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Jazz Improvisation

a day ago
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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Matt McVeigh

Sep 8
2 min

Poetry of the Blues

If you were to ask what single aspect of improvisation is missed on young improvisers I would with out a doubt answer the poetry of the m...

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Matt McVeigh

Sep 7
2 min

The Upcoming Fall Line-Up

Happy Labor Day! Whether you are mourning the end of summer or celebrating the beginning of fall, today is generally a guidepost day tha...

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Matt McVeigh

Sep 3
2 min

Influential Albums: Kansas City Suite

Throughout the month of September, I want to focus on influential albums in Jazz. Albums that redirected the way musicians created music...

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5 Key, 12 Key, How Many Keys Should I Learn?

Matt McVeigh

Sep 1
2 min

5 Key, 12 Key, How Many Keys Should I Learn?

Developing language and working phrases or licks through keys is part of the time-honored tradition of jazz improvisation. This seems to...

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Matt McVeigh

Aug 27
2 min

Making Transitions over the Blues Pt IV

This is the final post in this series. We have systematically taken a relatively simple chordal outline over a short ii-7 V7 I and shown...

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Matt McVeigh

Aug 25
2 min

The Five Best Introductions

There is no substitute for live performance. I think that can be applied to any style of music, but there is something even more profoun...

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Making Transitions Over the Blues Pt III

Matt McVeigh

Aug 21
2 min

Making Transitions Over the Blues Pt III

So we are back with third installment of this series of posts which is looking at developing language that can be used as musicians make ...

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Hearing Jazz - Tips for Active Listening

Matt McVeigh

Aug 18
3 min

Hearing Jazz - Tips for Active Listening

There is simply no substitute for listening to music when you are a serious musician. Listening to Jazz is the single most important act...

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Matt McVeigh

Aug 13
2 min

Making Transitions over the Blues Pt II

In my last post in this series I outlined a basic idea that can be employed in the 4th measure of the blues that creates a powerful harmo...

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