Music Transcription Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Useful
When you’re transcribing a jazz solo, it’s easy to get caught up trying to figure out every single note. But what if you focused less on getting everything exactly right and more…
How Triad Inversions Unlock Continuous Melodic Lines
If you’ve ever listened to a great improviser and wondered how they seem to spin one long musical thought without getting stuck, you’re not alone. Most musicians don’t just…
How to Use Triad Pairs Without Memorizing Two Triads
Most musicians learn triad pairs by memorizing…. two triads. One triad, then another. And before long, you’re trying to remember: It’s not so much that memorizing a triad…
You Know Your Scales. So Why Don’t Your Lines Sound Melodic?
You know the scale. You’ve practiced the pattern. You know which notes belong to the key and which scales sound best over certain chords. Maybe you can move through the scale in several…
Why Some Musicians Sound Fluent
For years, I thought musical fluency came from several things. Now I think I underestimated one of them. More than a decade ago, when I was running Mutant Bass, I became fascinated by a…
How to Build a Vocabulary of Musical Phrases
Many musicians spend years learning scales, arpeggios, songs, and even transcriptions, yet still feel stuck when it’s time to improvise. I’ve experienced this myself. In fact,…
