Seamus Blake is one of my favorite saxophonists on the scene today and continues to move jazz in a forward direction appealing to a wide range of audiences. During my senior year of college, I had the opportunity to meet Seamus Blake and attend his masterclass where he discussed sound, practicing in all 12 […]
Anyone can play fast and accurately. There is no magic to it, just practising in a correct and constructive way. Most students nowadays fall into what I like to call a computer game mentality when they practice. They play a passage/lick/exercise wrong and/or sloppy a few times, and when they play it right once or […]
In virtually any musical idiom from the Western hemisphere, major and minor triads are a fundamental building block of melody. From children’s songs, to folk melodies, to European classical music, to Broadway show tunes and more, some of the most highly recognized and easily sung melodies are based upon the color and structure of the […]
Biography Bruce Williams hails from Washington, D.C. and has performed, toured, and recorded with a long roster of jazz legends such as: Little Jimmy Scott, Frank Foster, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Stanley Cowell, Louis Smith, Cecil Brooks III, The Count Basie Orchestra, The World Saxophone Quartet, Russell Gunn, Curtis Fuller, and Roy Hargrove to just […]
I’m guessing that each and every one of you reading this practice scales on a regular basis. It’s one of the first things that we learn and something that is reinforced throughout our lives in school or when taking lessons. Scales are amazing. I’m a huge fan and I believe they are a necessity for […]
Introduction If you have listened to Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, you might be wondering, who is that killing saxophonist backing up these two famous entertainers? If you don’t know, this is Steve Kortyka. I recently reached out to Steve to take a skype lesson and during my lesson, Steve shared two concepts with me […]