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Guide Tones lines can be the missing link for many improvisers when soloing over chord changes. Knowing the chord tones of each chord and their possible chord scales are only part of the equation. Using the Charlie Parker tune “Blues For Alice” we'll explore the many benefits achieved from the study and practice of guide tone lines for both soloing and comping. This in-depth class comes with 12 pages of material written in standard notation that accompany the 90 minute video. Each guide tone line (both ascending and descending) is followed by notated solo choruses and/or excerpts that illustrate each line. Various lines are mixed together to create endless possibilities outlining several approaches: Voice-leading triads and 7th chords and upper chordal extensions and voice-leading intervals through a progression. Other highlights of the class include: Rhythmic approaches to soloing with guide tones Bebop phrasing Guide tone lines on turnarounds Mixing common tones with guide tone lines Balancing phrases off one another The use of sequences and repetition If you've wanted your solo phrases to have a more logical flow then manipulating the guide tone lines can give you that needed structure. Solo lines become more sound benefitting from an important compositional approach used by the great composers and songwriters. Good line architecture can greatly strengthen one's soloing abilities. This class offers an enjoyable look at guide tone lines focused on an interesting variation of the 12 bar blues. View a clips from Steve's class

If you are looking for both basic and new concepts to devise intros and endings, then this class is for you! The 16 pages of written material (including TAB) along with the 90-minute video will aid in learning the theory behind what makes great intros, beginning with the progressions themselves, and then many arrangements of rich chordal intros. Coming up with your own intros, both in practice and on the spot, is a fun and useful technique that can raise one’s level of overall musicianship. Once you are playing great sounding intros, you’ll always look forward to starting tunes! Highlights of this class include: Chord substitution Common root motion Pedal points Sequential patterns Contrapuntal-style intros/endings Essential tone comping below melody Solo guitar style with a bass presence Specific examples meant to be used with bass accompaniment Guide tone lines Chord inversions 2 and 3-part chordal intros Single-note intros 90 minute video and written materials in standard notation and TAB for finger-style, pick-style and hybrid picking. After working through the class, you’ll never want to say “right on it” when counting off a tune again!

Single note lines can be given greater depth by using two notes played simultaneously in a variety of interval combinations. These harmonic intervals that can be mixed and matched implying harmony with just two notes weaving in and out of chords and single note lines for interesting textural changes. Guitarists such as Ed Bickert, Barney Kessel, Johnny Smith and Howard Roberts are just a few who have used double stops extensively in their playing. The class is divided into two sections: Part 1, harmonic scale studies (of every interval smaller than an octave) including 10th intervals, a veritable pillar of harmony. Both major and melodic minor scales are shown for each interval. The studies are logically laid out on the fingerboard for ease of memorization and use. Part 2, II-V-I and minor II-V-I lines in every interval (octaves and smaller.) The lines are great for helping to build a jazz vocabulary and employ good finger mechanics. (Alternating pairs of fingers are used whenever possible.) The 62 separate II-V-I examples (in TAB and standard notation) are in a variety of keys and registers and are a good mixture of scalar and arpeggiated lines. The lines are between two to four bars long, ideal for alternating with phrases of single notes and chords. Wherever possible an explanation of the lines are given with discussion about chord scales, neighbor tones, and altered sounds over dominant seventh chords. If you are in a rut using the same kinds of double stop patterns than this class will help give you some new direction and awaken both your fingers and mind with refreshing possibilities. Prepare for a fun journey with special sounds that reside between single note lines and chords! Approximately 90 minutes with over 20 pages of written materials in TAB and standard notation. View a clip from this class

(in TAB and standard notation) The inspiration for this fun and challenging class comes from the exciting chordal solo choruses George Van Eps recorded for the Jump record label with his small group. Those solos were all about motion in any voice at any time! This advanced-level class deals with arranging solos in a contrapuntal 8th note-based chordal style using fingerstyle or hybrid picking. Through the discussion and demonstration of four written solos, arranging techniques are shown to help you compose and eventually improvise solos in this style. The written solos used in the class are an expansion on the rhythm changes etude used in Steve's class Applications Of Triad Motion Studies inspired by George Van Eps from Sept. 2006 for mikesmasterclasses. Through 2, 3 and 4 part harmony, with an emphasis on triads, we'll look at independent moving lines which travel in and out of familiar chord forms in a myriad of combinations. The etudes in this class use the progressions of Groovin' High, It Could Happen To You, Sunny Side Of The Street and All God's Chillun Got Rhythm. A bar by bar analysis of the techniques are included in the written materials and are expanded in the video. Some of the concepts and techniques demonstrated are: Rootless voicings, minor line clichés, inner line motion, imitation in alternate voices, reharmonizations and substitutions, chromatic lines, and triads up through 13th chords. The aim of the class is to help the musician see how this particular chordal style works and to get some of the language and finger mechanics under the fingers to use in a personal way. This in-depth 90 minute class comes with 20 pages of written material with TAB included and is arranged for the standard-tuned 6 string guitar. View a clip from Steve's class

This class is an introduction to Baroque-style counterpoint filled with harmonic resources to aid in the ability to compose and improvise within this style . Focusing on contrary motion and the authentic cadence employing secondary dominants, cycles and modulations, the written exercises are designed to help get strong compositional elements in the ears and hands of the player. Once the finger mechanics and harmonic concepts have been practiced, two-line improvisation in this style can occur more easily. We'll be dealing with quick harmonic rhythms, chords lasting one or two beats and played in cycles resulting in music with forward motion that contain interesting modulations . Highlights of the class include: Single note Baroque-style etudes, 2-part exercises in contrary motion, melodic embellishments, conversational bass techniques, cycle 4 and cycle 6 target chords using secondary dominants. IV V I cadences in various keys, chromatic counterpoint in contrary motion, an original arrangement of All cadences in various keys chromatic counterpoint in contrary motion, an original arrangement of All The Things You Are written as a Baroque/Jazz hybrid for 6 string guitar with additional pages included for 7 string guitarists. The class comes with 21 pages of written material in standard notation. Any player wishing to get deeper into composing and improvising in the Baroque style will not want to miss this class! 65 Minutes 21 Pages of PDF materials

In TAB and standard notation 22 pages of written material This eye-opening 98 min. class quickly gets to the root of problems many players have with constructing strong lines that really "nail" the chord changes. A step by step process is outlined in great detail with five written studies along with a Wes Montgomery transcribed solo of Airegin (TAB included) with analysis of this great solo. By following the course it will make it easier to play longer lines that arrive at target notes at just the right times. Some guitarists tend to rely on short, stunted lines and others may limit their range to the upper three strings. Another common problem is soloing in one position much of the time or having difficulty transitioning from one position to another. The directional studies included with this class make good practice of using the entire range of the instrument, breaking the guitarist out of habitual patterns when soloing. Lines will have better balance and purpose with fewer "run-on sentences." With target notes in mind along with scales and arpeggios readily available in all 5 position from any degree, voice leading the lines is the next step outlined in the class. It's a step that some guitarists don't get around to practicing and can be extremely valuable! On certain tunes guitarists may play either mostly from a scale approach or from an arpeggio approach. Jazz Line Construction will have the player utilize both scales and arpeggios sometimes within the same phrase. Striking a good balance with target notes in the right places and adding rhythmic variation, the solo can both swing and sing. The solo examples included with the class employ guide tone lines, approach note patterns, delayed resolutions, anticipations, sequences, hemiolas, bebop scales, and other useful compositional devices. If you have trouble conceiving those convincing single note lines you hear by your favorite players, than this class may be for you! By following this step by step approach you will be on the path to playing solid and swinging single note lines .

In TAB and standard notation, 25 pages of written material Western music is based on the idea of harmonic cadence, tension and release . It's easy to balance tension and release once the principles are clearly understood. This in-depth masterclass will have you playing those spicy sounds you hear on recordings by your favorite jazz guitar artists. Through close examination of the principles and theory necessary to master these sounds including organizing them on the fingerboard, you'll find it easy to improvise great sounding altered lines. A thorough understanding of altered dominants requires knowledge of raised and lowered fifths and ninths , b5, #5, b9 and #9 from all roots. We'll use landmarks on the guitar's fingerboard by way of chord forms and root locations to quickly find all of the altered tones. Additionally there are simple shortcuts to group these 4 tones together using scales such as the minor pentatonic scales you already know, the dorian mode, super locrian (melodic minor mode) and more. Many examples leave room for you to weave your own line into a written line. We'll use triad pairs, a special mixolydian pentatonic scale, bebop scales , harmonic major and harmonic minor scales , altered chord fragments/arpeggios, altered chord shapes, diminished sounds and the alignment of scales to make important harmonic connections on the strong beats. The section on sequential playing makes the altered lines simple to derive by moving the scales you are comfortable with up and down the fingerboard using repetition and structure to your advantage. This class starts simply and covers a lot of ground making it useful for all levels, beginning to advanced jazz guitar players.

This continuation of Contrapuntal Triad Pairs part 1 features open voiced triads played in a conversational chord-melody style . The active eighth note melodies weave in and out of all 3 voices creating musical lines in the upper, middle, and lower voices. Two sets of triad pairs are used over altered dominant seventh harmony in short II-V-I examples and also on longer 8 measure etudes that feature the all important II-V-I progression in both major and minor keys. The two triad pair sets used are two major triads one whole step apart and two minor triads one whole step apart. For variety the augmented triad is also used in addition to some four part chords. The sets of triad pairs presented here give the player a concrete approach to achieving great sounding altered dominant sounds coupled with the rich sound of open voiced triads, minor sixth chords and minor major seventh harmony. All of this is explained in the video and outlined in the musical examples. An analysis of the examples are given on this jazz guitar instructional video to help the player understand the material and to encourage the guitarist to compose and improvise in this style. Throughout the class tips are given to be able to tap into the triad pairs easily without relying on any intermediate steps that can sometimes interfere with creative flow. This fun and challenging class will surely steer the guitarist down some interesting roads with new chordal twists through weaving melodic lines. Fingerstyle or pick and fingers technique is necessary to be able to play most of the examples. 13 pages of written materials notated in both TAB and standard notation with fingerings. Running Time: 90 minutes

Exercises in standard notation with fingerings, TAB and chord diagram form. This fun and challenging class combines altered sounds and major and minor triad pairs from melodic minor with loads of counterpoint. The eight pages of written examples are comprised of ii-V-I examples in several keys that employ low open strings, perfect for solo guitar , comping , and chord soloing. Included is a chord grid page of "visualizations", a quick way to memorize altered sounds over dominant 7ths using major and minor triad pairs. You won't hear II-V-I's the same after working with this class! In my previous harmonized melodic minor scale class , strings of triads and seventh chords were put together and used for comping and chord soloing . Now we'll take those chords and give them a thorough workout with all types of line motion utilizing the Van Eps super and sub series in all possible voices. This can really add a lot of interest on top of something that is already harmonically pleasing. And most importantly the sound will get in the ears, and in turn, the hands of the player. After working with the techniques in this class for a while in practice and performance you'll be ready to explore open voiced or spread triads in part two of the class. Wrap your fingers around some fun and ear opening sounds used for years by the great pianists. Running time: 79 minutes Other Classes from the Jazz Guitar Series: Contrapuntal Triad Pairs Part I: Close-Voiced Triads Contrapuntal Triad Pairs Part II: Open-Voiced Triads

The major triads of the symmetrical diminished scale are a treasure trove of modern sounds used for everything from “outside” improvisation to the Blues and beyond. Equally useful for soloing, comping, chord melody playing and composition, achieving fluency with these triads can elevate your improvising to an exciting new level. Pairing these spicy melodic sounds with the similarly interesting rhythmic devices shown in this class yields a recipe for exciting improvising and composition. Opportunities in using diminished sounds for jazz improvisation are many since they can be used over both diminished chords and dominant sevenths. This class is an in-depth examination of major triad usage in achieving diminished sounds from the symmetrical diminished scale. You'll learn many ways to negotiate these sounds using both closed and open voiced major triads in all inversions and most every conceivable combination. The blueprint is given to compose original exercises of your own and includes practice tips and visualization techniques so these sounds can be accessed more easily while improvising. The class features an original composition “Blues For 4” based on the blues progression with a melody derived from some of the exercises in the class. “Blues For 4” uses Dom.7 13b9 chords as its harmonic foundation yielding all twelve major triads (four major triads from three tonal areas.) The theory is explained in-depth with equal weight given to all twelve major triads so that you'll be better prepared to use these sounds over diminished and dominant seventh chords occurring so often in jazz improvisation. Take the “Diminished Leap” into an exciting new aural territory and have fun exploring! 29 pages of written materials notated in both TAB and standard notation with fingerings. Running Time: 133 minutes

The call and response concept is the foundation of the Blues and in this Master Class for all instruments this important concept is examined in-depth. As part of many of the examples there is space for YOU to improvise! Some of the exercises in this class are appropriate for solo guitar and many are perfect to play with a bassist and with a group. Issues such as phrasing, dynamics and articulation are discussed along with the following devices: “Verbatim” repetition and fingerings on different octaves, repetition at different pitch levels, keeping track of target tones, improvising in the spaces between chordal hits, mixing single note lines with octaves, 3rd and 6th intervals, and block chords . There are also contrapuntal examples pedals against 8th note and triplet-based lines and some incorporation of tritone-based comping below melodic lines . Give your blues playing a sense of structure, direction and clarity and get the “big band in your hand” sound together! Running time, 110 Minutes 16 pages of written examples in standard notation and TAB

This six part Master Class utilizes some useful tricks in aiding the guitarist in devising their own motivic II-V-I single note lines. Not only will the lines have a solid structure but the dominant sevenths will contain some spicy altered sounds. The best part about these concepts is that they are relatively simple to apply to the guitar fingerboard. The six parts are broken down into using the following scales over II-V-I's in a structured manner: Real melodic minor scales, Dorian scales, Minor 6 pentatonic (Coltrane pentatonic) scales, Bebop Dorian scales, Minor 6/diminished (Barry Harris scales) and Harmonic Major scales used over minor II-V-1's. The examples are played over a backing track and thoroughly analyzed. Different keys are used to get the player into all positions of the fingerboard. Check out this fun Master Class on single note line II-V-I lines getting these concepts firmly in your mind and fingers. Your soloing will be filled with some new motivic and exciting altered lines. 12 pages of PDF examples including TAB and standard notation 95 min. running time

Lower pedal points can provide a great sense of suspense through harmonic tension. Commonly used for intros, endings, and interludes, lower pedals can aid the musician in finding rich chord substitutions . Comping can become more interesting when pedals are employed and chord melody playing can sound fuller while adding spice to both contrapuntal and chordal approaches. Guitarists will find pedal points easy to play when utilizing open strings in the bass register but much trickier when fretted pedals are desired. In this in-depth class on lower pedals, specifically designed exercises will aid in developing a legato technique through utilizing pedals often beneath contrapuntal upper lines in contrary motion. Written examples outline important chord progressions such as I, VI, II, V, Blues progressions, Rhythm Changes, and an arrangement of John Coltrane's Naima transposed to allow the use of open lower pedals. The examples prominently feature clusters, triad pairs and quartets, diminished, augmented and melodic minor sounds and quartal harmony. George Van Eps and Jimmy Wyble were my inspiration for putting this class together. They were both masters at holding down fretted pedals while the upper voices were at play (and masters at much more!) It's my hope that this class will provide insight into working with lower pedals and help build the technique necessary to get a step or two closer to improvising in this style. 18 pages of written materials notated in both TAB and standard notation with fingerings. Running Time: 162 minutes

A Look Into Reharmonization Complete 3-part course included "Exploring Stella" Reharmonization is one of the most sought after, yet complex musical subjects in modern music. Guitarist Steve Giordano shares his insights, both philosophically and practically, with a complete walk-through of his very unique re-harm treatment of jazz standard “Stella by Starlight”. The video opens with a full blown live performance with trumpeter Bob Meashey, as the duo interactively explores their way through this intriguing re-harm offering. In Part Two, “Why Re-Harm?”, Steve gives a thorough explanation on the vague subject of reharmonization. In Part Three, “Aesthetic Choices”, Steve walks the viewer though the piece, explaining in depth, the choices and how they relate to the original harmonies.

This class takes an in-depth look into accompanying (comping) other musicians in playing jazz. The goal of this class is to free the player up and broaden the common view of comping from role playing/responsibility, to an interactive, creative experience. The concepts here are not just limited to guitarists, as they are applicable to any instrument. Some of the topics covered are: the use of space over time, voice leading, dynamics, implication, tempo variety, harmonic choices, and texturing. Included also is a duo performance exemplifying these concepts. The class runs 72 minutes. View a clip

As a jazz guitarist, it took me a while before I realized most of what I played was coming from my guitar neck and not necessarily from my head. One night at a gig a jazz vocalist sat in and sang the blues. Although she didn't know a whole lot about musical theory, or even what notes she was singing, I realized her solo was more thematic and melodic than mine. It was at that point I started to use my voice and scat my ideas and make my guitar express what I was singing/hearing. This opened up a new world for me and a deeper level of improvisation. This class is about learning to be in the driver's seat and in control of what you play. It's about making your instrument become your voice from the inside out. I would say the level is intermediate to advanced. I use a simple vehicle of Blue Bossa to demonstrate, and designed this class for interactive playing with me. The last stage opens up the harmonies and expands the stock changes to a new level without losing the integrity of the piece. In this re-harmonization part, I explain what I did which should give insight to the viewer's harmonic vocabulary. The video is approximately 95 minutes in length.

One of the most difficult issues for a jazz artist's development is prioritizing their practice time. "How should I best invest my time?" University students never have time to think about things like this because they are always given piles and piles of work to do in keeping up with their grades. In today's world, there is a saturation of methods of "how to" do this and that. This can be overwhelming to the point of frustration for the serious jazz musicians seeking guidance on how to best spend their time. My inspiration for making this video series comes from the many questions that my students have asked me over the years of teaching. Questions like: "how can I obtain better ears" or "how can I get better time" just to name a couple. I will say up front that the content on this video is not traditional nor is it chock filled with numerous technical exercises. It is rather filled with my personal take and belief on how to best develop the tools needed to grow as a jazz player. It is geared, like all my videos, toward personal development in a non-dogmatic manner. It is a video of tips and suggestions that point toward inner self-development, rather than how to "fit in" with the crowd, so to speak. It has multiple segments and chapters, each in response to the most FAQs I have encountered over my many years of teaching. I started out thinking I could achieve this in one 90 minute video, but once I began, I soon realized it was a bigger project than I thought. I certainly did not want to skimp or cram things in, or worse yet, leave out things that need to be said. "Quality Practicing Jazz" Part I is already over 100 minutes long. I believe every jazz musician will benefit from this series in some way. Even the seasoned players will get a kick out of how some "untouched" subject matter such as "does a jazz musician with perfect pitch have an advantage over one who does not?" get addressed in a fresh way that is common-sense oriented and sometimes humorous. Steve Giordano View a clip of the class

One of the most difficult issues for a jazz artist's development is prioritizing their practice time. "How should I best invest my time?" University students never have time to think about things like this because they are always given piles and piles of work to do in keeping up with their grades. In today's world, there is a saturation of methods of "how to" do this and that. This can be overwhelming to the point of frustration for the serious jazz musicians seeking guidance on how to best spend their time. My inspiration for making this video series comes from the many questions that my students have asked me over the years of teaching. Questions like: "how can I obtain better ears" or "how can I get better time" just to name a couple. I will say up front that the content on this video is not traditional nor is it chock filled with numerous technical exercises. It is rather filled with my personal take and belief on how to best develop the tools needed to grow as a jazz player. It is geared, like all my videos, toward personal development in a non-dogmatic manner. It is a video of tips and suggestions that point toward inner self-development, rather than how to "fit in" with the crowd, so to speak. It has multiple segments and chapters, each in response to the most FAQs I have encountered over my many years of teaching. I started out thinking I could achieve this in one 90 minute video, but once I began, I soon realized it was a bigger project than I thought. I certainly did not want to skimp or cram things in, or worse yet, leave out things that need to be said. "Quality Practicing Jazz" Part I is already over 100 minutes long. I believe every jazz musician will benefit from this series in some way. Even the seasoned players will get a kick out of how some "untouched" subject matter such as "does a jazz musician with perfect pitch have an advantage over one who does not?" get addressed in a fresh way that is common-sense oriented and sometimes humorous. Steve Giordano

" My seventh master class offering, I cover many guitar rhythms that I have developed over my years of playing various genres of music using my own personal right hand guitar techniques that combine the use of a pick and/or fingers. This 104 minute video is broken up into multiple segments – each focusing on a particular style of playing. Each segment begins with a short melodic improvisation over a particular style, followed by a detailed explanation of the rhythmic technique used. The segment listing are as follows: 1) Introduction 2) Jazz Waltz 3) Basic Samba 4) Up Tempo Swing 5) Slow Samba 6) Medium Swing 7) Fast Samba 8) Funky Swing 9) Ballad The following tunes are used to demonstrate techniques: "When Sonny Gets Blue" "Triste" "Satin Doll" "Estate" "Walkin' the Dos" "Blusette" "Along Came Betty" by Benny Golson The materials included are: 1) MP3 loops of each example to practice with or solo over 2) PDF files of all the chord changes used in this video

As a jazz player, I didn’t have a strong desire to compose music. My creative challenges were in the world of jazz improvisation. Upon hearing more challenging tunes to improvise over, I was intrigued by the non-diatonic harmonic relationships and what made this music work. How did it achieve such character in “non-standard” structures? My musical vocabulary was based mostly on playing over jazz standards. I wanted to hear more. Although I will always love playing jazz standards, I had a strong desire to find fresh sounding music within myself; thus my journey began. This was not so easy because everything I came up with sounded too familiar to me and musical composition (the art of creating new music) had to be deeper than finding new melodies over familiar territory. When I listened to progressive jazz or impressionistic classical music, I wondered how did Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Samuel Barbe, escape the power of diatonic predictability or familiarity without entering in a world of cacophony or avant garde. This video is about sharing some of my most useful techniques for composing new music. It is, like all my videos, open ended and made to inspire musicians who are thinking about composing, or, are stuck in a rut in the search to discover new music within themselves. Included in this 90 minute video is the start of a composition that I do on the fly and invite the viewer to continue or even finish it, along with one of my linear compositions and how I arrived at its creation. A PDF chart of this composition is included as well. View clips from this class

A soli is a composed/arranged improvisation based on the harmonic structure and form of a musical composition. The most common use of a soli is found within a big band arrangement as a variation of the head. Although a soli is based on the harmonic structure of a piece, there is plenty of creative room for re-harmonization. “Soli for Guitar” is basically composing a chord melody variation over a musical composition. In this master class example, I will be showing and explaining my soli over the Clifford Brown composition, Joy Spring. I strongly suggest learning this tune in order to fully comprehend the harmonic treatment I incorporate in this soli. I will include the chart of the basic harmonic structure of Joy Spring and, in the master class video, explain everything I am altering with each chord voicing. It is my belief that creating a soli on guitar is a great way to increase harmonic vocabulary as well as developing fluidity in spontaneous chord soloing. Included in the class: The 50 minute video A PDF chart of my Soli in notation and chord symbols A PDF of the original chart of "Joy Spring"

This solo bass concert explores different points of departure for improvisation, from fully open to being based on melodic or rhythmic fragments, smaller structures to entire song forms. Recorded at the New Music Summit at the ISB Convention in State Collge, PA.

In this 2006 masterclass, you’ll learn how to start using counterpoint in your playing. Sid Jacobs shares insights and tips he has discovered from studying the music of Bach, Bird and Bill Evans. You’ll see how seemingly simple ideas like embellishing guide tones can develop into two-part playing that evokes both classical music and jazz sensibilities. Sid uses examples of tunes including "Yesterday" , "Darn That Dream" , "Autumn Leaves" , "All The Things You Are" and "You Stepped Out of A Dream" to show how the same concepts work on different chord progressions. Along with 18 pages of notated examples, you will have a lot of material to dig into and incorporate into your playing immediately. This class will help jazz guitarists looking into spicing up their solo guitar arrangements as well as create more sophisticated textures for duo and trio playing situations. Get out from playing chord-melody and start using a melody-chord approach to arranging and improvising. With the newly segmented videos, you’ll be able to locate specific examples easier for repeated study and analysis when needed. 18 Pages of PDF materials in standard notation and TAB. Counterpoint Concepts Examples and Exercises “You Stepped Out of A Dream” – arranged for guitar by Sid Jacobs Full video is 1 hour 10 mins.

In this 2006 masterclass, watch Sid Jacobs demonstrate the real depth and importance of guide tones for building strong solo guitar arrangements, counterpoint, comping and improvising melodically strong single note melodies. Sid Jacobs shows the connection between Bach and Charlie Parker’s sense of harmony while taking notes from Bill Evans and Lenny Breau. Discover how to use lush voicings and to get beyond using drop-2 or drop-3 voicings. Sid shares his insights after studying and arranging music over many years so that you too can stop thinking like a human capo. You will see how to start combining a musical view of voicings, guitar friendly counterpoint and a melody chord approach that uses guide tones to create beautiful voicings. This masterclass will provide much food for thought as well as plenty of musical examples that you will able to dig into. There’s a wealth of knowledge from Sid Jacobs in the entire session. This masterclass is well suited for intermediate and advanced jazz guitarists who know about guide tones but may have not fully examined the depth of it all. With the newly segmented videos, you’ll be able to locate specific examples easier for repeated study and analysis when needed. 13 Pages of PDF materials in standard notation and TAB. Notes on Guide Tones for jazz lines, comping and chord melody “Waltz For Debbie” – arranged for guitar by Sid Jacobs “Very Early” – arranged for guitar by Sid Jacobs “My Bells” – arranged for guitar by Sid Jacobs “Frankie and Johnny” – arranged for guitar by Sid Jacobs

This class deals with lines and phrases from this modern vocabulary and is designed to allow you to hear harmony in a new way. In this jazz guitar class, Sid Jacobs leads in a discussion of how to make and use symmetrical scales. As Nicolas Slonimsky clearly laid out in his famous Thesaurus the chromatic scale of 12 semitones can be equally divided into two, three, four, and six parts. From these divisions are built the symmetrical scales used in modern atonal music. Jazz musicians have found a home for these sounds in the tonal world of chord changes as well as in more abstract free jazz . Fourths and Symmetrical scales are the basis of the Inside/Outside style of playing. 40 Pages of PDF Materials Included Running Time: 1Hour 33 Min.

For those who missed this class by Sheryl earlier, she's doing it again! She'll be sharing her concepts of exploring chord families to create modern harmonic concepts during soloing and comping.

Those who attended Sheryl's first couple classes are looking forward to another idea-packed session! Sheryl will demonstrate exploring creating melodies from chord structures - aka: approach tones. View clip from this class

How to expand your chordal palate and melodic lines by converting to min/ma7 voicings from the Jazz Melodic Minor scale. I will show how the min/ma7 relates to all of the common chord functions: I minor, I major, II subdominant, V7 w/ natural tensions, and V7 w/ altered tensions. By using each function in context of the common II-V-I progression, students can open their ears and create more modern sounding voicings. I'll then apply each concept over a standard tune to demonstrate how the harmony opens up. Having a wide vocabulary of ways to voice the melodic minor sound will open the door to using it for inventing lines.

Step into Jack Wilkins' living room for an intimate masterclass where two distinguished jazz guitarists share decades of professional wisdom in this rare 2006 concert-clinic recording. This unique session captures Wilkins and Sheryl Bailey performing classic jazz standards while fielding real-time questions from viewers, offering unprecedented insight into the techniques that define masterful jazz guitar performance. Throughout this interactive experience, you'll witness firsthand demonstrations of advanced harmonic techniques, including Jack's detailed breakdown of artificial harmonics across multiple octaves—from basic execution to sophisticated applications in minor 9th and dominant 9th voicings. Sheryl Bailey reveals her revolutionary picking approach, explaining how she transformed her tone by adopting George Benson-inspired techniques learned from Rodney Jones, achieving the lighter touch essential for both speed and tonal clarity. The duo performs seven carefully selected standards including "Gone with the Wind," "Tenderly," and Chick Corea's challenging "500 Miles High," demonstrating real-world applications of the discussed techniques. Between performances, they address crucial technical questions about pick angle, alternate versus consecutive picking methods, and the subtle wrist mechanics that separate professional execution from amateur attempts. Perfect for experienced players seeking to refine their duo performance skills, understand the nuances of harmonic voicings, or develop more sophisticated picking techniques. You'll gain practical insights into adapting your technical approach based on musical context—knowledge that typically takes years of professional performance to acquire.

Join Sheryl and her great friend and guitarist Chris Bergson. The two of them have a special duo collaboration. They will get into the different rhythm styles, comping, voicings and playing lines, feeling time, etc. Chris is also an incredible down-home blues player, so expect them to do some jammin' on the blues, too. View clips from this class