Over the last two years we’ve all had great fun putting together this video. No matter what our level, I’m so thrilled that nearly every student who was studying with me at that time entered into the sprint of the project.
Lesson 1 covers almost everything for this project. I’ll run a little update in a few weeks to cover the final extract and anything that crops up.
I’ve been REALLY pleased with what I’ve heard so far and you are all making some good progress. In this lesson I just wanted to take you through how to use the extracts, including the backing tracks that I have made for you to practice with.
It’s Christmas Project time, this time for 2023 I’ve selected ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman’ from the Wise Music Christmas book
One of the things that people tell me they want to get better at is improvisation – one of the best ways to learn is to transcribe the masters. Dexter Gordon is certainly one of those masters and here is playing Charlie Parker’s, (another incredible ‘master’, if not THE master) ‘Scrapple from the Apple’. This recording is taken from Gordon’s 1963 Blue Note album, Our Man in Paris.
I stumbled across this album of Mark’s on Apple Music when driving back from my parents after a family visit. I’ve been a fan of Mark’s playing for years and this rendition of ‘Skylark’ just blew me away.