This blog post is about the component parts of music. It covers topics like timbre, pitch, rhythm, melody, and harmony, and it introduces the concept of active listening.
The Elements of Music
The Devices and the Voices
This post covers jazz timbre, jazz ensembles, and the theory of jazz sound. Common instruments are described, like trumpet, piano, and saxophone, and common techniques are defined like syncopation, swing, and call-and-response. Also covered is jazz’s peculiar take on melody and its proclivity to use blue notes and blues scales.
The Structure and Essence of Jazz
This blog post is about the methods used by musicians to compose, improvise, and perform jazz music. It focuses on compositional principles and improvisational techniques.
The Chords Awaken
This blog post explores the topic of improvisation. It analyzes a chord-centered method for composing on the fly, and it introduces a strategy for organizing the guitar fret-board known as the CAGED system.
Seventh Chords for Guitar
Adding an additional note to a triad (chord) creates a tetrad. This additional note can alter the flavor of a triad in surprising and interesting ways. The most common tetrad is the seventh chord. There are eight different kinds of seventh chords, each displayed below. I have provided formulaic explanations and three examples (fretboard diagrams) for... Continue Reading →
Chasing the Chords 