Work, with Miles Okazaki

Danny Boy

Happy Saint Patrick's Day. Here's I am working on "Danny Boy," and talking about the history of the song via my friend Jacob Garchik. If you haven't seen the George Benso

Mailbag: Melodic Minor

A deep dive into Melodic Minor from a recent member question. We cover uses of this sound as a tonic and dominant in improvisation, a brief look at Raag Charukeshi (a rel

Bach on Sunday: WTC Book I, Fugue in E minor

Today I look at a two part fugue from the Well Tempered Clavier. This one is especially well suited to the guitar. Two guitarists could play it together without any alter

Guided Practice, All-Interval Tetrachord

Today's shape turns out to be All-Interval tetrachord 0137. In the video I go through what this means, and look at some of the sounds that we can get out of this shape in

"Hot House" part II

In this video I go through the fingerings that I've found for this somewhat tricky melody. I also talk about the language used in the lines, and how this relates to octat

"Hot House" and the mysterious minor ii-V

This is part 1 of two long videos about the bebop classic tune "Hot House," by Tadd Dameron. In this episode we don't actually get into the tune itself, but work on the b

Anatomy of a Groove: Dog Star pt. 4, "Lush Life"

Here's a part of live concert in Brooklyn where we combine the Dog Star groove with Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life." Check out the whole concert for free here. We made a vi

Anatomy of a Groove: "Dog Star" 3

Here's a second version of the Dog Star groove, after we had been playing it live for a while and it had turned into a different tune. Although there is a studio version

Anatomy of a Groove: "Dog Star" 2

Here's the groove we talked about yesterday in it's first incarnation, at a recording session at the old Systems Two Studios, one of my favorite places in the world that

Anatomy of a Groove: "Dog Star"

This is my first post about composition, a much-requested topic, but one that can quickly go down long rabbit holes. I try to limit the topic by talking about just the dr

Bach: Cello Suite in C minor, "Sarabande"

Here's a look at an amazing melody by JSB, from Cello Suite no. 5 in C minor.

Guided Practice: Shape of the Day

Looking at the shape for Feb 26 from the book 351 shapes.

"Epistrophy" and the Ukelele

Here's a parenthetical episode while we're working on Charlie Christian stuff. Something I discovered recently while messing around with the ukulele.

Bach: BWV 1005

This episode is a recording of me playing the four movements of J.S. Bach's violin sonata in C major. Two movements on acoustic guitar, and two movements on electric.

Bach on Sunday: Chorale 98

A look at a Bach chorale, with improvisation.

Meet your heroes

Random thoughts on the way to work

Guided Practice, sight reading, intervallic playing

A guided practice using only one scale, progressing from easy to difficult

Charlie Christian 06: Stompin' chorus 3, 2nd half

This series of videos takes a close look at one of the greatest improvisations of all time, Charlie Christian's solo on "Stompin' at the Savoy" from May of 1941, live at

Charlie Christian 04: Stompin' Chorus 2

This series of videos takes a close look at one of the greatest improvisations of all time, Charlie Christian's solo on "Stompin' at the Savoy" from May of 1941, live at

Charlie Christian 05: Stompin' chorus 3, 1st half

This series of videos takes a close look at one of the greatest improvisations of all time, Charlie Christian's solo on "Stompin' at the Savoy" from May of 1941, live at