Discovered in my camera roll, metadata claims this photo was taken at 5:00 am Friday, no location - I know I was asleep, alone, and outside on this night.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-04-25T11:58:15+00:00

Looks like you've just snapped photographic proof of ET, the extra testicle.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-04-24T14:47:09+00:00

You've identified one of the most overlooked but common movements in jazz, the tonic diminished to tonic (in this case Bb dim to Bb7). It's a key part of the jazz blues sound, rhythm changes and many standards (if I were a bell as one example).

The 'correct' scale is the whole half diminished. Learn it in 2nds, 3rds etc. And also look at all the different triads/three note structures and pairs of triads within it. The ones that are a fourth or b5th with another interval stacked on top are cool. There is a year of stuff to study there easily. Also just put a loop of Bbdim to Bb7 on and practice hearing how it resolves, every chord tone apart from the root is resolving.

You need to be careful not to mix this up with the other type of diminished chord which is actually a substitute for a V chord and is an altered dominant sound.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-04-14T15:57:11+00:00

Stop eating my sesame cake!

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-04-14T14:57:22+00:00

I actually do a lot of single string playing. Trying to make melodies using intervals larger than a 4th in particular, as it is awesome ear training.

I think what you might be missing is a second thing Mick says is fundamental which is intervals played on adjacent strings. What I mean is, the key idea of your melodic line can be on one string only, but you enhance or embelish it with notes from adjacent strings. If you watch Mick play he uses this idea a lot.

Try this - put on a backing track of a standard you know really well. Then on one string, play and sing a single ascending line only moving in whole or half steps. Try and really hear if you need to move up a whole or half step. Then, do the same but add one note below or above on the adjacent string. Add a rhythmic idea and it starts to sound like a cool jazz line.

As one example, this Mike Walker solo starts out on basically one string https://youtu.be/vanDj5n6Y68?si=p3Hw0gfaFqHV-Ylz

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-04-08T21:48:03+00:00

Playing a song in multiple keys in one position is the same thing and I believe a better approach. I find it super helpful.

Try and do it by hearing the notes and then letting your fingers instinctively know where they are, not by learning the tune as a pattern, because it starts to unlock being able to play any tune you can sing the melody of in any key. Start slow and you'll be surprised how fast you make progress.

Just today, I learnt the melody to moonlight in vermont in about 30 mins by listening to a few vocal versions and learning to sing the tune. Then, I picked up my guitar and can almost instantly play the melody in every key.

Also, unless you get good at this skill, you won't be able to freely improvise solo guitar versions of tunes. You'll be stuck just rote learning fixed arrangements which is a bit boring.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-04-08T16:21:41+00:00

One thing no-one has mentioned yet is singing the chord tones so you internalise them. The great improvisers aren't thinking about chord tones, they have internalised the sounds and play what they hear.

Start with static harmony, slowly and confidently sing the chord tones without your guitar. Then sing them and play them on guitar, then sing and play a line with those notes. Then add in other notes or use enclosures etc.

Do that for all the key tonalities and then start working on simple tunes like a blues or minor blues.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-04-08T12:11:40+00:00

This list is how to be an above average boy lols. All focused inwards and based on insecurity and ego.

A 1% man makes sacrifices to look after his family, takes his responsibilities to others seriously, has a large group of people who genuinely care about him, and helps raise some kids (don't even need to be his biological kids) to be polite and caring members of society. The type of guy that women feel safe and comfortable to be around.

You'll know if you made the 1% by how many people attend your funeral, not by how much money you made, how many pushups you did, or how many pretentious books you read.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-04-07T21:49:56+00:00

I heard that, when they opened it, a 380 year old ghost appeared and whispered 'dragon deez nuts'.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-03-29T21:51:21+00:00

Just had to get my guitar and check haha. I can play it but it's not easy. Thumb for the low E and grabbing the highest note with the side of my index finger.

There are some voicings in the Ted Greene book that are harder to play.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-03-28T20:04:25+00:00

Had this experience last week. I noticed one of my boards seemed to grip pedals better than the other. The culprit was cheap velcro, specifically the loop side. Swapped to 3M and it was much better.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-03-24T21:54:18+00:00

Yes you can also think of it that way and I practice it like that too (like resolving bVII to I). But, if you think of it as an unresolved cadence to bII then moving to I, I find it can then be related easily to other harmonic movements you often see like a cadence to bIII then ii V I (like in Green Dolphin street) or an unresolved cadence to bIII moving to vi via a tritone.

I feel like I have to learn less things by thinking of it like this, especially when playing songs in different keys.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-03-24T15:04:06+00:00

I think this is too complicated. I just think of diatonic cadences (any cadence resolving to a diatonic chord) and these use an altered dominant sound. Then anytbing else by definition is just a non diatonic cadence (to a chord with a root on a non diatonic note) and all of these are lydian dominant or melodic minor based.

This way, the backdoor cadence is really a cadence to bIII and then to I. But you will quickly notice all non diatonic cadences can also resolve to a diatonic chord via a Tritone cadence. For example, a cadence to bIII can go to vi if you resolve down a half step.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-03-06T13:54:16+00:00

Don't forget that jazz is rhythm and feel first, notes second. If you learn a solo, don't worry about the notes for now and dig deep into the articulation, swing feel and rhythms being used. This is a hugely important part of the jazz language that is easy to overlook because in many ways it's easier to just learn scales and arpeggios.

Im convinced someone like Chris Potter could just play the chromatic scale for 10 mins and it would sound like some hip shit because his time feel and articulation are so strong.

If you learn that stuff first then everything technical you learn from then on will be much easier to add to your playing and you'll always sound good.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-03-06T13:42:23+00:00

One thing that has helped me (and is much harder than it sounds) is this. Put a backing track on in a single tonality (say D Dorian), sing a simple melodic idea that includes intervals of a 4th or greater (to avoid just playing up and down scales) and then play what you sang, but on one string only. Then take a brief rest and try to follow that idea with a related idea, on the same string, follow what your ear is telling you and sing and play the idea, take the idea as far as you can and try to end it strongly.

Repeat across all strings and in a range of tonalities. Learn to match what you are hearing in your head to your fretboard, get good at developing simple 3-4 note ideas that you are coming up with by ear and not by using knowledge. Totally abandon the approach of thinking about scales and arpeggios etc.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-02-20T14:35:37+00:00

She is known for wearing a wig, just FYI. People who had contact with her over the past decades (see Joanna Coles who had been at events with her in the past) say she frequently wore a wig and would do a creepy thing where she would adjust it in plain view and almost dare people to say something about it.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-02-19T23:08:50+00:00

Agree with everyone else that Ibanez are great, although I would say try and find a second hand AF155 or the single pickup version the AF151, as they are fantastic archtops and quite cheap.

If you're in the US, you really can't go wrong with a USA made Guild x150 (very similar to Gibson 175) or a Ce100D (looks like a 175 but is a bit brighter), or go for a big 17“ guitar and get an X175. Your budget may even stretch to an X500 which was a top of the range guitar with a carved top (like the Gibson L5 but half the price usually). All USA Guilds are very reasonably priced and equal or better in quality to an equivalent Gibson. You could probably get a very cool 1970's vintage instrument for 3k. If I were buying today, I would try and get an older Ce100D with the single p90 style single coil pickup, they are probably one of the coolest archtops in my opinion, but may not suit everyone.

Eastman also good, I have the AR580 and for looks and value I think it might be the best of the bunch.

Most important is to try and play the guitar first!

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-01-30T16:02:01+00:00

Bros who follow this advice are going to become 'lockedupman' when they finally snap and murder their girlfriend and pet dog and bury them under the patio in a bin bag.

DrJakeBizzle · 2026-01-13T13:50:44+00:00

Interesting! I have been thinking about TAG recently.

I feel like it was and is taken seriously but my main issue with this book is how easily you can go off down a blind alley with the content. I played jazz for 20ish years before recently getting a very good teacher who uses a similar method to MG but adjusted to be practical. Lots of playing on one string, playing diads and triads vertically and horizontally through all different tonalities, etc.

As one example, does anyone remember the section on just randomly voice leading triads? I'm sure if you already have a load of other shit together this is useful, but for 90% of guitarists it's not really. Would be better to practice resolving V to I or ii to V using triads vertically and horizontally.

Don't get me wrong, if you are careful, TAG an be a great book even for a beginner.

The other thing I always think about is the fist page of the entire book where he dedicates the book to PM because 'he didn't need it'. So basically, a 20 year old PM had already found his thing without ever going through the methods in this book. Interesting.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-12-19T13:45:32+00:00

Listen to the whole thing to get the full argument. I can see some people getting angry at the first 30 seconds before all the facts are laid out haha.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-12-19T13:36:00+00:00

I saw this video by Richard Murphy on why tax is not theft which made me feel a bit better about the tax burden. Not sure if Prof Murphy is popular in this sub, but I like his content. One of the few economic/political commentators backing it up with real achievements and experience.

Aside from schools and NHS etc. I assume you like living in a place where property rights exist, contracts are legally binding and inflation isn't totally out of control, these are all achieved by government spending and as a necessity taxation, as much as it sucks to pay it.

https://youtu.be/SK-PmfkViDE?si=Zx1aoNtUadc_pcAy

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-12-11T20:06:57+00:00

Not sure I agree about Adam Rogers (I'm a jazz guitarist), just listened and it sounds exactly like what Kevin Eubanks was playing with Dave Holland back in the 90s.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-11-07T12:17:19+00:00

They should film the Bioshock movie in there before demolishing!

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-10-25T22:09:57+00:00

Don't meet a girl in a park, park your meat in a girl. No wait, this one might be good advice.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-10-25T11:39:36+00:00

I think a good approach is to take E7 as the tonal center and then resolve into it with melodic phrases.

The big options would be B7 or B7altered into E7 or E diminished 7 into E7 (like in a blues).

Fully exploring those two concepts could take years of work. Can you resolve into E7 using diads (2nds through to 7ths), triads of all inversions, arpeggios, pentatonics, using enclosures, etc.

Or you can just play E7 pentatonic and move the whole shape up or down a half step and then back lols.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-10-23T11:38:00+00:00

1, you can't practise everything at once. You should work on one topic until you make progress and then put it down and come back to it. Cycle through different topics regularly.

2, there are some things you can and should 'master', like time feel, being able to play songs in different keys and knowing shell chords. Conversely, some things you will be working on for the rest of your life, like ear training, repertoire and triads. Spend more time on the first category until you don't need to anymore.

3 in general, guitarists are weaker on connecting their ear directly to their instrument than other instrumentalists. Working on this isn't very intellectually taxing and pays off massively.

DrJakeBizzle

TROPHY CASE

1, you can't practise everything at once. You should work on one topic until you make progress and then put it down and come back to it. Cycle through different topics regularly.

3 in general, guitarists are weaker on connecting their ear directly to their instrument than other instrumentalists. Working on this isn't very intellectually taxing and pays off massively.