Exploring Original Compositions, pt 2

In this sequel to his first Exploring Original Compositions masterclass, John Stowell teaches three of his original chord-melody pieces — Always Sometimes, Springfield Sonata, and Shiffletting (named for Bay Area bassist John Shifflett) — breaking down every chord voicing, double stop, and single note so you know where each one comes from. The goal isn't just to learn the tunes: these rich, pianistic voicings are tools you can take into your own comping, arrangements, and compositions.

What's covered

• Each tune performed (melody and improvisation), then walked through chord by chord
• Simplified blowing changes for each piece, included so you can see how John makes a dense progression soloing-friendly
• Hybrid picking — pick plus three fingers — with a simple exercise for developing it, and why it unlocks pianistic chord playing
• Movable shapes: how one voicing can function in many spots on the neck with small alterations
• Melodic minor, harmonic minor (Lydian sharp 9), and displaced-octave voicings, with influences from Jimmy Wyble and a chord borrowed from Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry
• Open strings, close intervals, and inner voice movement in John's compositional style

John is a patient, generous teacher, and learning these short pieces is a fast way to absorb modern harmonic colors in context. Includes 12 pages of PDFs with all voicings and blowing charts written out. Full video is 53 minutes.