Harmonic version of scales in intervals. Play it legato, no gaps.

Looking at the last exercise with thirds, you can be ascending or descending through the scale, and the interval can be ascending or descending. That…

Here’s the G major scale in thirds. Try it two ways: In groups of 4 in 7/4 In groups of 7 in 4/4 The groups…

Here’s a listening exercise: Take a recording of yourself and a recording of someone else; someone whose playing you like, maybe. As you listen to…

Super useful to know this. And you should know it like you know the alphabet. Here’s a silly way of learning it in about a…

This time you’re applying an interval to this chord progression and moving it through the scales. Maybe do this in a zone, or do it…

Same chord progression as before: C-7 A-7 F#-7 Eb-7. But this time applied to the available triads within the Dorian mode. You could apply yesterday’s…

Same chord progression: C-7 A-7 F#-7 Eb-7, but this time you apply the Linear Connections idea to chord voicings. The idea is to make the…

Here’s a chord progression which modulates: C-7 A-7 F#-7 Eb-7 Decide on a scale, let’s say Dorian: C Dorian: C D Eb F G A…

Notes, scales, arpeggios, intervals, rhythms, chords, and so on. I think it’s useful to know all that stuff. I like to think of getting rid…

Focus on the other player (s) It doesn’t matter how many chords you know. You focus on the other player. Some people like it when…

What to do if you only have a limited amount of time to practise? Learn Pieces. Every piece of music you learn is a complete…

Practice Page is a name I give to certain little pages that I’ve developed to focus my practising. Here’s how you can use it: You…

There are only seven thirds (ascending) that you need to know: A – C B – D C – E D – F E –…

Check out these three posts about rhythm, and look for patterns Triplets 16th Notes Groups of 5 For example, within 1 beat there are: 7…

The diagram shows all the possible rhythms within one beat using groups of 5. The noteheads are meant to be played/clapped, and the sticks without…

  The diagram shows all the possible rhythms within one beat using 16th-notes. The noteheads are meant to be played/clapped, and the sticks without heads…

This is a little exercise you can do with triplets. The diagram above shows all the possible rhythms within one beat using triplets. You can…

In this lesson, I showed you a way to organise key centres for practising things in every key.  Here’s another example of using a harmonic…

Here’s a thing you can use to practise in all keys. Take all 12 keys and arrange them into four groups. The groups are organised…

  Imagination is Everything   How much time do you spend trying to get better at using your imagination? Do you think it’s one of…

See this post: https://www.mikeoutram.com/2010/09/what-do-you-think-about-when-you-play/

This is an expansion on the Basic Practice Method which, to remind you, was: Do Gigs Learn Pieces It all starts with Doing Music The music…

This is my practice routine in a nutshell. 1. Do Gigs This means ANY performance/playing. A gig, a session, a recording, a broadcast, a snippet…

Here’s one way I like to use the diminished scale: Take plain sounds, simple sounds. The kind of sound that some heathen type might play….

  Here are some more chords from the G diminished scale. The second column is a diminished triad with a major 7th on top. E.g.,…

G diminished again. This time, we’re trying to use open strings. Four notes are open strings; four notes aren’t. You could group the four open…

Here’s some harmony from the diminished scale – triads and extended chords that exist within G diminished. In this particular key you have all the…

Here’s one way to fracture the diminished scale. [G Ab Bb B C# D E F] Five of the notes can be grouped together to…

A student of mine sent me this: I took down the first chorus of your solo on Donna Lee from Martin Speake’s Charlie Parker album,…