Wyble Etude Applications: Blue Bossa & Danny Boy

Sid Jacobs shows how to actually apply the Jimmy Wyble etudes to real tunes, using two contrasting compositions: Blue Bossa, a jam-session staple, and Danny Boy, a beautiful melodic ballad. Compiled from hours of footage of Sid teaching single-note improvisation and solo guitar, this masterclass is a concise take on putting the etudes to work in your own playing.

What's covered

• Using the melody as the integral structure for a solo arrangement — "the chord changes come from the melody"
• The importance of triads and how Sid embellishes them with chromatic approach notes
• What C.E.S.H. (contrapuntal elaboration of static harmony) is and how Sid applies it to create interesting harmonic movement
• Shell voicings and finding the 3rds and 7ths inside the changes
• Appoggiatura chords, voice leading, and open-string scale ideas borrowed from the etudes

If you want your solo guitar playing to be more than block chords draped over a melody, this class is for you. It benefits students who have worked through the previous Wyble etude classes, but it also stands alone.

• Full video is 24 minutes