Steve Herberman

This is the best class I've ever had and Mr. steve is the best

Jazz Phrasing

Very useful, practical and musical examples!! Well done; one of the best from Steve in my opinion.

interior designs

great class.

Steve hits it out of the ballpark once again! I have listened to the video a couple times at work getting an overview, and I'm finally getting a chance to begin working with it. As we know, everything Steve teaches is pretty high-level, so it takes full concentration and time to do proper study. It's a very different than learning landslide or My Creole bell. But what a fabulous lesson! Steve has this uniquely clear, concise and practical way of explaining things. As well as clearly demonstrating things that makes him one of the best instructors I have ever encountered. Explaining things in a way that makes sense, in a very logical sequential manner , it comes so naturally to Steve. That clarity means a lot. I have been working with and collecting VHS and DVDs since the mid-90s. Literally dozens and dozens and dozens of instructors. Give or take a few.. This review does not discuss the lesson with any specifics, as I work with the material I will try to post another review that talks about the lesson with some detail. But just from reviewing the material a couple times, I am confident that this presentation is going to unlock a lot of Doors for a lot of people. It's just a question of putting the time and effort into the study. Thank you so much. Rob.

A unique approach to walking bass on guitar

The way walking bass is taught and played by guitarists is usually limited to having chord stabs played only on the first beat of each bar, along with the root of each chord. Steve teaches us how we can break away from this pattern by exploring how chords can be placed on different beats, as well as how to harmonize every note in the bass line. Since chords are being added to notes other than the root, this approach brings about the use of inversions and substitutions -- which adds harmonic and rhythmic depth to the lines. Studying this material should benefit both the comping and solo guitar aspects of your playing. Highly recommended.

Great presentation - extremely helpful

Steve is an outstanding teacher. This class is full of examples that you can use on your own or use as a springboard to come up with your own ideas. I know I will be coming back to this class again and again for ideas and inspiration.

Simply incredible course. I saw Ted Greene lesson with Steve on youtube a year ago. I didnt know who the student was. When I saw it I wanted to learn how to think and shoot for 1% bach to be humble in the face of his genius. I found myself listening to Steve and then pausing and applying the clear way Steve lays it out. Simply incredible course. It changes the way I think harmonically and helps me get out of standard guitar boxes that are static. Much appreciation to Steve. Highly recommended. I am off to course 2!

Single Note Melody Part 1: Making The Melody Sing

Steve really lays out a lot of options you have while playing melodies. Take a couple and go through your tunes and apply them :) You will be challenged and have fun and learn new thigs all at once! Thx Steve!

Comping Concepts Part Two: Ballads and Jazz Waltz | by Steve Herberman

Excellent as always. Steve's a wealth of knowledge.

Shadow Of Your Smile Part 1

Excellent. I love the informal feel and discussion of various choices that can be made along the way - from simple to complex.

comping and self-comping

A totally awesome class!!! The discussions were very helpful and the chance to comp for John and Steve, and solo while they comped for me was priceless.

stella #3

Outstanding class; lots of new material and ideas.

Jazz Phrasing part 2

This introduction to triplet rhythms and other asymmetrical patterns shows the student a way to build lines that float over the chord changes. The course uses There Will Never Be Another You as a vehicle to demonstrate these concepts. Steve's examples flow over the chord changes and I found myself presented with a whole new way to think about soloing. The examples are tabbed out and broken down into 4 and 8 bar sections to facilitate learning. Steve puts all the sections together at the end and the result is a beautiful etude that shows the concepts perfectly. I'm already experimenting with these concepts on other songs and beginning to see the unlimited possibilities of playing more freely using these rhythmic concepts. Thanks Steve for an insight into this very cool way of phrasing.

Big Band chord riffs and shout choruses

I took my time with this course. After the first two or three examples, I realized that this is fundamental material that was missing in my playing. These choruses give the student the knowledge and ability to play bluesy chordal riffs that sound very sophisticated. The chords used are pretty basic but the syncopation and voice leading produce a sound that is hip, musical, and can stand on its own as a chord solo or sound great with a bass player. The ideas presented are in various keys. They are explained well and demonstrated accurately. The ideas are written out completely. I am not a great music reader but I did not find it difficult to learn these phrases. It definitely does not hurt to challenge oneself in the skill of reading music. Thanks Steve, for a great course. You have given me some super cool ideas to take on the bandstand.

Blues Part 1 Call and Response

This class is just what I was looking for, some great ideas to add to my blues and jazz vocabulary. The call and response concept makes these ideas perfect for playing with a bass player. But many of the lines are punctuated with chord "hits" enabling the combination of single note and chord punctuation to stand alone. The lines are tasty, bluesy, and authentic. The focus is mainly on the key of F and Bb, which gives the student the opportunity to see cool ideas in different positions. The accompanying tab is accurate and the course is laid out with easier ideas first and then moving to more challenging phrases involving syncopation, triplets, chordal movement, thirds, sixths, octaves, etc. Steve is a wonderful teacher. He moves the class along at a good pace with thorough explanations. Lots of great material in this course! Thank you Steve!

Excellent course

This course was a real eye and ear opener. I'm looking forward to taking these concepts and applying them to the tunes in my set list. An excellent addition to my jazz vocabulary. Thank you Steve for a thoughtful and thorough presentation.

Simply some of the best materials available on the whole Internet

I bought my first class on this site (and it was from Steve Herberman!) in 2009. I have to say in the intervening 11 years one class after another, these materials have turned my playing around, as well as my way of approaching the guitar. What I say about Steve's latest offering can easily apply to any of his classes: generous amounts of materials, accompanied by clear explanations that are never overly theoretical, and sound like music - never like exercises. The contrapuntal approach on the guitar is difficult and for this reason tends to be rare both in performance and in educational materials, but this site - and Steve Herberman in particular - offer a clear way into this world, tackled in a very methodical way and approached with the immediate goal of making music and improvising with the outlook of an arranger. For anyone interested in this style of playing/ composing/ arranging there is an old class of Steve's called 'Contrapuntal improvisation' that really started it all for me and, despite a video quality that 11 years old, is worth the price of admission alone for the opening rendition of Alone Together. In fact, that reminds me, I need to roll up my sleeves and transcribe it!

Contrapuntal Improvisation I

I'm always amazed by the so clear way Steve explains complex concepts, shown with great examples and with such a high level of musicianship on the demonstrations!

Contrary Motion Counterpoint part 1

Antoher clear, full of nice ideas to work on, and absolutely inspiring lesson!! Thanks a lot Steve!

Mechanisms as a Modular System, not a Dr. Seuss Book, indeed :)

Steve, I really like where you’re going with this “Mechanisms” thing, because the creativity really comes from not just parroting it, but the ability to personalize it, individually. Modularity has become the basic principle of computer coding, especially Object-Oriented Programming. Creating re-usable, small bits, or “Objects”, that can be re-used and re-applied in multiple formats, contexts, situations. It has the same applicability with music. Mingus famously said that music is the progressive mastery of simple things that build on each other. For example, I played around with the representation of the C-7 chord in measure 1 of exercise 5. Now, instead of playing the C-7, I have additional ways of representing this information, in a linear way. This also connects very much with what Barry Harris says, over and over again, “Music is Movement”. Thanks again and cheers, Nav