Mike's Master Classes
Anatomy of a Tune - Be-bop Style

Anatomy of a Tune - Be-bop Style

Roni Ben-Hur·
5.0 (3 reviews)·BEGINNER·Harmony·1 lesson
$29.95
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Master the Barry Harris method of harmonic analysis and discover how bebop legends construct their melodic lines in this comprehensive exploration with renowned guitarist Roni Ben-Hur. This course takes you deep into the essential skill of breaking down jazz standards to their most fundamental harmonic structures, using "How High the Moon" as your working laboratory. You'll learn to identify the underlying harmonic progressions that exist beneath the chord changes—the skeletal framework that bebop masters use as their starting point for improvisation. Roni demonstrates how to strip away the color chords to reveal the dominant progressions that truly drive the music forward, giving you multiple substitution options including diminished, augmented, and tritone alternatives. This isn't about simplification—it's about understanding the architecture so you can build more sophisticated solos with informed choices. Working through practical examples from Roni's book "Talk Jazz," you'll explore the bebop approach to adding chromatic notes to major and dominant scales, understand the concept of important chords within the dominant scale, and analyze a complete pre-written solo that demonstrates these principles in action. You'll discover why that G minor 7 to C7 is really just an extended C11, and how recognizing these relationships opens up your harmonic palette. Perfect for intermediate to advanced players ready to move beyond chord-scale theory into the deeper waters of bebop construction. You'll leave with a systematic approach to analyzing any standard, plus the tools to develop melodic ideas with the sophistication and logic of the bebop masters.

Course Content

Lessons

  • Anatomy of a Tune - Be-bop Style5580

Reviews & Ratings

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Karol Wolnok
Verified Purchase
1/27/2022

"Very good lesson "

I’m impressed by this lesson. I’m also a jazz guitar teacher and I’m learning a lot from Profesor Roni Ben-Hur. He understands what students need to learn a topic. Thank you.

Bryant Fraser
6/30/2007

Roni Ben-Hur's style and method is unique and can only help in opening the player to new centers of understanding improv and harmony.

Fred C.
Verified Purchase
6/25/2007

Outstanding lesson! Roni covers a lot of material in a clear, organized and helpful way. I repeatedly found that my questions were being addressed by Roni only seconds after they occurred to me. Hope to see more lessons by Roni, as this lesson probably only scratches the surface of what Roni can teach students.

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About the instructor

Roni Ben-Hur →
Jazz guitarist Roni Ben-Hur has earned a sterling reputation as a musician and educator, renowned for his golden tone, improvisational brilliance, compositional lyricism and ability to charm peers, students and listeners alike. Eminent jazz critic Gary Giddins wrote in the Village Voice: "A limber and inventive guitarist, Ben-Hur keeps the modernist flame alive and pure, with a low flame burning in every note ... [He's] a guitarist who knows the changes and his own mind." Roni - born in Israel in 1962 but a longtime American citizen, based in New York City - has recorded a dozen albums as leader or co-leader, with The New York Times praising his "crisp, fluid style" and Time Out New York calling him "a formidable and consummately lyrical guitarist." He has developed a rare facility in both straight-ahead jazz and Brazilian styles, evidenced by his work with masters in both fields, from pianist Benny Harris and saxophonist/ flautist Frank Wess to vocalist Leny Andrade. The Star-Ledger of New Jersey summed up Roni this way: "A deep musician, a storyteller, Ben-Hur works with a warm, glowing sound and has an alluring way of combining engaging notes with supple rhythm." Along with releasing acclaimed educational products - such as the instructional DVD Chordability and method book Talk Jazz: Guitar - Roni has directed international jazz camps for some 15 years. Jazz guitar star Russell Malone got it right when he said: "Everything Roni does is beautiful. He has the magic touch."