Here is what Matt has to say about the workshop:

If you’ve felt that the logic of “jazz lines” eludes you; if you’ve noticed that the phrasing of your own solos doesn’t sit right in a swing context; if you’ve started to hear that the lines played by your favorite jazz players aren’t just exercises running up and down a scale, but you don’t yet grasp the source of their “whirling circles”; or, if you’re someone who already understands some jazz theory, but still feels that your solos need more direction and “pocket,” this class will help you get “unstuck.” 

We’re going to jump right in and learn to play some classic solos (Lester Young, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Louis Armstrong, and more) so that we can start figuring out what the heck makes these musical statements so compelling. And we’re going to mine those solos and extract some of the catchiest licks that sit great on the guitar, so you can start using them in your solos.

One question I’ve heard many times is “What’s the difference between jazz and swing?” My answer is usually something along the lines of “nothing, if you’re doing it right,” but sometimes it could also be “jazz is what you learn in school.” Scales and arpeggios are important tools, but the essential foundations of the jazz language are found in the melodies of the songs that served to launch the improvisations in the first place. So in this eight-part class, we’re not going to be memorizing the names of a lot of modes, practicing abstract scales, or accumulating arpeggios divorced from any musical context. The best way to gain access to the language of the swinging improviser is to disassemble some classic musical statements, examine their interlocking parts, and learn to recognize and appreciate their logic and beauty as you begin to assemble a voice of your own.  

But that’s just the beginning when it comes to playing this music on the guitar. The next step is discovering exactly where and how to play the notes you’ve learned so that they swing. To do that, we’ll look at techniques that will allow you to produce a sound you love, so the music feels physically good as your hands squeeze out the notes. There are several key guitaristic techniques that can make all the difference, and practicing a few things like different downstroke patterns and easy position shifts will start to unlock a lot of mysteries, as more and more applications of these moves begin to come into view. Once they’re under your hands they can also quickly increase speed, and provide a tour guide for an enhanced mastery of the neck. 

We’ll also be working on building powerful content in our solos: staying close to the blues, creating riffs that generate energy in an ensemble, staying relaxed and getting comfortable with sparseness by learning to recognize and embrace the unique colors, or flavors, that certain notes can add to a solo. Many of the greatest soloists spent almost no time running up and down sets of memorized patterns, but rather had a perfect understanding of what notes resonated most deeply. 

And finally, yes, we’ll be building a cache of single-note and chord-melody licks that are used to navigate commonly recurring harmonies, and that you can use to get yourself out of jams (or into more jam sessions). 

I’m really looking forward to getting your fingers moving, and sharing the ways I have come to love and be more inside this music with each passing year.