Lorne Lofsky

Jazz guitarist Lorne Lofsky teaches a three-part lecture series on Autumn Leaves , using one of the most-played jazz standards as a vehicle for tools you can apply to your improvising everywhere. The series is free for members of Mike's Master Classes. The three parts Part 1: the chords, melody, and harmony of Autumn Leaves Part 2: soloing over the chord changes, with a deeper look at scale and arpeggio options Part 3: Lorne demonstrates his own approach to playing the tune and shares performance tips Along the way you get an inside look at how a veteran jazz guitarist thinks through an iconic standard, from arranging the harmony to building solos. Song sheets are provided. Read more about Lorne Lofsky .

Canadian jazz guitarist Lorne Lofsky answers student questions in this live Q&A webinar, recorded February 21, 2018. Lorne opens with a chorus of "Where Are You?" , then plays and talks through questions submitted live and in advance. Free for members . Topics from the session How Lorne keeps expanding his harmonic vocabulary after decades of playing — hours of daily improvising on songs in different keys Finding open-string voicings that let the guitar ring more like a piano, with chord shells low on the neck plus open strings above How open strings relate theoretically to the chord of the moment, demonstrated in D minor and Gb Making lines interesting over major 7th chords — chord-tone arpeggios, extensions (9, #11, 13), and superimposed triads as shortcuts Lorne has been a mainstay of the Toronto jazz scene since the 70s, teaching at York University and the University of Toronto, and has performed and recorded with Oscar Peterson, Ed Bickert, Ray Brown, Benny Carter, Chet Baker, Johnny Hartman, Bob Brookmeyer and Pat LaBarbera, among many others. He played in a quartet with Ed Bickert from 1983 to 1991, and from '94–'96 was a member of the Oscar Peterson Quartet, performing at Carnegie Hall, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and across Europe, and appearing on three of Peterson's CDs. Read more about Lorne Lofsky .

Canadian jazz master Lorne Lofsky teaches a pianistic approach to soloing and comping — the harmonically rich, two-things-at-once style that guitarists like Lenny Breau and John Stowell developed by drawing on pianists such as Bill Evans . Lorne builds the whole class from a few movable shapes, showing how to make the guitar imply a full rhythm section. What's covered Quartal (fourth) voicings diatonic to the major scale: building them, moving them across string groups, and playing them on all the modes Adding melody notes on top of voicings — including two-note melodies for a Fender Rhodes-like spread Applying the voicings to ii–V–I progressions , with flat-9/flat-13 dominants, secondary dominants, and rootless shapes where the 3rd and 7th imply the bass Creating motion with side slipping , neighbor chords, and passing chords on static vamps Playing the concepts over a blues in G and Dorian/Mixolydian modal sounds (including the All Blues vamp) Open-string voicings, drone exercises, visualization, and other practice strategies that go beyond standard drop voicings A closing Autumn Leaves performance with the concepts explained For advanced players who already know their drop-2 and drop-3 shapes and want a personal harmonic vocabulary beyond the textbook. Includes a 1-page PDF in standard notation. Full video is 1 hour and 34 mins.

Lorne Lofsky dedicates this masterclass to upper structure triads — triads played over a basic chord shell (root, 3rd, 7th) to produce rich extensions like 9s, 11s, and 13s. Pianists do this with two hands; Lorne shows how he adapted the concept for guitar, inspired by Mark Levine's The Jazz Piano Book . What's covered What upper structure triads are and how the triad you choose drastically changes the sound of the underlying chord Upper structure dominant triads, starting with the D-over-C7 sound that yields C7 9, #11, 13 Working with triad inversions to change the melody note on top Adding upper and lower neighbor notes to move beyond pure triads Playing the shell first and letting it linger while you work the upper triad — a practical workaround for what one hand can't grab Hearing the sounds in context by recording a ii-V-I and applying triads over the dominant An advanced class for players who want to comp and solo with sophisticated extended harmony, supported by uploadable reference sheets with tab.

Lorne Lofsky teaches a master class on harmonics — the techniques pioneered by Tal Farlow and Lenny Breau — and shows how to weave them into your single-note soloing and chord playing. Harmonics add different colors and textures to the guitar, and Lorne builds the technique from the ground up through a series of step-by-step examples. What's covered Playing natural harmonics at the 12th fret using the thumb (or thumb pick) and index finger Coupling harmonics with open strings, and how a harmonic transposes the note up an octave — turning a minor seventh into a major second Alternating harmonics with regular notes, Lenny Breau-style, to outline and arpeggiate full chord voicings Plucking a harmonic together with two fretted notes for three-note textures Balancing the dynamics so harmonics and regular notes blend evenly Experimenting with pickup settings to vary the tone An advanced class for guitarists who want to add the shimmering, harp-like sound of harmonics to their vocabulary. Full video is 1 hour and 27 minutes.