Category Archives: Jazz Piano Lessons
Can You Say, “I’ve Got Rhythm”? Book Review: “The Rhythm Book” by Rory Stuart
Every musician who has learned how to read music has encountered some of the basic rhythmic aspects of music. Understanding time signatures, the values of the various kinds of notes, and the importance of a steady beat, were all topics … Continue reading
Some Trumpet Practicing Guidelines From Another Discipline
Alex (one of my high school students who has been mentioned in this blog before), recently had to miss his weekly lesson in order to attend a summer camp. This particular one was held by the Civilian Marksmanship Program, and … Continue reading
Mapping Out a New Jazz Tune
What kinds of things do you do to learn a new jazz tune? Of course we learn the melody, but if you are planning to improvise on the tune and it’s chord changes, your work has only just begun. I … Continue reading
Rhythmic Scales
Jazz is one of the many languages of the musical world, and those who wish to speak it in a spontaneous way must be familiar with its vocabulary and grammar. Complete command of all the scales and chords that are the … Continue reading
Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma”…a New Reharmonization
When you say the name, “Dizzy Gillespie,” many people think of the iconic trumpet player with the puffy cheeks, his crazy looking trumpet with the upswept bell, and the comedic personality…playing flurries of notes at lightning speed, all while soaring … Continue reading
Posted in Composing, Composition Lessons, Jazz Piano Lessons
Tagged Con Alma, Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz Arranging, Reharmonization
Leave a comment
Reharmonization and Arrangement: I Remember You
Only the first page is shown with the jpeg file below. For the entire four page PDF of this reharmonization, click here: I Remember You Keep reading below for commentary on the tune and arrangement. I’ve always liked the tune, “I … Continue reading
2013-2014 Colorado All State Band and All State Jazz Band Auditions
All of the information for the 2013-2014 Colorado All State Band and All State Jazz Band is now available on line. Here in one place are all the links for trumpet and jazz piano players (and more), along with some supporting … Continue reading
Avoiding the Dark Side of Success
The world constantly presents us with challenges. Sometimes we find their solutions quite readily, or we may struggle with a problem for years. And other times we might just give up, or even ignore the dilemma altogether. Finding a successful … Continue reading
The Ultimate Motivic Cells
Motivic cells are a great way of adding structure and continuity to a composition or improvised solo, and to help avoid some of the cliches that spring from arpeggio or scale based patterns (for more info, click on the links … Continue reading
The Importance of Having a Mentor in Music
Today the internet has put an incredible amount of information at our fingertips (and also a vast amount of misinformation). If you want to know more about any subject, or just an answer to a single question, you Google it. … Continue reading
Bob Gillis: Musician 