Mulgrew Miller on comping

May 10, 2010

This is a really cool short vid of Mulgrew Miller talking about the art of comping, how to practice it and how to do it well.

Read the full article →

Jazz piano improvisation exercise in C minor

May 6, 2010

Want to get started on jazz and blues improvisation on piano or keyboard? In this nine-minute vid I go over a really good exercise which will teach you some basics

Read the full article →

Update, and cool GarageBand stuff

April 23, 2010

Just a quick post to update regulars on where things are going with Jamcast. If you’re a subscriber, you’ll notice that I’ve been spending the past few weeks posting backdated material to tie in with my new book…

Read the full article →

The suspended fourth chord

February 10, 2010

The suspended fourth chord (written “sus” or “sus4″) is used pretty extensively in contemporary ballad and indie-type sounds - it crops up a lot in songs by people like Coldplay, Ben Folds, Snow Patrol and others.

Read the full article →

Augmented chords

February 7, 2010

Augmented chords are relatively rare, especially if you’re playing the kind of progressions associated with blues and rock’n'roll. However, they crop up a reasonable amount in jazz and classic showtunes…

Read the full article →

Comping jazz piano - the basics, part 2

February 4, 2010

Second video on jazzy comps for piano.

Read the full article →

Comping jazz piano - the basics, part 1

February 2, 2010

This is the first of two videos about piano comping for jazzy-type numbers. I say “jazzy type”, because this is a style that’s pretty well suited to a great deal of popular music from roughly 1920-1960.

Read the full article →

Comping on the piano: a quick introduction

January 30, 2010

Comping is pretty much an essential skill if you want to be a decent pop pianist…

Read the full article →

Amati Recording Studios

January 28, 2010

Graeme Allen has just launched a nation-wide recording studio agency, read his introductory letter to see what it’s about.

Read the full article →

The ninth chord

January 27, 2010

Ninth chords are funny beasts. There are three basic flavours - ninth, major ninth and minor ninth - and lots of different inversions and voicings that you can use.

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →