Practical Harmony For Jazz Guitar Vol.2

NOTE: Volumes 2-4 expain a lot of the historical information for chord progressions. Volume 5 onward will be where we look at things from a practical perspective.

In Volume 2, we begin our analysis of how jazz harmony evolved by exploring the nature of tonal harmony: more specifically, the intricate relationship between the I and V chords. You will see how two seemingly simple chords can become intricate chord progressions through the use of passing chords to create beautiful voice leading. Since we are looking at things from a historical perspective, we use early jazz standards to demonstrate these concepts.

A course from the owner of DC Music School.

Over the years, I have spent countless hours directly going to the source and figured out what a lot of the old masters of jazz music were doing. The results were very fascinating as they often did things that went against conventional wisdom in contemporary jazz education. Quite often, in contemporary jazz education, we repeat things we are taught without really investigating where certain statements come from, and as the generations go by, these lessons become so standardized.

This course aims to go back to the very beginning and justify each statement by investigating what was actually being done. In most institutions around the world, jazz education follows a codified method. However, this codified method often ignores the earlier days of jazz, which results in a slightly distorted perspective on topics such as harmony. Very few contemporary jazz educators are aware of the evolution of certain standards and chord progressions.

I hope that this course can change the way most people perceive harmony as it will explain where a lot of common chord progressions come from, and it is often a very logical and natural evolution.