Upcoming Workshop: Bebop For Beginners
Published: Wed, 06/14/23
The first workshop, Freddie Green Chords, explained how add swing style chord substitutions to the blues progression using just a handful of three-note chord voicings. The followup class, The Swing Scale, showed how to combine swing phrasing and the essential notes of the I IV and V chord to spell out those chord changes, lick by lick.
Bebop For Beginners takes that idea one step further, showing you how where and how to add altered and diminished licks to your solos, using just a few simple fingerings at three essential points in the twelve-bar progression.
As I've mentioned more than once before, you don't have to learn all the modes, on every standard, in all twelve keys, to add a little jazz sophistication to your playing. The point of these workshops is to provide you with a clear, simple, hands-on understanding of how musicians like Grant Green and Kenny Burrell get "that sound" on the blues, with concise, practical exercises, licks and solos that help build your vocabulary and your improvisation skills in an effective, manageable way.
Today's Youtube video includes one example of the kind of material I'll be covering a week from Saturday. For today's lesson, I break down the difference between how swing and bebop musicians play over the first line of a blues in Bb, demonstrating along the way when and how to use the altered sound. If you've been wondering all this time what a b13th is and why you should care about it in the first place, this lesson just might clear that up for you once and for all. You can find it at the link below:
Get That Bebop Sound By Adding Altered Licks To The Twelve-Bar Blues
You can learn more about the upcoming workshop and register to attend here:
Bebop For Beginners
More soon,
David