In this lesson I describe my method of looking at the guitar and show you what I believe is a unique and beneficial way of developing a deep understanding of the instrument and its application to jazz. Topics include:

Creating Drop 2's
Creating Drop 3's
Understanding extensions and their app...

In this short video, I show you the basic jazz blues chord progression and explain the importance of dissonance. The last segment gives you ideas for practicing these techniques. The PDF is located here!

In this lesson I describe how the jazz blues differs from traditional blues and show you the methods used to create the ii-V's that give jazz blues it's definitive sound. This is designed as a beginner lesson but even intermediate to advanced guitarists will find something useful in it. This is a...

In this essential lesson, I discuss the major II-V utilizing both chordal and linear examples. I have provided the exercises that gave me a great foundation during my earlier years. This material became apparent to me during the period of my life when I was transcribing a lot of Charlie Parker so...

In this lesson I discuss the two types of dominant chords we deal with in jazz tunes, resolving and non resolving. I keep the discussion two the modes of melodic minor but discuss various reharmonizations, and give you 7 pages of melodic and chordal examples. Another essential lesson for understa...

In this lesson I walk you through 5 positions on the guitar and give you my favorite chord voicings on the standard tune There Will Never be Another You. I have also included a chord etude completely transcribed for you to practice the voicings. An essential lesson for all jazz guitarists.

In this lesson, I show you the modes of melodic minor I use most often. These modes unlock some of the most common chords we find in traditional and modern harmony. There are many transcribed lines in both notation and tab as well as some insight as to how to use the triad pairs derived from thes...

In this lesson I discuss the way I approach the minor II-V. I use Dizzy Gillespie's tune Woody'n You as a vehicle for all of the demonstrations. Topics include thinking of the -7b5 chord a s a minor 6, and the usage of pentatonics and the melodic minor scale. This is an eye opening lesson, the ma...

Without question the idea of the "Secret Jazz Chord" has helped me more than anything to gain fretboard mastery and harmonic confidence. The basis of the idea is simple, I explain it thoroughly by breaking it down into three steps. This is an update to a previous lesson I had done but felt compel...

In this lesson, I discuss in great length the primary chord scales I use when dissecting tunes for analysis. This lesson contains almost 8 pages of transcribed material with time stamps to help you navigate the lesson. PDF in both Notation and Tab.

One of the most requested lessons is here! I discuss my methods of using back cycling as a tool for comping, improvising and chord melody arrangements. This lesson contains almost 6 pages of transcribed material with time stamps to help you navigate the lesson. PDF in both Notation and Tab.

Here we take a deep dive into what makes the harmonic minor scale such an important part of the jazz language, particularly in regard to bebop musicians like Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown and a host of others. A very important lesson on how to use this sound on dominant chords utilizing the Cole...

This is a must have lesson! I had a request to demonstrate turning transcribed material into musical solos. The lesson does that but it also contains the methodology I use to transform a single line into many permutations and how to use that line over more than one chord type. I have transcribed ...

This entire 40 minute lesson deals with some of my methods for creating interesting comping on the blues. I discuss tritones, back-cycling voicings in 4ths, countdown changes and using melody as the most important feature of a well played accompaniment.

A very often requested topic! In this 40 minute lesson I show you my techniques of bringing the boring I-VI-II-V to life! Topics include the "one note method", the "chromatic scale method" tritone subs and III for I. I also discuss turnarounds in minor as well as the turnaround to the ii-7 chord.

In this essential lesson I show how I use small melodic patterns to allow me to weave through the five positions I always use. The best part of this is that in every position, the fingerings remain the same. It's simple but mind blowing when you realize what this can do for your fretboard knowled...

It's in so many of his tunes and all over his solos. Wes's ingenious way of simply adding the II chord to the tritone changes the whole approach to this common substitution. Great examples on the PDF using Autumn Leaves, Another You, Blues and Rhythm Changes. This lesson is so important and will ...

Interested in taking your chord melody playing to the next level? In this one hour masterclass, I discuss several methods including the dominant, chromatic and diatonic approaches. You'll also find out about other topics like counterpoint and various techniques for spicing things up in these arr...

In this lesson I discuss ways of creating intros and endings. Although I have provided plenty of transcribed examples, the main focus of the lesson is to teach you to be able to create interesting intros and endings on any tune. I also discuss some of the most common (quick and easy) endings that...

Linear Turnaround Secrets. In this lesson I demonstrate how to use basic dom7b9 language to create interesting lines over turnarounds. I then apply the material to "rhythm changes".

Learn how I take II-V's from different key areas and superimpose them over traditional II-V's. Pretty cool:) A lot of this material I learned from the Bill Evans arrangement of "I Hear a Rhapsody" but it sounds amazing on any tune! All examples presented in both tab and notation. Another must hav...

In this hour long lesson, I walk you through my typical daily practice routine. I discuss technique, singing while practicing, chord scale relationships, the importance of playing with a metronome and much more. The included PDF contains my favorite major and minor scale fingerings as well as som...