Jamie Taylor

Jamie Taylor teaches the art of "four to the bar" rhythm guitar — the moving, swinging counterpoint that players like Freddie Green , Jim Hall , and Bucky Pizzarelli created behind soloists. The focus is harmonic: how to actually generate mobile rhythm parts, not just keep time. Jamie's approach is built on three-note shell voicings played on just the 6th, 4th, and 3rd strings — reduced drop-three inversions that are easy to grab, agile, and thin enough in texture to stay out of everyone else's way (including the pianist's). Think of Jim Hall's rhythm work behind Bill Evans on "My Funny Valentine" from the Undercurrent album. As contemporary exponent James Chirillo puts it, the rhythm guitar's role is to supply a tenor part to the bass player's line. In this 50-minute session Accompaniments for two familiar progressions — "Minor Swing" and "Autumn Leaves" — using one, then two, and finally four shapes per chord How the more elaborate versions are derived from the basic ones A quick grounding in drop-two and drop-three inversions and how the shell shapes are reduced from them General principles of rhythm guitar: time, sound, and ensemble awareness, not just chord shapes Everything is fretted on the 6th, 4th, and 3rd strings — you can even drop the 6th string when a bassist is present The class is linked via on-screen captions to an accompanying 13-page PDF booklet with notation, TAB, and chord diagrams — no music reading required. The simple accompaniments are accessible to inexperienced players, while the elaborate one-shape-per-quarter-note material will stretch more developed guitarists. Basic / Intermediate. Running time: 50 minutes.

Jamie Taylor shares his personal approach to ear training, focused on acquiring relative pitch — the skill that lets you identify the real music you hear on the bandstand. Aural awareness may not be a level playing field at the outset, but anyone can develop it with the right methods, and Jamie speaks from experience: his own musical hearing had to be acquired. You may have heard that you can recognize intervals by relating them to famous songs — an augmented 4th as the opening of The Simpsons theme, say. That's fine for getting started, but it ignores context: like navigation, measuring the distance between two points doesn't tell you where you are. This class teaches a better way — using the natural tonal gravity that pitches are subject to in tonal music as fixed reference points. In the full 53-minute class The benefits and limitations of the "famous melody" approach Which pitches exert tonal gravity, and why (it starts with the overtone series and the major triad) Recognizing those pitches as absolute points from which distances can be measured Practicing together with a wide range of on-screen examples you can use as ear tests Recognizing even complex altered dominant sounds with this method A rigorous relative-pitch workout exercise using tonic sol-fa "I can't stress this enough though, the importance of those first fundamental steps. If anything in the class feels too challenging at the moment, go back to those major triad inversions. I promise it will bear fruit in the long run." ~ Jamie Taylor The class includes a 20-page PDF booklet , referenced throughout with captions and synchronized on-screen notation, plus a bonus Q&A session recording. The material suits a wide range of experience — beginners building good aural habits early, and advanced players who want to test whether they'd really know a G7b13 from a G7b9 in a blindfold test.

Jamie Taylor's guide to practical single-line reading on the guitar — a 1 hour 25 minute class on building real fluency with the treble staff, aimed at electric guitarists who want to read in the jazz style. Q: How do you get a guitarist to turn down? A: Give them the sheet music. We've all heard the jokes, but as Jamie shows, a functional level of reading needn't be harder for guitarists than for other instrumentalists. Many guitar reading methods start in open position and work slowly up the neck. Jamie argues this is upside down for electric players: instead, he starts from what he calls the extended seventh position — the "business end" of the guitar — connecting what you see on the staff to one specific location first, so you build a comfort zone instead of being paralyzed by the instrument's many fingering options. What's covered An order of priority for learning the fretboard, based purely on what's most practical The best kinds of sheet music for guitarists to seek out A method for rhythmic recognition drawn from classical music pedagogy Playing a Baroque canon at two different tempos Guitar pitch vs. concert pitch, and how to use the difference to your advantage "Quick study" — letting your wider guitar knowledge support your reading Techniques for sharpening pitch recognition A review of the existing literature, including unusual ways to use the classic texts The class includes a 40-page PDF book referenced throughout, with captions, synchronized on-screen notation, and multiple camera angles during complete performances. If you're already reading Charlie Parker transcriptions there may not be much here for you; but if your reading is slow going, or you've always meant to learn, this material should be of real assistance.

Jamie Taylor studies an iconic 1944 solo by Oscar Moore of the King Cole Trio on Body & Soul — one of the most-played standards of all time, played by one of the electric guitar's earliest greats. Jamie shares his findings phrase by phrase, along with tips picked up over the years for examining great recordings. In the full 46-minute class A brief scene-setter on early electric guitar styles in context — Moore alongside Charlie Christian, George Barnes, and Les Paul The complete solo played along with the original recording, filmed from two camera angles Phrase-by-phrase analysis of harmony, rhythm, references to the original melody, and articulation — including expressive devices like tremolando and portamento vibrato How Oscar and the trio find unusual alternative chord pathways through this familiar song, including some adventurous "outside" playing A discussion of transcription in general — its benefits and the pitfalls to avoid Synchronised Soundslice notation/tab so you always know where you are in the transcription, plus an included lead sheet of the standard Nothing in the solo should prove prohibitive to most players, so this is an accessible class — yet even advanced students will find plenty to enjoy in a passage of playing that shows just how advanced the early electric guitarists were.

Jamie Taylor takes the fear out of John Coltrane's Giant Steps with a focused 30-minute class built around two purpose-built etudes. Nearly sixty years on, this tune remains a rite of passage for improvisers — and while there's no way to simplify it, there are ways to unlock it. Think of this class as 'first steps' to Giant Steps. In the full 30m33s class Two bespoke etudes demonstrated at different tempos, then broken down into specific line constructions Using triads as the primary visual and aural basis for lines — Jamie's paint-roller-to-fine-brush analogy for scales, arpeggios, and triads Harmonized scales as a means of improving fretboard knowledge, and how to connect triads with passing notes, sevenths, and chromaticism Practical pointers for memorizing the progression and melody — ascending minor thirds, descending half steps, and the two major-seventh arpeggios hidden in the melody The five melodic devices behind the second etude: seventh-chord arpeggios, chromaticism, enclosures, scalic movement, and tetrachords The note-counting practice technique, plus thoughts on phrasing and using silence Everything fully notated and tabbed in the accompanying 11-page PDF , with synchronized on-screen captions and synchronized Soundslice notation that follows the video performance Musicians have played this tune in all keys and every kind of feel — some, like Kenny Garrett, intensifying it further; others, like Bill Frisell , transforming it into something more contemplative. It's probably not the first tune to tackle, but if you can play " Have You Met Miss Jones? ", you're ready to have a go. The class is aimed mostly at the intermediate player who knows a few tunes and feels ready for the next challenge. Read Editor Az Samad's detailed review

Jamie Taylor presents four of his original pieces for acoustic guitar — " Little Owl ", " Song For The Listener ", " Lost Hearts ", and " Wednesday's Child " — with full notation and TAB, video and mp3 performances of each, and a discussion of how the pieces work. The music is jazz-influenced in some of its harmony, with country and folk references as well. What's included Video performances and mp3 downloads of all four pieces A 17-page transcription booklet mixing standard notation, tablature, and chord diagrams — accessible even if you don't read music Soundslice-enhanced synchronized notation , so a cursor travels through the transcription in sync with the video performance A discussion of Jamie's compositional process: melody-led writing, AABA structure, and extending an initial idea into a complete piece Key relationships and tertiary modulations (modulating by thirds), illustrated through the key changes in "Little Owl" Have a go at playing the pieces yourself — or better yet, take some inspiration to write your own. As Jamie puts it, it's arguably only when we start writing our own tunes that we really start to know ourselves as musicians. And it's a really fun thing to do!

Jamie Taylor shows how to internalize a jazz standard quickly, lay it out effectively on the guitar, and personalize it on the fly — using Frank Loesser's "I've Never Been in Love Before" as the vehicle. Experienced jazz musicians really can absorb tunes incredibly fast, and that's because there's a knack to it: the same skill set that lets them deliver endless variations that stay compatible with the band, boosts aural awareness, and makes complete-sounding solo guitar renditions possible. In the full 1hr08m class Breaking down the original chords and melody so they're easy to remember and treat creatively First principles: keeping the melody at the forefront, breaking up chord voices, the cycle of fourths, and tritone substitution A solo guitar rendition built up from a simple 'block-out' of the basic chords and melody A gradual evolution toward a more complex setting with 12 harmonic variations within the tune's basic road map — which also yield ideas for intros and endings Working within the composer's road map rather than discarding it — substitution, not wholesale reharmonization Everything fully notated and tabbed in the accompanying 28-page PDF , with synchronized on-screen captions even at full performance tempo The class accommodates different levels of experience. Players newer to standard repertoire will pick up important first principles and should manage the basic solo setting; the fully expanded rendition may be more aspirational, but the concepts behind it are easy to grasp. Experienced players should handle all the material comfortably — and may still have their eyes and ears opened to new possibilities. Either way, the aim is transferable ideas that inspire self-directed study.

Jamie Taylor is a jazz guitarist based in the North of England. He maintains a busy performing schedule, having been privileged to work along the way with some wonderful musicians across a range of styles, such as Baptiste Herbin, Roni Ben-Hur, Tori Freestone, Steve Fishwick, Laura Jurd, Sebastiaan DeKrom, Richard Iles, Alan Barnes, David Lyttle, Tom Harrison, Steve Brown, Neil Yates, Gary Potter, Richard Hawley, The Pigeon Detectives, and members of Cinematic Orchestra. Jamie’s latest project is “ Perpetual Motion Machine “, a jazz-rock six piece featuring Sam Dunn, Riley Stone-Lonergan, Ben Lowman, Garry Jackson, and Steve Hanley. The group completed a 15-date UK tour in September 2017 – you can watch it in action here . FREE FOR MEMBERS

Jamie Taylor introduces "comprovisation" — his blend of composition and improvisation — in this 1-hour-15-minute class on how jazz musicians actually generate vocabulary. The most common questions Jamie hears as a teacher are "How do I get more vocabulary into my solos?" and "What's the most efficient way to transcribe?" His answer: rummaging around on scale and arpeggio fingerings won't make music fall out of the guitar, and transcribing without creatively manipulating what you find usually means nothing sticks. You have to think like a composer and consciously build your vocabulary in the practice room. In the full class Nine melodic ideas from diverse sources including Oscar Peterson , Joe Henderson , Dizzy Gillespie , and John Coltrane , spanning mainstream and contemporary styles — some drawn from famous composed melodies Analysis of how each phrase is structured and how it can be developed beyond its original context Demonstrations on well-known tunes used as "test beds," often in contexts quite different from the source A PDF booklet with a selection of the resulting lines transcribed and tabbed out Synchronized on-screen captions and timecodes for cross-referencing video and written materials This isn't a lick library — the point is to learn the creative process of transforming material until it feels like your own, so it can come out spontaneously in the moment. For improvisers who know some theory and have transcribed, but feel their solos still don't sound like jazz.

UK jazz guitarist Jamie Taylor teaches a class on jazz time feel — the constant factor uniting all the jazz greats, from Louis Armstrong to Kurt Rosenwinkel. Jamie tackles the myths around the subject ("feel can't be taught", "jazz quavers are really triplets", "jazz quavers can't be notated") and shows that feel can be analyzed and worked on like anything else. Often what we need isn't new vocabulary but better delivery: that well-worn II-V-I lick can suddenly sound like a million dollars when you place it right in the middle of the pocket. What's covered Analysis and demonstration of different kinds of jazz quaver feel Exercises to develop your relationship with the time — playing deliberately behind the beat, then snapping back up against the pulse "Gear shifting" exercises to improve rhythmic accuracy A wide range of metronome exercises for improvisation and comping A flexible "phrase chart" exercise for variety and control in phrasing and articulation over familiar forms Advice on preparing repertoire at either end of the tempo spectrum Suggested listening to identify the different types of delivery used by the jazz greats The video includes synchronized on-screen captions so you know exactly what you're hearing as you hear it, and all exercises come as neatly presented written examples in PDF format.

Jamie Taylor teaches exercises and ideas for taking your jazz phrasing beyond "square" four-measure boxes — achieving maximum rhythmic interest and variety in 4/4 and 3/4 time. If you can get around the changes but feel trapped by the bar lines, or fall into repetitive patterns when comping, this lesson is aimed squarely at you. As Jamie notes, almost all of his intermediate to advanced students tell a version of this story, and it's something he keeps working on himself. The lesson includes Exercises to help you start and end phrases anywhere within a 4/4 measure Polyrhythmic exercises superimposing 3/4 against 4/4 — and 4/4 against 3/4 Feeling 4/4 as 12/8 to open up phrasing possibilities Explanation and demonstration of metric modulation Uneven melodic and rhythmic groupings against a regular 4/4 pulse Synchronized on-screen captions so you know exactly what you're hearing, when you're hearing it A neatly presented PDF transcription of all materials, cross-referenced with the captions This is a stand-alone lesson, but it complements Jamie's Jazz Time Feel class: that one gives your sense of time a workout, while this one is about being rhythmically creative — and demystifying the rhythmic things we love on our favorite records.

Jamie Taylor takes a 'two-speed' approach to Rhythm Changes — the many variants of Gershwin's I Got Rhythm , probably the second most called tune in the repertoire after the blues. The tune is simultaneously the most complex and the simplest piece in the book, so this lesson works both ends: a wide range of chord substitutions, lines, and progressions to add to the basic form, alongside a deconstruction that reduces the song to its barest essentials. This jazz guitar lesson includes Advice on creating lines over a static major tonality Breaking down the difficult A section into a simpler (but still convincing) progression Simple lines to negotiate the full A section changes, broken into their component parts so you can create similar ones of your own Thorough discussion and demonstration of several different bridge progressions Many different harmonic substitutions, including ideas drawn from great saxophonists like Sonny Stitt and John Coltrane Advice on how to get "outside" the changes in your lines A clear, detailed PDF with many written examples Synchronised on-screen captions, so you know exactly what you're hearing at any moment Every concept is broken down slowly, then performed at tempo with rhythm section backing so you can hear it in a performance context. Full video is 1 hour and 12 minutes.

Jamie Taylor teaches the essentials of jazz guitar comping in this practical class for players new to the style. The focus isn't complicated harmonic theory — it's getting stuck into the basic changes of well-known standards and learning the devices you can use on your next gig. Across almost 90 minutes of easily digestible material, you'll pick up the tips and tricks pros use to make their accompaniments sparkle, in the spirit of greats like Joe Pass, Freddie Green, Bucky Pizzarelli, and Martin Taylor . Topics covered include Quickly building a rock-solid foundation of basic jazz shapes Adding passing chords to basic progressions to keep them moving An introduction to moving inner parts Freddie Green-style 4-to-the-bar comping: which shapes, which technique, how to get that sound Martin Taylor/Joe Pass-style bass line comping , including a complete chorus over "All The Things You Are", played slowly and fully tabbed out Voice leading through common progressions, all over the guitar Combining voicings with scales to create chord/melody phrases Every concept is broken down slowly and notated fully on the accompanying PDF, so there's no need to worry about keeping up — and there's plenty here for more experienced players too. The class includes a 13-page PDF booklet with standard notation and tablature, plus synchronised on-screen captions.

Jamie Taylor applies his "two-speed" method to the blues, taking another essential jazz progression from first principles through to advanced variants. Following a customer suggestion (thanks Ray!), this class uses the same approach previously applied to Rhythm Changes , and players at all levels should find something useful in nearly 1 hour 50 minutes of detailed material . Class features Discussion of the essential blues vocabulary — forget the so-called "blues scale", there's much more to the sound than that Demonstration of the classic Kenny Burrell sound over a simple I, IV, V progression How the standard " jazz blues " changes differ, and how to bring out the crucial changes in your solo lines Using a variety of harmonic techniques to get "outside" the changes and create real tension in your blues lines Analysis of ten variant blues progressions as recorded by the jazz blues greats A close look at two brand-new blues-based compositions showing how the format can be manipulated into endless variations Synchronized on-screen captions Detailed PDF with transcribed examples and more Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

Jamie Taylor expands the comping vocabulary established in Part One of A Guide to Practical Comping , working toward total melodic freedom over almost any harmonic situation. The main focus is combining your chordal repertoire with your knowledge of scales, so your accompaniments become as varied and interactive as your solo lines. Advanced players can take this as a standalone lesson, but combined with the first video it forms a comprehensive approach to fretboard harmony — almost 1 hour 50 minutes of material, with everything related back to something familiar. Topics covered include Quartal voicings for the major scale and all its modal applications Applying these voicings to appropriate pieces from the repertoire Extended modal voicings for more complex textures Seeing and hearing these sounds in the context of something familiar Simple and more complex triad applications Quartal and modal voicings for the melodic minor scale , applied to standard repertoire A simple, accessible guide to diminished and whole-tone harmony , again applied to standards General practical advice from the bandstand If you've ever felt you understand the theory but find it difficult to apply, this class offers practical solutions. It comes with a 14-page PDF booklet (including tablature) cross-referenced with synchronized on-screen captions.

Jamie Taylor tackles a very common weakness among jazz guitar students: memorizing, retaining, and delivering standard song melodies. Players in a hurry to get to their solo often barely learn the head, or can only deliver it stiffly, locked to one key or one area of the fingerboard — which makes tunes hard to remember and solos less musical. Learn heads carefully and thoroughly, Jamie argues, and you sound convincing from the very first measure, with some of the 20th century's greatest composers doing most of the work for you. "I don't want my solo on All The Things You Are to sound the same as my solo on Stella By Starlight." — Jim Hall What's covered The melodic structure of two well-known standards, approached so you can access them flexibly How melodies relate to the underlying chord progressions — on the fretboard and by ear A task combining the written melody with improvisation, building a symbiotic relationship between the two An example setting of Just Friends with strategies for avoiding the rigid chord-melody approach that kills momentum A layout of Solar that turns simple chord shapes into a piano-like interpretation carrying melody, harmony, and rhythmic drive A detailed analysis of Donna Lee , extending the techniques to more complex heads Two "mash-ups" combining transposed Donna Lee phrases with other tunes, showing how these ideas live outside their original context Video is 1 hour 10 minutes, with synchronized on-screen captions. Includes a detailed 21-page PDF booklet with analysis, notation, and TAB. Hopefully there's something here for everyone — see you in class!

Jamie Taylor explains the simple, centuries-old harmonic infrastructure at work in jazz standards — and why a literal "match the scale to the chord symbol" approach can lead to poor note choices. Inspired by hearing a baroque recital, Jamie shows that the same harmonic principles behind classical music shaped the Great American Songbook, and that if you understand major and minor keys, you already know everything you need to get started. In this class For the less experienced: how standard songs work, and how to quickly find effective note choices against changing chords — including why that textbook Mixolydian scale doesn't sound right over a dominant 7th For the experienced improviser: fresh perspectives and easier ways to think about the awkward harmonic corners in your favourite tunes Centuries-old harmonic concepts that explain why the chords in standards do what they do — an alternative to daunting topics like diminished scales and altered modes Analysis of two well-known standards , contrasting older and more recent ways of looking at the harmony Example lines notated and tabbed — Jamie's own, plus lines from great jazz recordings Includes a detailed 22-page PDF booklet with analysis, chord symbols, standard notation, and TAB, plus synchronized on-screen captions. Running time: 1 hour 27 minutes.

Jamie Taylor continues his Making the Changes series, explaining the simple harmonic infrastructure at work in jazz standards and how to use it to make better note choices when soloing. As in Part 1, the premise is that the centuries-old harmonic principles behind classical music also shaped the Great American Songbook — so if you understand major and minor keys, you already know everything you need to get started. Jamie argues that a very literal "match the scale to the chord symbol" approach can confuse matters and lead to poor note choices, and offers an easier, less theoretically daunting way in — explaining Cole Porter songs in a language Cole Porter would actually have recognized, rather than reaching for the huge jazz theory textbooks. Running time: 60 minutes. Includes 33 pages of written material with transcriptions and examples in standard notation and TAB.