A complete set of tools for comping and soloing Bebop* Blues Progressions in styles reminiscent of Sonny Stitt, Joe Pass, Charlie Parker and Wes Montgomery.
Blues is a common language we can all speak. How someone plays it says a lot about his musical background and the music he enjoys. Whether you are a bluesman in the style of B.B or disciple of Wes Montgomery, one thing’s for sure, we are all looking for new ideas for the blues. Inside this course are real bebop blues comping arrangements and solos that can change the way you hear and play the blues forever.
One common element of all styles of blues is improvisation. If you read how great improvisers honed their craft, they transcribed, memorized and mastered the music of those they admired. They continued to emulate the music adding their own touches till finally developing their own style. This tried and true approach is the foundation of this course.
What makes this course different from the rest? You will not be presented with scale diagrams, a chord dictionary and the rules or theory of when to play them or the chore of “Now go make up some music” That is not an effective process. Improvisation is not pulling something new “out of the sky”. It’s the re-organization of things you already know how to play.
Music is a language and bebop blues has its own vocabulary. The key to mastering the vocabulary is learning complete sentences and paragraphs, not just words. The musical phrase is the sentence, one time through the blues progression or a chorus is the paragraph. It is spoken with either single note solos or comping chord arrangements.
Here’s the goal:Input music into your brain, fingers and heart. When it comes out in a playing situation it may not be exactly like it went in but it will be your own and will be a musical statement.
Here’s the method:Hear the music; see it played close up in slow motion and at tempo. Master each phrase, then each section. See the written music and the tablature; understand the theory and the fingerings. Memorize the music and then practice reorganizing it with the practice tracks. Move to the next graduated study.
Review by Dr. Matt Warnock, former student & reviewer "Severson’s teaching approach is informative and comprehensive. Never going over the viewer’s head, he prefers to use theory to explain why a certain chord or phrase sounded good, not as a teaching tool unto itself. For those readers who shy away from learning jazz because it comes off as being all theory and no fun, this video series aims to change all of that. Each example is performed first, with the theory and fingerings etc. explained later. By presenting the material in this fashion, Severson has ensured that anyone, regardless of their theoretical background, can learn to play bebop jazz chords, without an abundance of theory getting in the way of enjoying these great études." mattwarnockguitar.com
STUDENT COMMENT The Bebop Blues 1-6 lessons are very cool. I've worked on 1, 2 and 5 so far. Each lesson only $1.99 !!!... these lessons are worth 50 times what I paid. The description of the chord substitutions was very helpful. The lessons are delivered in such a way that it was easy for me to make my own chord diagrams for the unfamiliar passages. I think listening to the track over and over and putting to memory is the way to go. Getting the feel seems important to me. That can't always be conveyed via sheet music as we know. Good job. Cheers. Jim Rolfe on October 9, 2008
*WIKIPEDIA DEFINITATION OF BEBOP or aka BOP: A style of jazz characterized by a fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on the combination of harmonic structure and sometimes references to the melody. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s. It first surfaced in musicians' argot some time during the first two years of American involvement in the Second World War. This style of jazz ultimately became synonymous with modern jazz, as either category reached a certain final maturity in the 1960s.
It developed as the younger generation of jazz musicians aimed to counter the popular swing style with a new, non-danceable music that demanded listening.[1] With bebop no longer being a dance music, it enabled the musicians to play at faster tempos. Bebop musicians explored advanced harmonies, complex syncopation, altered chords, chord substitutions, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and using rhythm sections in a way that expanded on their role. The classic bebop combo consisted of saxophone, trumpet, bass, drums, and piano. Some of the influential bebop artists included tenor sax players John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins; alto sax player Charlie Parker; trumpeters Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie; pianists Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk; and guitarists Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian.
