Frequently in your lessons, you will work through a particular chordal cadence and then you stop and say some variation of "and this is what it sounds like 'linearly'' whereupon you will play a blazing series of lines that fluidly address each chord. It SEEMS to me that this ability to "play the changes" effortlessly is one of the holy grails of jazz guitar improvisation. Any chance you would consider doing an "Essentials" lesson based upon cultivating this particular skill? I KNOW that you basically address this all throughout your lessons, but any particular tips or exercises on developing this skill would really be appreciated. I DO live in a degree of fear that the answer to the question (as to so many others) "how does one cultivate the ability to 'play the changes'" might well be "transcribe, transcribe, transcribe!" Would that I had the time! This for considering this Barry! -Josh
Ha! Of course transcription is part of it but the most progress I have made is when I began to practice playing through tunes with consecutive 8th notes. No breaks, just straight 8th notes through and tune. Start insanely slow and work your way up to the point where you can outline all the chords for at least one chorus. I think I talk about this in Barry's Practice Routine?
What about the "Line Connections" lesson? I haven't watched it, but the description makes it seem like it might be made to order here. No? Thanks! -J