Josh Walsh @ Jazz-Library

This weeks workshop: We're putting our memory to the test, and playing Body and Soul by using the memory tricks we learned the last two weeks. RSVP below. Reader, Ever gotten lost mid-solo because you blanked on the next chord? It happens to everyone. But the players who sound confident and free are not memorizing endless chord symbols. They are hearing the movements in their head. Last week we worked on memorizing the melody of Body and Soul. (If you missed it, you can read last week’s...

This weeks workshop: Memorizing the changes to Body and Soul. RSVP below to let me know you are coming. Reader, I embarrassed myself playing cocktail hour at a wedding a few years back. A lady came up with a request (and a $20 tip) for a song I’d played many times. But I got nervous, and I had to pull up the sheet to refresh my memory. There’s nothing wrong with glancing at a chart. But the truth is, we play freer and more confidently when the music lives in our head. As I drove home, I knew...

Your Vote Needed: What tune should we cover in our series starting this Friday? Vote here today, then RSVP below to join us. Reader, If you’ve come to my workshops in the past, you know how much I encourage you to learn my "3 to 3 to 3" lines. Today I want to show you a simple change to that line using the altered scale that gives a big lift to your sound. As with everything we learn, it takes only a few minutes to understand, but we don’t really know it until we can play it fluently. So...

This weeks workshop: This Friday we're continuing our series on My Romance, adding colors to major and minor chords. RSVP below. Reader, What does it mean to play "colorful notes?" The 4 notes of a 7th chord are safe. They’ll never clash. But they don’t move the music forward either. When we extend or alter chords, we introduce “tensions.” They create dissonance, the kind of sound beginners often fear because out of context dissonance feels like a mistake. But in the hands of a skilled...

This weeks workshop: Playing Lush Dominant Voicings over My Romance. See blue section below for details and RSVP. Reader, For the past two weeks, we’ve been exploring My Romance. In the very first line, there’s an F7 chord that’s worth slowing down for. Let’s take a closer look at how it functions and the different ways we might approach voicing it. There are so many ways you could voice this chord, but this week we're focused on the 5 options I use the most: All 5 of the chords in this...

This weeks workshop: It's week 2 of the My Romance series, and we're working on adding a 2-feel and some lush comping. RSVP below. Reader, Last week in our workshop we kicked off our new series on My Romance by talking about my process for learning a new tune. Our first step is to listen to a handful of recordings, pick one that inspires you, and repeat it so many times you can sing along. (Aside: You guys brought so many recordings to the workshop that Dianne had to make us a playlist.) When...

This weeks workshop: We're starting a new series this week learning My Romance. If you haven't come in the past, now's the perfect time to join. RSVP Below. Reader, We're kicking off a new series together this week learning how to play the great My Romance by Rodgers and Hart. Since last week's YouTube video on upper structure dominant chords has been so popular, we're going to work a bunch of those voicings into this tune in the coming weeks. But first, we have to lay some groundwork to...