Ben Sher

Ben Sher's chord soloing classes from 2022, brought together in one place. Covers Wes Montgomery's chord approach, a series of live sessions on Brazilian-style chord soloing and advanced harmonic concepts, and a Billie's Bounce blues-changes study. Originally taught across four separate live cohorts; consolidated here for easier access. Best for intermediate guitarists ready to deepen their chord-melody and chord-soloing vocabulary.

Ben Sher studies the guitar styles of Pat Martino and Grant Green through solo transcriptions in three settings: blues, modal, and bebop (straight ahead). Why these two iconic jazz guitarists? "Of course there are many great jazz guitarists to try and copy, but Grant and Pat have one thing in common that's great for learning: they both play with incredible accuracy and clear rhythmic precision. So, if you really want to learn how to lay down some very well-articulated jazz guitar lines, studying the work of these two masters is incredibly valuable." ~ Ben Sher What's included Downloadable transcriptions of both Grant Green and Pat Martino solos in blues, modal, and bebop styles In each category, the option to learn one or both transcriptions Accessible material — some of Grant's playing is not technically hard, but incredibly valuable for phrasing A real challenge for advanced players: playing along with Pat's "The Great Stream" Ben Sher is a recording artist with three Brazilian jazz albums on the BGI label featuring Luciana Souza, Duduka Da Fonseca, Kenny Barron, and Helio Alves. He has recorded and performed gypsy jazz with his World Jazz Duo, played many Hammond organ trio gigs, and teaches several courses in Brazilian guitar style at Berklee, including Latin fusion.

Ben Sher presents an organized approach to bossa nova and samba grooves on guitar — which groove fits which tempo, for both Brazilian tunes and the classic jazz standards usually played in a "Latin style." Having studied the music analytically during his time in Brazil, Ben breaks each pattern down beat by beat so non-Brazilian players can really understand how the grooves work. What's covered The steady, insistent thumb bass — the foundation of every Brazilian groove, and the most common thing players get wrong Thinking in Brazilian 2/4 and reading 16th-note rhythms the way a Brazilian fake book writes them A set of carefully explained groove patterns, from a basic samba (perfect for locking in with a drummer on "Blue Bossa") to the classic bossa nova pattern Chord voicings suited to the style, like a Dm9 with the 5th in the bass that stays out of the bass player's way The real difference between samba and bossa nova — it's more than just tempo Rhythmic phrasing, including learning to leave space instead of filling every beat Hear Ben play the grooves in context with assisting artist, drummer Steve Langone . Running time 32 minutes; a 2-page PDF handout of the patterns is included.

Ben Sher, a professor at Berklee College of Music, presents his Fretboard Harmony concept: a study of the intervallic relationships on the guitar neck that lets you move beyond horizontal fingering patterns and travel vertically from the bottom of the neck to the top. What's covered Dividing the neck into three two-string regions using perfect fifths — the simple ordering that opens up the whole fretboard Building diagonal arpeggios across the regions: minor and major triads, then major 7th and other jazzy sounds Sweep picking and hammer-ons for a smooth legato sound — a technique Barney Kessel used almost exclusively The sweeping, melismatic arpeggio style of Johnny Smith and George Benson Applying the concept to fundamental skills: arpeggios, blues, and major scales Melodic ideas for blues, jazz-blues, and flowing bebop lines in the style of Pat Martino This first lesson in the series introduces the basic concept, then shows how to create lines that travel through different registers. A downloadable file is included with the class. An eye-opening lesson whatever your level or style.