LESSON 1: Creating a Melody from Four Voice Leading Lines – Part 1 of 2


In this video lesson, I present a visual system, using common chord shapes as upper extensions, to create beautiful melodies using four voice leading lines.

A unique feature of this video lesson is the way in which I demonstrate the concept with written notes, explaining the theory behind the concept as I create the written notes. Be sure to have blank paper and a pencil handy so you can follow along and create your own notes as you watch the video. Copy everything that I write onto your own page of notes.

I have included my note page as a PDF, but I recommend that you take your own notes…it will stay fresher in your own memory if you write out the notes as you watch me explaining the concepts.

LESSON 2: Creating a Melody from Four Voice Leading Lines – Part 2 of 2


In this video lesson, I play my tenor to demonstrate a wide variety of melodic lines derived from the written notes created in part 1 of this lesson.

It is really exciting to hear the written notes come to musical life as I play the chord structures and relate them to the underlying bass notes of the ii V I chord progression.

I explain my melodic choices and share some key strategies that I use to ensure smooth transitions from one chord to the next.

LESSON 3: The 4-3-2-1 System for Technical Fluency


In this video lesson, I share my practice system to gain technical fluency over any musical material that you want to play in all twelve keys.

The system improves your technique through repetition of the musical phrase, but it will also improve your ability to focus your concentration, keeping track of how many times you’ve played each phrase before you move on to the new key.

I use Hip Lick #1 for the playing example in the lesson, but you can apply this concept to any musical phrase.

LESSON 4: Slowing Down Recorded Performances

In this video lesson, I share my thoughts about aspiring players slowing down recorded performances.

I got the idea for the video when a student contacted me to ask if I could create my next iPad app so that it would slow my performance down to just 30% of full speed (the current version of the app slows to 60% of speed).

Although I am a fan of practicing slowly with a metronome and working things up to tempo, I’m not really a huge fan of slowing down recorded performances.

In this video, I explain why I think that it can actually have a negative effect on your development if you’re always listening to “slowed-down” recordings.