Josh Walsh @ Jazz-Library

Reader, To really, truly understand the fundamentals of improvisation, you must spend a lot of time transcribing Chet Baker. His solo’s are not typically virtuosic, or even “outside.” They perfectly outline the chord changes. Today's 2-5-1 Each week, I share 2 transcribed phrases, 5 ideas observed from 1 featured jazz recording. This week, our recording comes from Chet Baker on the tune Tangerine. Tangerine / Chet Baker This is the 4th track on She Was Too Good To Me, recorded with Bob James,...

Reader, The thing I love about Miles Davis is how intentional he is with every note. Every now and then it’s fun to listen to some crazy fast, technical soloing. But, this track from Miles is the exact opposite. It’s melodic and so transparent that every nuance is on display. Each note is intentional, beautiful and colorful. The rhythms simple, but interesting through variety. I learn so much more from solo’s like this one than I do from the virtuosic show-off moments. This weeks 2-5-1 Each...

Reader, A couple of months ago I started collecting my favorite jazz recordings, transcribing phrases from them and sharing them with my friends. It's been a fun experience discovering new music for myself, and introducing my favorites to them. As this newsletter has grown over the years, from just a few dozen friends now to nearly 10,000 jazz nerds (a term of affection), I've been struggling with the best way to keep this content valuable and relevant to everyone from all experience levels....

Reader, I’ve been working one-on-one with a student for the last few months. Last week, he bemoaned that he hadn’t yet learned any of the cool jazzy chords—that we were still playing “basic s&%t.” As you’ve probably figured out, I’m big into fundamentals. So, when you study with me, we start with fundamental concepts and build up from there. I’ve been working with him on the “staples” of left-hand chord voicings: Shell voicings: the root with either the 3 or 7 on top Essential voicings: drop...

Reader, Our Jazz Piano Comping course finally went up for sale this week (more on that at the bottom). As I put that course together, I encountered a gap in my own playing. Working through that gap, I discovered a simple exercise I've never seen taught elsewhere... When it comes to comping, the hardest thing to learn is to be spontaneous, right? In a jazz performance, the musical moment exists now, and then it fades away, never to be heard again. Every performance is unique and driven by the...

Reader, Have you ever heard of the Pareto Principle? It suggests that 80% of results come from 20% of efforts. As jazz pianists, this prompts an interesting question: What 20% of our practice has the most impact on our playing? After reflection, I’ve narrowed it down to two areas: Rhythmic vocabulary: Rhythm is the heart of everything we play. It was called Rhythm & Blues for a reason. Every tune we play swings harder when our rhythm is solid. ii-V-I mastery: Nearly every standard we play is...

Reader, Have you ever reached a point in your playing where you can’t break through, no matter how much you practice? When I look back at the last twenty years of playing, there are some things I wish I had done differently. In particular, I moved too quickly past some of the essential fundamentals. I dismissed them as easy or boring and was anxious to move into the sophisticated scales and voicings as if those complicated techniques would make me sound like Bill Evans. But I regret that...