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Jazz Improvisation

2 days ago
3 min

An EZ Play Christmas Book, A Soap Opera Theme Song and the formation of Musical Influence.

I have been thinking a lot about influences. How they change, and how they don't. How we can be initially inspired in a flash and then ...

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Matt McVeigh

4 days ago
2 min

Group Transcription - Pound Cake Phrase 3

There is a lot of focus among improvisers on the third phrase of the blues, and rightly so. This is the phrase that pulls the first two ...

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Matt McVeigh

Nov 25
2 min

A Jazz Thanksgiving

There is always jazz for every Occassion. Below is some selected music for the thanksgiving holiday. Vince Guaraldi - Thanksgiving Theme ...

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Matt McVeigh

Nov 23
1 min

Group Transcription - Pound Cake Phrase 2

Last week's blog post focused on the first phrase of Lester Young's solo on Pound Cake. This post is going move into the second phrase o...

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Matt McVeigh

Nov 19
2 min

Transcribable Solos

Transcribing solos (or parts of solos) is the single most important thing you can do to develop your skill as a jazz musician. But I am g...

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Group Transcription - Pound Cake Phrase 1

Matt McVeigh

Nov 16
2 min

Group Transcription - Pound Cake Phrase 1

The next several blog posts will work through a chorus of a Lester Young Solo. I am going to break this solo down phrase by phrase and p...

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Matt McVeigh

Nov 12
3 min

Beginning Transcription, Now What

Part two of this series takes a look at some of material to transcribe. If you are reading this, you probably already know that transcri...

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Matt McVeigh

Nov 5
3 min

The Transcription Process

If you were to ask, is there one thing someone can do to get better at jazz, there would be a very simple answer. Yes. There is one thing.

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Matt McVeigh

Oct 29
3 min

Practice Pt IV - Repertoire

My mother-in-law is a great cook! You know, the kind that you simple go weak in the knees the moment you walk in the front door. And on...

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Matt McVeigh

Oct 22
2 min

Practice Pt III - Acquiring Language

How did you learn to speak? If you are like most people, you were consumed with sounds and after about six months you tried to copy thos...

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Matt McVeigh

Oct 15
2 min

Practice Pt II - Technique

One of the reasons why solid technique is important is because it seems to lubricate the pathway of musical expression from the brain to ...

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Matt McVeigh

Oct 8
3 min

Practice Part I - The Warm-Up

We recently got a dog. We love our new pet, love spending time with him, and love the relationship we are building. And, he is a lot of...

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Matt McVeigh

Oct 5
2 min

5 Blues Heads to Learn NOW

The original title of the post was going to the five best blues heads ever - kind of impossible to objectify. So rather than doing the i...

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October is National Practice Awareness Month

Matt McVeigh

Oct 1
3 min

October is National Practice Awareness Month

Let's get one thing out of heads from the very start. Practice does not make perfect. There is no such thing as perfect. It is myth, it...

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Matt McVeigh

Sep 29
3 min

Autumn Jazz - A Fall Playlist

There is no event or season that isn't ripe to enjoy jazz. It is one of hallmarks of this art form- that any human experience can be sty...

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Matt McVeigh

Sep 24
2 min

Influential Albums: Never No Lament

When the Duke Ellington Orchestra added the star power of Bassist Jimmy Blanton and Tenor Saxophonists Ben Webster, the band rocketed int...

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Matt McVeigh

Sep 22
2 min

Influential Albums: Blue Train

The ascension of saxophonist John Coltrane is well documented, as well as many of his most influential contributions. There is a lot to ...

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Matt McVeigh

Sep 17
2 min

Influential Albums: Bird and Diz

I am not sure if it is possible to talk about bebop without talking about Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. It is even harder to consi...

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Influential Albums: Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens

Matt McVeigh

Sep 14
2 min

Influential Albums: Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens

We are blinded to the impact of Louis Armstrong's recordings between 1925 and 1928. Their impact is simply so pervasive that it is almos...

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Matt McVeigh

Sep 10
3 min

Influential Albums: Kind of Blue

Post-war America was a state of shifting ideas. Newfound affluence throughout the 1950's and a growing uncertainty of the future created...

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