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Category: Improvising

A blog about jazz and related musings

Medical scan of left and right brain

A simple test and training of your jazz ear

If you watched my masterclass entitled, The Magic of Deep Listening, you heard me describe something I like to do when I hear a non-musical tone out in the real world (airplane engine, train horn, animal, etc.) I sing that tone and play around with it….
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Recent posts...

The fantasy of easy learning of a musical instrument
Quick and easy mastery of improvising jazz
October 20, 2021
Okay, let me come clean that the title of this post is completely misleading. But when you first saw it, admit that you had a tinge of excitement that it...
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Playing jazz with better swing
One fix to your jazz playing that will make you swing
October 14, 2021
My last couple of posts have been dedicated to time and rhythm. So much of jazz education literature is obsessed almost exclusively to showing you the 'right'...
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Men and women dancing
How is your sense of jazz time?
October 8, 2021
I've been listening to Youtube videos of jazz players. Not the stars, but players who most people would consider to be very capable.
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Finding meaning
Finding meaning for your jazz playing
September 8, 2021
I just read Viktor Frankl’s classic, Man’s Search For Meaning. It’s been on my reading list for a long time so my recent sojourn to the northern Arizona...
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Man staring at music
Does staring at chords help you improvise better?
August 14, 2021
Learning to play jazz starts with the exploration of chords. You learn D minor to G7 to C major and all sorts of permutations of that progression and many...
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Memorization and jazz improvisation
August 10, 2021
I received an email this morning from a classical pianist eager to improve her jazz skills. Her question involves memorization, which she considers her 'weakest...
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A man angry at a hammer
Don't blame the tool if you use it for the wrong task
July 29, 2021
There are lots of 'tools' available to someone learning to become a better jazz player. Are they good or bad? It depends on the context.
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Michael Lake

Trombonist, author, composer, marketer

Courses and books

Pocket Jazz

The jazz improvisation course Pocket Jazz

The Pocket Jazz course is a completely redesigned series of online videos of no more than three-minutes each. Most of the lessons also contain short excerpts of tips and wisdom from masters like Ron Carter, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Richie Beirach, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and many more.

Check out Pocket Jazz...

Teaching & Learning Jazz

The book called Learning and Teaching Jazz

From this book, Richie Beirach and Mike provide great stories of jazz wisdom, a reflection on university jazz education including how to choose a school, an analysis of the Hollywood view of jazz education, a look at the psychology of education, and many other previously unexplored essential topics for both teachers and students.

Available in soft cover and digital editions.

Check out the book

Trombone Improvisation Savvy

The book Trombone Improvisation Savvy

Trombone demands different physical abilities from other instruments, but certain skills are universal such as connecting your instrument to your musical mind. Learn from exercises and audio files specifically focused on trombone that will help you improvise much better.

Check out the book
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Tools for helping musicians at all levels learn about jazz and play to their full capability.

Web design and marketing by:
Michael Lake @JazzDigitalMarketing.com

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