LAMA’s Jody Fisher Releases New Book

Congrats to LAMA guitar department Chair Jody Fisher on his new book! “Jody Fisher’s Jazz Guitar Chord Melody Course” came out January 2013 from Alfred Publishing ($24.99).

-LAMA Staff

5 Jazz Musicians You Should Know

As you can probably tell if you are a current student at LAMA, Jazz is a big part of the curriculum at LAMA.  While jazz laid the groundwork for so much of the music you hear on contemporary radio today, too often we don’t do the research into the masters of that genre.  Today, we are going to highlight five of our favorite jazz musicians that you should check out for more inspiration. Who else do you think we should recommend?

1. Cannonball Adderley

Via Wikipedia:

Julian Edwin “Cannonball” Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975) was a jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Adderley is remembered for his 1966 single “Mercy Mercy Mercy“, a crossover hit on the pop charts, and for his work with trumpeter Miles Davis, including on the epochal album Kind of Blue (1959). He was the brother of jazz cornetist Nat Adderley, a longtime member of his band.

2. Sonny Clark

Via Wikipedia

Conrad Yeatis “Sonny” Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.

3. Grant Green

Via Wikipedia

Grant Green (June 6, 1935 St. Louis, Missouri – January 31, 1979; New York; some sources erroneously give his year of birth as 1931) was a jazz guitarist and composer.

Recording prolifically and almost exclusively for Blue Note Records (as both leader and sideman) Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebopand Latin-tinged idioms throughout his career.

4. Herbie Nichols

 Via Wikipedia

Herbie Nichols (3 January 1919 – 12 April 1963), was an American jazz pianist and composer who wrote the jazz standard “Lady Sings the Blues“. Obscure during his lifetime, he is now highly regarded by many musicians and critics.

5. Art Pepper

Via Wikipedia

Art Pepper (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982), born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an American alto saxophonist and clarinetist.

By the 1950s Pepper was recognized as one of the leading alto saxophonists in jazz, epitomized by his finishing second only to Charlie Parker as Best Alto Saxophonist in the Down Beat magazine Readers Poll of 1952.

At LAMA we are all about expanding our musical sensibilities. These are just a few selections for you to dip your ears in the musical waters. Who should we spotlight next time? Leave your comment below!

-LAMA Staff

Jody Fisher Guitar Video Quick Tip: “Learning Chords”

Jody Fisher grew up studying guitar with his uncle, jazz guitarist Sid Fisher, who had spent many years as an RCA recording artist. Jody has published over twenty instructional books about jazz guitar with Alfred Publishing, Workshop Arts Publications, and Mel Bay Publications. Four of his books have appeared in the Smithsonian Institute’s Folkways Exhibition in Washington, DC. Jody has also written for most of the major guitar magazines, including Guitar Player, Just Jazz Guitar and Finger Style Guitar.  Check out www.jodyfisher.com for more information.

In this video, LA Music Academy Guitar Department Chair Jody Fisher offers this quick tip “Learning Chords”:

For more great videos, tips and highlights from LA Music Academy alumni and instructors, subscribe to our YouTube channel here: http://youtube.com/LAmusicacademy

-LAMA Staff

Jody Fisher Guitar Video Quick Tip: “Walking Bass”

Jody Fisher grew up studying guitar with his uncle, jazz guitarist Sid Fisher, who had spent many years as an RCA recording artist. Jody has published over twenty instructional books about jazz guitar with Alfred Publishing, Workshop Arts Publications, and Mel Bay Publications. Four of his books have appeared in the Smithsonian Institute’s Folkways Exhibition in Washington, DC. Jody has also written for most of the major guitar magazines, including Guitar Player, Just Jazz Guitar and Finger Style Guitar.  Check out www.jodyfisher.com for more information.

In this video, LA Music Academy Guitar Department Chair Jody Fisher offers this quick tip “Walking Bass”:

For more great videos, tips and highlights from LA Music Academy alumni and instructors, subscribe to our YouTube channel here: http://youtube.com/LAmusicacademy

-LAMA Staff

Video Quick Tip: Jazz Drumming – “Accenting Triplets”

LA Music Academy College of Music Jazz Drums Instructor Tony Inzalaco received a Bachelor’s degree (percussion) and a Master’s degree (music education) from the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He has performed in Carnegie Hall, The Guggenheim Music, The New York World’s Fair, the Apollo Theater and the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. While in New York, he played in all the major jazz clubs including the legendary club Birdland. He has traveled extensively, performing in major club venues and festivals in the U.S., Canada and throughout Europe.

He has played in person, on radio, on television or recordings with the following jazz masters: Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Maynard Ferguson, Donald Byrd, Dizzy Gillespie, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Cleveland, Frank Rossolino, Oscar Peterson, Kenny Drew, Roland Hannah, Ron Carter, Slam Stewart, Niels H.O. Pedersen, Kenny Clarke, Anita O’Day, Carmen McRae, Irene Reid, Jimmy Rushing and Lionel Hampton. In addition, he has the unique distinction of being one of the very few drummers to have ever worked for Buddy Rich. He also spent one year as Bobby Darin’s personal drummer. He now plays in the L.A. area with a quintet that spotlights him not only as a jazz drummer but also as a jazz composer.

In this video, Tony discusses different ways to accent the triplet in jazz drumming:

-LAMA Staff

Video Quick Tip: Jazz and the Ride Cymbal

Joe Porcaro’s musical spectrum ranges from jazz and rock to opera and symphonic. He has recorded with jazz artists including Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Freddie Hubbard, Don Ellis, Mike Manieri and rock/pop artists such as TOTO and Madonna. His credits includes numerous television shows and movies. One of the most highly regarded percussion and drum instructors in the world, Joe is the author of two drum books: Joe Porcaro’s Drum Set Methods and Odd Times, and the instructional video Joe Porcaro on Drums. Please visit www.josephporcaro.com for more info.

LA Music Academy Drum Department Co-Chair Joe Porcaro thoroughly explains the jazz ride cymbal beat, including different ways drummers phrase it. www.lamusicacademy.edu

-LAMA Staff

Video Quick Tip: Jazz and the Ride Cymbal

Joe Porcaro’s musical spectrum ranges from jazz and rock to opera and symphonic. He has recorded with jazz artists including Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Freddie Hubbard, Don Ellis, Mike Manieri and rock/pop artists such as TOTO and Madonna. His credits includes numerous television shows and movies. One of the most highly regarded percussion and drum instructors in the world, Joe is the author of two drum books: Joe Porcaro’s Drum Set Methods and Odd Times, and the instructional video Joe Porcaro on Drums. Please visit www.josephporcaro.com for more info.

In this video, LA Music Academy drum department co-chair Joe Porcaro discusses the history of the drumset and the development of the jazz ride cymbal beat.

-LAMA Staff

Video Quick Tip: Jody Fisher – Quartal Harmony

LA Music Academy Guitar Co-Department Chair Jody Fisher discusses using quartal harmony:

For more great videos, tips and highlights from LA Music Academy alumni and instructors, subscribe to our YouTube channel here: http://youtube.com/LAmusicacademy

-LAMA Staff

Perspective: Montreaux Jazz Festival

In this video, LA Music Academy student Kate Fuller discusses her background, being a part of this year’s prestigious Montreaux Jazz Festival as a semi-finalist, and how LA Music Academy has helped her grow as a musician. Good stuff Kate!

Have you ever been out to MJF?

-LAMA Staff

#Guitar Lesson: Guide Tones and Shell Voicings

LA Music Academy's Tariqh Akoni

Hi all you guitar fans out there in guitar land. Here is a lesson based on a powerful concept used by many improvisers and accompanists in jazz.  Let’s take a “Theory Time-Out” and refresh our memory. The Triad (consisting of a Root, 3^rd and 5^th) is considered the “building block” for western harmony. Jazz and Blues music typically adds (at the very least) the 7^th to form 7^th chords. Although this is the case, many Jazz improvisers, composers and accompanists when looking at Jazz harmony feel that the 1^st and 5^th are somewhat redundant (because they typically appear in the bassline and are “assumed” to be part of the chord). As a result, a chord can rely on the 3^rd and 7^th alone to provide the essential harmonic information. For example, if we were to take a ii V I progression in the key of C, we could outline the harmony by simply playing the 3^rd and 7^th of each chord:

Example 1

These notes provide what we call a Guide Tone Line. Guide Tone Lines are the essence of the harmony and are very powerful in writing background lines for accompaniment, establishing the harmony and even as the primary target notes during an improvisation. By nature, Guide Tones have smooth voice leading as the move almost chromatically. In addition, little movement is required by the left hang. Experiment with Guide Tone Lines by comping through your favorite Jazz Standards only using Guide Tones. This is a technique that has been used to great effect by guitarists like Jim Hall, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Pat Metheney and many others.

Although this is a somewhat brief (and a bit truncated) description of Guide Tone Lines, it serves our purpose for this lesson. Beyond simply using Guide Tones for accompaniment, we can actually develop a full voicing system. Simply add the Root to our fundamental 3^rd and 7^th and we create a fuller sound. These “Shell Voicings” don’t have Inversions in the common sense because the Root is simply there to fill out the sound and therefore will stay in the bass. As a result, we’ll look at voicings of Root 3^rd and 7^th as well as Root 7^th and 3^rd with the Root in the bass on the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th strings.  These Shell Voicings are a GREAT way to expand your Jazz Guitar vocabulary and once you understand the basic concept, and easy to expand upon.

***Major Family***

6th String

Example 2

5th String

Example 3

4th String

Example 4

***Minor Family***

6th String

Example 5

5th String

Example 6

4th String

Example 7

***Dominant Family***

6th String

Example 8

5th String

Example 9

4th String

Example 10

Guide Tone Lines and Shell Voicings are very useful when playing with keyboardists or in Big Band context as they are unobtrusive. The great Jazz rhythm guitarist Freddie Green (from Count Basie’s Band) based his entire style on Shell Voicings and Shell Voicing derivatives.. Later, we’ll investigate how to develop these to include extensions and altered sounds, and we’ll see that a great number of our favorite and most common voicings are derived from these Shell Voicing basics.

–Tariqh Akoni

Tariqh Akoni is Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music Guitar Department Chairman. He is a performing/session guitarist and currently on tour with Josh Groban.

Want to learn more about the LA Music Academy guitar department? Check out Tariqh’s video introduction below.