Transitions To Jazz

Jazz guitar is certainly not the easiest style of music to learn how to play, but if you’re already a rock or blues player then you already know more about playing jazz guitar than you might think you do.

Jazz (like rock) is rooted in the blues. Understanding the common threads between the styles is the key to making the transition to jazz much easier and quicker. David Becker’s Transitions To Jazz identifies those common threads and shows you how to tweak what you already know into versatile jazz applications, vocabulary and dialects.

We’re majorly proud to welcome GRAMMY-nominated guitarist, composer and producer David Becker to the TrueFire family. David’s been recording, performing and touring the world over for the past 25 years to critical acclaim. He’s shared the stage with the likes of Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Michael Brecker and a host of other giants on the jazz scene. Fortunately for we students of jazz guitar, David is as passionate about education as he is about his music.

David organized Transitions To Jazz into three sections. In the first section, we’ll examine the tritone, triads and various extensions of the dominant seventh chord. We'll explore ways to comp using two, three and four note voicings, and I'll also introduce you to the standard 2-5-1 turnaround for the blues.”

In the second section, David introduces a concept he calls ‘Jazz Dialects.” In the Jazz Dialects section, we'll work on a variety of jazz applications for the pentatonic information you already possess, while also incorporating chromatics and triads as well as rhythmic variations. I’ll show you various approaches for comping and soloing over the standard 2-5-1 jazz progression. We’ll also work on approaches for changing keys.”

Section 2’s Curriculum includes Pentatonics For G7 and C7, Chromatics, Triads For G7 and C7, Chord Tones, The One Note Solo, 2-5 Progressions, 2-5-1 Progressions: Soloing & Comping, Two-Key Progressions: Soloing & Comping, The Cycle Of 4ths: Tritones & Dominant 7’s, Flat 5 Subs & Altered Dominant.

In the third and final section of the course, you’ll apply everything you learned in the first two sections across three Performance Studies.

I'll demonstrate how to develop a solo based on all the concepts from this course. We'll start out with a Jazz Blues in G, followed by a standard 2-5-1 progression which moves through 6 different keys. Lastly, we'll solo over a Bossanova progression in two keys which address both the Minor 2-5-1 and the Major 2-5-1.

David demonstrates the Performance Studies over rhythm tracks and then breaks them down, stepping you through the key concepts, techniques and creative approaches he used to perform the solo.

All of the key demonstrations, performances and examples are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, David generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.

Grab your guitar and let’s get jazzed with David Becker!