Happy Saint Patrick's Day. Here's I am working on "Danny Boy," and talking about the history of the song via my friend Jacob Garchik. If you haven't seen the George Benson version, check that out here. The video gets pretty long as I go into explanations of how I get the guitar voicings from the Percy Grainger arrangement. That arrangement is attached, and I'd encourage you to make your own arrangements of this lovely melody, which can be instructive about how to harmonize a diatonic melody without getting too fancy.
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Mailbag: Melodic Minor
A deep dive into Melodic Minor from a recent member question. We cover uses of this sound as a tonic and dominant in improvisation, a brief look at Raag Charukeshi (a related Indian raga), and then some exercises for getting it under your fingers.
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31:30
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31:30
Bach on Sunday: WTC Book I, Fugue in E minor
Today I look at a two part fugue from the Well Tempered Clavier. This one is especially well suited to the guitar. Two guitarists could play it together without any alterations of the sheet music (attached). I demonstrate this with an overdubbed recording.
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9:08
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Guided Practice, All-Interval Tetrachord
Today's shape turns out to be All-Interval tetrachord 0137. In the video I go through what this means, and look at some of the sounds that we can get out of this shape in various transpositions and voicings. Sheet from 351 Shapes attached.
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34:34
"Hot House" part II
In this video I go through the fingerings that I've found for this somewhat tricky melody. I also talk about the language used in the lines, and how this relates to octatonic scales and expansions of the dominant chord developed by improvisors in the bebop era. My transcription for the tune is attached.
This is a podcast version of Miles Okazaki's patreon channel. Okazaki is a guitarist and composer based in Brooklyn, NY.Season 1 (Monk, 65 episodes): How this podcast began: individual guitar studies of every composition by Thelonious Monk. These begin as practice videos without much talking and evolve into episodes on specific topics.Season 2 (Fall 2024, 48 episodes): A 12-part series on the subject of Symmetry, an 8-part series on Drum rudiments with the pick, and a 5-part series on the "Allegro Assai" from J.S. Bach's C major violin sonata. Other episodes include bebop standards "Donna Lee" and "Wail," a series on the chromatic scale, favorite books, listening sessions and exercises for the ear from my book "Fundamentals of Guitar."Season 3 (Winter 2024. 63 episodes): An 11-part series on Polyrhythms, a 7-part series on Charlie Christian's "Stompin at the Savoy" solo, a 4-part series on my song "Dog Star," the first "guided practice" episodes, close looks at the standards "Lush Life," "Hot House," and "Danny Boy," Bach on each Sunday, and listener questions. Note: a good number of episodes from this season are on sight reading, and only available as videos on Patreon.Season 4 (Spring 2024, in progress): A 7-part series on my tune "Kudzu," a 7-part series on the drum exercise "Paradiddle Johnnie," Monday meditations on one of the 351 shapes, Studies of Bach from the Well Tempered Clavier, Art of the Fugue, Musical Offering, and Mass in B minor, listener questions. Note: a good number of episodes from this season are on sight reading, and only available as videos on Patreon.----------To see the episodes in video form (including many not shown here), participate in discussions, and download accompanying maiterials, join on Patreon for $10 a month, 7 day free trial available.