Paul Bollenback

Paul Bollenback's 2023 six-week ear training course for jazz guitar — and your purchase includes four full previous sessions of the course as well. The class puts the basic building blocks of music into your ears and under your fingers at the same time, covering both melodic and harmonic hearing and playing. The system is based on the material taught by Dr. Asher Zlotnik to many great players around the world, adapted specifically for jazz guitar by Paul. What's covered The sound, location, uses, and construction of all the intervals Scale fragments, semitone fragments, and tetrachords — including the modes of major and melodic minor in tetrachords (with Soundslice notation) Triad shapes, sung and identified by ear Chromatic approaches and outlines of harmony A methodology for improvisation: applying the ear training material to soloing on tunes All classes were recorded, so you can review every session at your leisure. For intermediate to advanced players; some theory knowledge required (intervals, scales, chord construction). 26 PDF files included, totaling 55 pages , covering the full methodology, graphics, pivots on standards like Autumn Leaves and Days of Wine and Roses, and repertoire lists.

Paul Bollenback's complete ear training course for jazz guitar, captured across three full recorded runs of his six-week live class. The course puts the basic building blocks of music into your ears and under your fingers at the same time, covering both melodic and harmonic hearing and playing. The system is based on the material taught by Dr. Asher Zlotnik to many great players around the world, adapted specifically for jazz guitar by Paul. What's covered Intervals: their sound, location on the guitar, uses, and construction Singing and identifying triad shapes — major, minor, augmented, diminished — from a fixed pivot note Semitone fragments and tetrachords , including the modes of major and melodic minor in tetrachords Harmonic hearing: identifying chord qualities and singing the outline of a tune's harmony The five-pivot system, with pivot worksheets applied to Autumn Leaves , Days of Wine and Roses , and the blues Connecting the work to real playing: transcribing, sight-singing through music, and improvising on tunes Because these are live class recordings, you also get Paul fielding student questions — how to hear chords in relation to the key versus the moment, what to do when an interval won't stick — along with practice-app tips and plenty of stories from the bandstand. For intermediate to advanced players; some theory knowledge required (intervals, scales, chord construction). 26 PDF files included, totaling 55 pages , covering the full methodology, graphics, and repertoire lists. 2023 Course Now Enrolling

Paul Bollenback's six-week live ear training course for jazz guitar (Sunday sessions: May 23, 30, June 6, 13, 27, July 11 ), recorded so you can review every class at your leisure. Bonus: your purchase also includes Paul's previous six-week session. The course puts the basic building blocks of music into your ears and under your fingers at the same time, using the system Paul learned over eight years of study with Dr. Asher Zlotnik , adapted specifically for jazz guitar. What's covered Three connected skills: identifying what you hear, internalizing material by singing it, and finding it on the guitar Intervals — their sound, location, uses, and construction — plus semitone fragments and tetrachords Singing and hearing triad shapes (major, minor, augmented, diminished) from a fixed pivot note Harmonic hearing: identifying chord qualities and connecting melodic material to the harmony underneath it The five-pivot system and outlines of harmony, applied to improvising on tunes Practice tools and routines: flashcards, ear training apps, and how to work on the intervals that won't stick Because these are live class recordings, you also get Paul answering student questions and sharing stories from his playing life. For intermediate to advanced players; some theory knowledge required (intervals, scales, chord construction). 26 PDF files included, totaling 55 pages , covering the methodology, graphics, pivots on standards, and repertoire lists.

Paul Bollenback's six-week live ear training course for jazz guitar, held Saturdays: Mar. 6, 13, 20, 27, Apr. 3, 10 . The course puts the basic building blocks of music into your ears and under your fingers at the same time, so what you hear in your head actually comes out when you play. The system is based on the material taught by Dr. Asher Zlotnik to many great players around the world, adapted specifically for jazz guitar by Paul. What's covered Both melodic and harmonic hearing and playing The sound, location, uses, and construction of all the intervals Scale fragments and triad shapes Chromatic approaches and outlines of harmony Applying the material to improvising on tunes For intermediate to advanced players — some music theory knowledge is required (intervals, scales, chord construction). PDF materials are provided.

Paul Bollenback's six-week live ear training course for jazz guitar, held Sundays: Mar. 7, 14, 21, 28, Apr. 4, 11 . The course puts the basic building blocks of music into your ears and under your fingers at the same time, so what you hear in your head actually comes out when you play. The system is based on the material taught by Dr. Asher Zlotnik to many great players around the world, adapted specifically for jazz guitar by Paul. What's covered Both melodic and harmonic hearing and playing The sound, location, uses, and construction of all the intervals Scale fragments and triad shapes Chromatic approaches and outlines of harmony Applying the material to improvising on tunes For intermediate to advanced players — some music theory knowledge is required (intervals, scales, chord construction). PDF materials are provided.

Paul Bollenback teaches a system for ear training on the guitar — putting the basic building blocks of music into your ears and under your fingers at the same time, so what you hear in your head actually comes out when you play. The approach is based on the material taught by Dr. Asher Zlotnik to many great players around the world, adapted specifically for jazz guitar by Paul. What's covered Both melodic and harmonic hearing and playing The sound, location, uses, and construction of all the intervals Scale fragments and triad shapes Chromatic approaches and outlines of harmony Applying the material to improvising on tunes For intermediate to advanced players — some music theory knowledge is required (intervals, scales, chord construction). PDF materials are provided.

Guitarist Paul Bollenback, organist Pat Bianchi, and drummer Byron "Wookie" Landham — a working organ trio with a long shared history — perform together and break down how a high-level rhythm section actually interacts. Through demonstrations and discussion on Chick Corea's Humpty Dumpty plus an F blues and a B-flat blues, they get at the element that scales and chords alone don't teach: the art of playing in a band. What's covered What each member focuses on when performing, and the role of each instrument at any given time The difference between interacting and not interacting — and ways to lift a performance to another level Listening in layers, on stage and in the practice room, and listening to recordings with intent Rhythmic comping concepts: displacement, upbeats, and supportive comping ideas — PDF included with rhythmic comping ideas Improvising with chord tones vs. chord scales, and harmonic ideas on the blues Why it's important to imitate, not replicate, and sources to draw from for comping and soloing How a drummer, organist, and guitarist each react to the harmony, and what's specific to the organ trio setting This is one for musicians who want insight beyond what chords and scales to play on songs — a masterclass in ensemble playing that rewards repeated viewings.

Paul Bollenback teaches a short power course on soloing in single notes using false harmonics — fretting a note with the left hand while the right hand touches the node twelve frets above, producing a chiming tone an octave higher. It's a distinctive color used by players like Tal Farlow, Lenny Breau, Bill Frisell, and Vic Juris . What's covered The difference between natural harmonics (12th, 7th, 5th fret) and false harmonics Right-hand execution: touching the node with the index finger while plucking with the pick, plus thumbnail and thumb-on-node variations Finding the node accurately — playing right over the fret bar, not in the fret space Mirroring lines an octave up: imagining what you play at the 3rd fret happening at the 15th Applying the technique to a B-flat major 7 arpeggio line Sliding into false harmonics instead of picking every note A focused mini-lesson for intermediate players who want to add a unique, bell-like sound to their single-note solos. The technique takes some practice to get clean, but Paul breaks it down slowly with close-up demonstrations.

Paul Bollenback presents a full workout for the picking hand: exercises he has used for years to keep his picking strong, build coordination between the hands, and get a better sound. He opens with a double-time picking demonstration on a C minor blues , then works through the exercises in five categories, encouraging you to modify each one and make your own variations. What's covered Pick-hand mechanics: how to hold the pick, leading-edge angle, and changing your grip without losing your playing Single-string chromatic exercises with all four stroke options — all down, all up, alternate starting down, alternate starting up A fixed number of attacks per note (4-3-2-1) applied to scales and arpeggios, including a B-flat major 7 arpeggio The 24 four-finger combinations without repeating, as left-hand material Two-string and string-crossing work: fifths, scales in thirds, and all adjacent string pairs Combining picking with hammer-ons and pull-offs on two and three notes per string — and why three notes per string is Paul's favored approach Economy and sweep picking with different down/up stroke patterns A string-plucking "prepare and release" technique borrowed from classical guitar, and how it connects to rhythm and tone Applying the material to improvising, with a closing application on Autumn Leaves A PDF of the three-notes-per-string picking variations is included, plus a Soundslice exercise on picking the F major scale. More fun than reading a book on technique, and a resource you can return to whenever your chops need a tune-up.

Paul Bollenback teaches the concepts and practice routines he personally uses to play at burning tempos — demonstrated on "Cherokee" at around 310 bpm. Drawing on years of being put on the spot by players who could really handle fast tempos, Paul gives you strategies for the bandstand as well as concrete things to practice. What's covered Four areas of concentration: how you feel the time, your rhythmic language and lines, your mechanics, and your fretboard knowledge Relaxing the time by thinking in 2 or even in 1, splitting the difference with a 16th-note feel, and practicing with the metronome on 1 and 3 Taking rhythms from bebop vocabulary (a stock Charlie Parker lick) and shoehorning them in at tempo Left- and right-hand mechanics — alternate picking checks, hammer-ons and pull-offs that swing, and picking the upbeat to slur into the downbeat Checking your fretboard knowledge chord by chord on Cherokee, including Lydian dominant on the dominant II chord The fast–slow–fast practice method, plus keeping a notebook of problem spots and tools like iReal Pro and Drum Genius This isn't a quick fix — as Paul puts it, you have to try fast tempos and be patient while they come together — but it gives you lasting tools to survive and thrive when someone calls Cherokee or Donna Lee at a jam. Includes 3 pages of PDF materials with table of contents and 2 examples in standard notation & TAB . Full video is 41 minutes.

Paul Bollenback teaches chord-shape soloing using Kurt Weill's standard Speak Low as the vehicle. Instead of memorizing countless scale patterns, Paul builds his lines off a handful of chord shapes that map the fretboard — so you can see how lines and chords fit together, visually and harmonically. The class pairs naturally with his earlier voicing masterclass, and the approach traces back to early jazz guitarists like Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson . What's covered The changes to Speak Low , section by section, including the bridge and turnarounds Mapping G minor across the neck with drop-2 voicings : Gm9, Gm11, and a Bbmaj7 shape that doubles as Gm9 How scales, arpeggios, and chromatic passing tones emerge from each chord shape's position Treating Gm–C9 vamps as one G minor tonality to simplify your thinking How to practice the approach and what Paul is thinking as he solos chorus after chorus from a few simple shapes For advanced players who want to break out of scalar thinking and develop a chord-conscious soloing style where every line is anchored to a shape you can see.

A recorded live Q&A session with jazz guitarist Paul Bollenback, originally streamed on April 5, 2018. Paul answers questions from members about guitar playing, improvisation, and his musical approach. Paul's emotionally expressive style and eclectic approach are the result of a wide range of influences, including Carlos Santana, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, and Lenny Breau. This session is free for members .

Guitarist Paul Bollenback teaches a class on developing your time, groove, and projection — and how technique affects all three. Drawing on his experience performing with drummers like Jeff "Tain" Watts and Billy Hart, Paul digs into the difference between merely playing in time and actually grooving . What's covered Why groove is the most important thing to work on, wherever you are in your development Play-along practice with records: Art Blakey , the Grant Green/Sonny Clark Complete Quartets, plus deep-pocket choices like James Brown, Jimmy Smith, and Big John Patton Locking into specific rhythm-section elements — ride cymbal swing, hi-hat patterns, and snare accents Billy Hart's idea of flexible time — knowing when to push and when to lay back Metronome practice that goes beyond stiff quarter-note clicking to exercises that actually swing Phrasing techniques, including ending phrases on upbeats and syncopations for forward motion How clean technique directly supports your rhythmic authority, in both soloing and comping Recorded as a live class with student questions along the way, this lesson suits players who feel their time is competent but stiff, and want their playing to breathe and swing.

Paul Bollenback shares his concepts and real-world experience of comping — in a trio, with a piano player, with a horn player, and with a singer. Each setting makes different demands on a guitarist's chord work, and Paul addresses them one by one. For the demonstrations, Paul is joined by vocalist Chris McNulty and guitarist Martin Carle , so you hear the accompaniment concepts applied in live musical situations rather than in isolation. A practical class for any guitarist who wants to be a better, more sensitive accompanist.

In his first Mike's Master Class, Paul Bollenback teaches the Chromatic Line Game : using a chromatically ascending or descending upper voice inside your chords to generate motion and direction in comping, discover new voicings, and even construct single-note solo lines. What's covered How the chromatic line game works, starting from simple ii-V-I-VI examples with one and two chords per bar Building a moving top line over each chord — ascending where possible, descending or adjusting where a chromatic note won't work The concept's roots as a compositional tool: choosing chord tones (9ths, 11ths, 13ths, 7ths) and testing whether they still work over the next chord Practical application to a familiar tune — Paul demonstrates the whole approach over Stella by Starlight Working from the included PDF of written examples A practical, ear-opening system for guitarists who want their comping to go somewhere instead of sitting still — and a line-building tool in the bargain.

Paul Bollenback teaches jazz guitar accompaniment and solo performance in this intimate masterclass recorded live at the IAJE Conference, with vocalist Chris McNulty joining for duo demonstrations. Drawing on his work with Gary Thomas and McNulty, Paul shares the skills a working sideman needs to fit in with whatever is happening at the moment — including being handed a solo guitar set on no notice. What's covered The Joe Pass approach to solo guitar: always keep something going — chords, walking bass lines, or single-note passages — with no gaps Spontaneous, on-the-fly playing versus fully worked-out arrangements (in the manner of Gene Bertoncini or Russell Malone) Maintaining rock-solid time while playing unaccompanied, and common timing pitfalls Polyrhythmic devices for turnarounds, including dotted-quarter triplets and 5/16 displacements Metronome exercises for locking in your swing feel across quarter notes, eighth notes, triplets, and sixteenths Accompanying a vocalist in a duo setting Demonstrations include a solo chord melody on Duke Ellington's In a Sentimental Mood , played entirely on the fly. This class suits players who want to strengthen their solo guitar skills and develop real-world flexibility instead of relying on memorized arrangements.

Paul Bollenback explores the art of playing jazz blues, combining the roots of blues music with the expanding harmonic possibilities and varying approaches developed from the 1950s to the present day. What's covered Chords and comping for jazz blues Walking bass lines Soloing approaches Wes Montgomery chord substitutions Modes and pentatonic scales Tritone substitutions A solid introduction for any guitarist who wants to bring authentic blues feeling together with modern jazz harmony.

Paul Bollenback teaches jazz comping on the two most common vehicles in the music: the blues and rhythm changes . Starting with a blues in Bb, Paul demonstrates the melodic approach to comping — treating accompaniment as a musical conversation rather than mere harmonic support. What's covered Why melody and rhythm come first: using a simple written line on a Bb blues as the foundation for harmonization Voice leading and harmonizing a melody with your chord voicings, including colors like the Bb augmented 7#9 Rootless voicings, shell chords, and tension substitutions such as 13ths, #9 alterations, and tritone subs Giving a soloist just enough information — when to lead, when to follow, and how to react in real time Adapting your comping to different rhythm section situations Applying the same concepts to rhythm changes and other standards PDF handouts of the written examples are included so you can work through the lines and voicings yourself. A valuable session for guitarists who understand basic jazz harmony and want their comping to sound like music, not just chords.

Paul Bollenback dedicates a full class to crafting jazz introductions and endings — how to set the mood and tempo from the first note and bring a tune to a close that flows naturally instead of grinding to a halt. He has touched on the topic in other Mike's Master Classes, but this session goes in depth, with Stella by Starlight as the running example. What's covered Building an intro from the last eight bars of a tune — modeled on Herbie Hancock's rubato intro from Miles Davis's My Funny Valentine live recording, which echoed Bill Evans's earlier eight-bar introduction Setting the tone with pedal-point chords and a short vamp before the melody arrives Reharmonization devices: diminished substitutions , altered dominants, and sus voicings (with chord-by-chord walkthroughs and fingerings) Suggesting the tune with changes and fragments of melody before stating it outright Moving between rubato and in-tempo playing, plus vamps and tags for endings Paul demonstrates everything on the guitar and breaks his choices down in plain terms, so you come away with a plan for framing your own performances rather than a list of licks. PDF materials accompany the class.

Guitarist Paul Bollenback explores the art of solo jazz guitar, focusing on chord melody techniques and real-world performance strategies. Rather than teaching rigid, worked-out arrangements, Paul shows you how to make musical decisions in real time — an approach he developed on countless duo gigs with saxophonists, vocalists, and flutists, where solo-guitar skills were simply part of the job. What's covered 1-3-7 and 1-7-3 voicings — sophisticated but playable shapes that support a melody A detailed walk through It Could Happen to You , with the melody phrased around the lyric Navigating register challenges so chords respect both the melody and the instrument Creating movement in melodic spaces with Brazilian-influenced harmonic motion and augmented passing chords Common substitutions, including the G7–G7aug–C7 move Building the harmonic vocabulary you need for duo work with singers or horn players Includes 14 pages of chord voicings and exercises . A strong fit for intermediate to advanced players who want their solo guitar work to feel flexible and genuinely musical rather than memorized — and Paul's first piece of advice applies to everyone: just sit down and play through tunes, a lot.

Jazz guitarist Paul Bollenback continues his Art of Solo Guitar series with a workshop on spontaneous solo performance — playing tunes you haven't worked out in advance, with solid time and a groove that dances. He opens with an unplanned performance of Polka Dots and Moonbeams , then breaks down the skills that make flying by the seat of your pants possible. What's covered Keeping your own time — using a metronome as a checkpoint, not a crutch, and recording yourself to test whether your tempo holds from start to finish Foot-tapping and groove — making even simple quarter-note bass-and-chord playing feel like a dance Internalizing swing feel through exercises with quarter notes, eighth notes, and triplets The subtle difference between straight and swung eighth notes Staying in the pocket when fatigue or memory lapses threaten a performance Balancing spontaneity with worked-out material — with reference to players like Gene Bertoncini , Howard Alden , and George Benson , who do both For intermediate to advanced players who want to move beyond prepared pieces and improvise full solo guitar performances with confidence. As Paul puts it, a little tempo drift won't kill you — beautiful communication with the listener matters more than machine-perfect time.

Paul Bollenback wraps up his Art of Solo Guitar series with a class devoted to introductions and endings — the parts of a solo performance guitarists most often get stuck on when a bandleader says, "Go ahead, set it up." What's covered What a good introduction needs to establish — and when it pays to be deceptive about the key so the melody arrives as a pleasant surprise A worked example on Corcovado by Antonio Carlos Jobim, including reharmonizing the intro with a Db sus instead of the home key Why a random figure doesn't set up a tune — and how to turn an intro idea into a recurring vamp that ties an arrangement together Building an arsenal of intro and ending approaches you can call on at a gig A recap of the series' tools: harmonizing melodies, walking bass lines, chord melody, intervallic and single-note playing Note: there are no written materials for this class. See the rest of the series: The Art of Solo Guitar I The Art of Solo Guitar II The Art of Solo Guitar III

Paul Bollenback teaches how to get maximum mileage from just a few chord shapes on the guitar — voicings that can each be "more than one thing" depending on the root. Using Victor Young's "Stella By Starlight" , the major blues, and stock 2-5-1 and 3-6-2-5-1 progressions as vehicles, this class boils down years of Paul's harmonic exploration into a practical starting place. What's covered Three-note voicings on the middle string sets, with string-set conversions for playing the same shape across the neck Shell voicings and rootless voicings that stay out of the bass player's way The tritone plus perfect fourth voicing reused as Dominant 13, Minor 6/9, Dominant 7#9, and minor 11 flat 5 — all depending on the root Moving that shape chromatically down a 3-6-2-5-1 turnaround, and voicings for tritone substitutions Four-note voicings primarily on the B, G, D, and A strings Practicing through the cycle of fourths, plus practice routine suggestions Applications in major and minor 2-5-1s, 3-6-2-5-1s, and the blues — for comping, chord melody, and chord soloing A straightforward, no-nonsense study in doing a lot with a small amount of information, for intermediate-to-advanced players. Paul ends with the greatest words of wisdom: go practice! Running time: 90 minutes. 5 pages of written material in standard notation and TAB.

Paul Bollenback shows how to expand your chord vocabulary on the ii-V-I — the most fundamental progression in jazz — by starting from three basic shapes you already know and moving the inner voices around. Beginning with standard Dm7, G13, and Cmaj7 voicings, he systematically derives a whole family of new chords, one voice at a time. What's covered Moving individual voices within a basic Dm7 grip to produce Dm7b5 , Dm11 (voiced in fourths), and D7#9 as ii-chord substitutions Open versus thick voicings — including a pretty open Dm7 with the doubled 3rd Creating inner-voice motion with passing chords like Bbmaj7/D resolving through G13 Which voicings work in a functional ii-V-I context versus modal or other settings Fingering and hand-position habits — keeping fingers close to the frets — plus how to practice each voicing so it's usable in real time If your comping keeps falling back on the same old grips, this class gives you a practical method for opening it up: take what you already have and learn to move the voices. Full video is 1 hour and 26 minutes.