I spent all week studying 8 measures from Oscar Peterson

Reader,

There is so much we can learn about creating bebop lines from these 8 measures:

This is the introduction from Nice Work If You Can Get It, from Oscar Peterson Plays the Gershwin Songbook. Last weekend a handful of us hung out on a YouTube livestream and transcribed this off the record together.

During the stream, we realized just how much of the bebop language is found in just these few measures and that we could use them as a lesson in creating our own bebop lines.

And so, that’s what I spent most of last week studying and practicing:

My YouTube video this week breaks down everything I learned, and gives you some practical things for you to practice.

It’s a fun line to play too… harder than it looks. Can you play it?

Josh Walsh

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