Did you hear the one about the jazz musician who won the lottery? He kept gigging until it was gone. We jazz musicians can be a pretty gloomy old lot sometimes. Unappreciated, largely ignored, embittered, naturally inclined to cynicism and...

The internet is truly a double-edged sword. On one hand it allows us access to information on almost any topic imaginable. It has changed the way we interact with the world around us and has provided millions of people with an access to music...

By far the quickest way I know of to improve is simply to listen to your own playing. Recording yourself will highlight a whole host of things, both good and bad, that you just won't be aware of when you're actually playing. Long before I was any...

Quick Tips seem to be this blog's equivalent of buses - after waiting ages for one, three come along at once! In recent posts on jazz blues progressions and pedal tones I referred to a common jazz reharmonisation technique known as tritone...

A pedal tone is a tone sustained in the bass while the harmony moves in the upper voices. Pedal tones are a great way to add a sense of movement to a tune and are particularly good for intros. This Quick Tip will give you a few examples of how...