Digital Patterns are an exercise which I learnt from Chris Potter – you simply take a 2 or 4 note grouping and move it around the instrument. In this video my student Matthew Nixon joins us and demonstrates how he has practiced (or not) Digital Patterns in his practice routine.

Modes are simply just extensions to our usual scales. In this lesson I show you how to apply modes in your practice and build up the technique to be able to play them in pieces.

In this lesson we look at combining two digital patterns together to form an 8 note pattern. The key to getting this into your vocabulary is practicing it in isolation at first and then applying it to particular pieces.

In today’s lesson we are going to look a the great Duke Ellington standard, ‘In a Sentimental Mood’ in order to look at the major pentatonic scale in another setting.

Do you struggle to play quavers, triplets and semiquavers in sight reading?

Do your fingers feel like jelly when you’re trying to improvise quickly?

Do you ‘know’ your scales only to find out when tested that they are not as secure as you would like?

So many people, (myself included,) find that their fingers can feel like they are tied in knots. This becomes increasingly apparent when you are trying to execute difficult passages of music. It can also cause issues when you’re sight reading as passages that are ‘unfamiliar’ can be difficult to play accurately.

In this lesson I am going to show you how to use the extract principle to help you play the more challenging sections of Deck the Halls.

Lydian Augmented Scales are a great way to navigate Minor 7b5 chords and Major 7th chords.

Practising scales is really important and is a critically important part of any successful practice regime