Latest Posts
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What is Tonal Harmony?
Tonal harmony is the foundation of most Western music, from Bach to jazz standards. At its core, it is a contract between composer and listener: if you follow its rules, the listener will always feel a sense of home—a tonal center called… Continue reading
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How To Play A Piano Montuno on Any Song
Playing piano montunos can transform any song, giving it that infectious Latin groove that makes everyone want to move. Today, we’ll take a jazz standard like “Satin Doll” and turn it into a piano montuno. By the end of this… Continue reading
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Musical IQ Test: What’s Your Musical IQ?
Scan or click on the image (or here) to take the test About the mDecks Musical IQ Test In this test we will evaluate your abilities in 10 essential music topics:Meter • Timing • Shuffle vs. Even • Beat Perception… Continue reading
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Jazz Harmonic Analysis using Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro 10
In this latest version of Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro, we’ve expanded the arrows and brackets analysis to include several new symbols that highlight some of the most commonly encountered harmonic progressions and cadences in jazz tunes, addressing some of the… Continue reading
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A Step-by-Step Guide to Playing Piano Montuno
IntroductionUnlock the rhythmic magic of Latin piano with our comprehensive guide to mastering the Montuno style. In this blog post, we’ll break down an 8-step exercise based on the iconic piano arrangement from Gloria Estefan’s “Conga.” Whether you’re a seasoned… Continue reading
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The Dorian Scale for Jazz Improvisation
Understanding the Dorian Scale Dorian is the 2nd mode of the major scale. So if we start any major scale on the 2nd degree we get a dorian scale. Step 1 – We are going to play the major scale… Continue reading
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The Major Scale (Ionian) for Jazz Improvisation
The Major Scale (Ionian) The major scale serves as our “source scale,” the point of reference for its related modes. We will delve into the intricacies of this scale, explore its unique properties, and discover its role in improvisational music.… Continue reading
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Bebop Rhythmic Words 1&2: Unleashing Jazz Improvisation through Rhythm. Jazz Piano Tutorial
Introduction: In the world of jazz improvisation, we often emphasize the importance of choosing the right notes over chord changes. However, today we’re going to shift our focus to another crucial aspect of improvisation: rhythm. In this video, we’ll explore… Continue reading
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Jazz Practice: How To Create 12-Key Workouts To Practice In Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro 9 iOS. Music App Tutorial.
If you want to practice playing lines over different progressions using a backing track, then look no further than Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro. Let me show you how to create a backing track with consecutive 2-5’s in all keys in… Continue reading
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Blues Bossa: A 7-Step Exercise To Master Improvisation Over Jazz Tunes
Are you a jazz musician looking to improve your improvisation skills and develop your improvisation techniques? If so, learning “Blue Bossa” is a great place to start. In this blog post, we’ll take you through a 7-step exercise that will help you… Continue reading
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