Truefire Tom Dempsey's Practice Sessions: Jazz Melodic Approaches TUTORiAL

Melody is king in Jazz music, perhaps even more so than in any other style. Students of jazz guitar frequently find themselves overwhelmed by scales, arpeggios and theory, which can be a barrier to getting to the sound and feel of jazz. Having a solid grasp on melodic devices, fretboard layout, and understanding how to navigate jazz harmony is the key to improvising fluidly and truly bringing your jazz solos to life.

In this hands-on Practice Sessions edition from Tom Dempsey, you’ll take your soloing and improvisational skills to the next level by digging deep into 8 key Jazz Melodic Approaches that Tom considers his own most impactful approaches.

”In this hands-on format, we’ll build your melodic sensibilities across 8 powerful interactive practice sessions, each of which spotlights a different approach or creative application for improvising melodically.

Each session begins with a quick breakdown of the melodic concept and then I’ll perform a demo with a rhythm section for musical context. We’ll cap off each session trading back and forth with the rhythm section as I guide you through the core workouts and some expanded applications.

We’ll work on infusing blues into your jazz lines, arpeggiated melodies, transferring ideas across the neck, motivic development, tritone subs, enclosures and many other creative approaches.”

Working regularly with these 8 “practice sessions” is really going to help you hone your melodic approach, so grab your guitar, and let’s go!

What makes this format really special is how you’ll get these approaches firmly under your fingers -- you’ll practice each of the 8 concepts together with Tom, in a series of interactive practice sessions.

Tom will kick off each study with a breakdown of the key concept, technique, or underlying approach and then he’ll perform the approach over a backing track to give you a feel for how it sits in the rhythm section.

You’ll cap off each soloing study together with a hands-on practice session. Tom will roll the track and you’ll trade back and forth as he guides you through the core examples followed by several variations and embellishments. Working regularly with these “practice sessions” is the key to having command of all 8 Jazz Melodic Approaches.

You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson. You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.

Grab your guitar and let’s dig in with Tom Dempsey!



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