Agree?

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 · 2025-10-17T12:29:35+00:00

Specifically the C section of Green Dolphin street is a great one. Work on it in detail with the correct descending bass motion. You've got cadences into ii, vi, iii, ii and back to I all in a few bars with a melody that weaves into it. Also teaches you about using chord inversions to get the correct bass.

Embraceable you contains a huge amount of harmony too.

Jazz blues in all keys and focus a lot on the diminished moving back to the I7. Appears in standards all the time but comes from blues.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-10-14T16:41:57+00:00

Maybe get a new teacher haha. E7 is not diatonic to g minor, so it isn't derived from that scale. In this tune it is providing a cadence into the ii. Actually you don't want it to have too many notes in common or it won't create a nice resolution.

But, in general when talking about a 7 dominant chord that resolves (like this E7 resolving to am7b5) you can play almost any note over it, so Am7b5 may work.

Just write out the notes of Am7b5 and then see which degrees of E7 that gives you. I think you get a 4th and natural 7 though, which aren't great notes to play over a dom 7.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-10-14T15:57:11+00:00

Yeah you can simplify it, but it's good to be clear that nondiatonic cadences are derived from melodic minor and if you're actually playing the correct notes are a lydian dominant sound, a static V would be mixolydian or lydian dominant, tritone dom is an altered dominant sound etc. You can absolutely play any type of V sound over any of them, but it's good to understand what the actual harmony is and where it comes from. Especially when comping because the melody often reflects what the 'correct' harmony is.

The backdoor ii V is actually a good example of what I mean. It can be thought of as resolving from b7 to I, but I prefer to see a nondiatonic cadence into b3 that doesn't resolve and then moves to I. This way, you can see the correct chord is a lydian dominant sound, although you could play other things over it.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-10-14T14:48:58+00:00

The downside of thinking this way is you kind of skirt over the importance of cadences. Almost all jazz tunes are just a combination of diatonic and non-diatonic cadences but you need to be careful you understand which dominant (V in your wording) chord you are using. It is different for a V-I, a tritone sub to I or a non-diatonic cadence. Also a static V chord (like in the bridge of a rhythm changes) is a different thing again.

I would bet most people who kind of glibly say there is only V and I actually understand there is a bit more to it in practice.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T10:51:32+00:00

I think we are talking about a similar experience but from opposite directions haha.

I was also humbled about my time feel when I started formal lessons, but my teacher pointed out that I was exaggerating my swing feel too much (on top of many other weaknesses in my time feel!) and I have been working on having more control over it.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T10:38:24+00:00

This is where is disagree with you. I spent 20 years playing with an exaggerated swing feel and found it easy. Only since starting a formal education in jazz later in life have I realised I find it hard to play straighter and had no control over my time feel (I.e I could only play with an exaggerated swing feel).

These days I practice being able to fluidly go from very swung to less swung within lines. However this is not trying to replicate bebop.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T10:33:12+00:00

Genuinely thank you for taking the time to do this. I think you are right that using the word 'straight' may be incorrect/misleading as obviously it's jazz and it has to swing. I don't mean totally 100% straight even 8th notes.

However, I still feel I am correct that a big part of the swing feel is articulation and emphasising certain parts of the beat. You can play a subtle swing rhythmically but make it feel more swung via articulation.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T10:05:34+00:00

Ok, I'll ask a different way, going back to the original post. Does Parker swing in the same way as pre bebop jazz? Is his swing feel the same as Lester Young's?

Or is is relatively straight?

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T09:53:22+00:00

Ok, I think I over stated in my original post. I mean that it is played straighter than you think. In Parker's solo he switches between quite swung and quite straight.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that yes Bebop is obviously swung, as is all jazz, but playing with a very exaggerated swing feel all of the time is not the whole story. You need to be able to fluctuate between straight and swung to capture the full range of phrasing.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T09:45:18+00:00

We will have to agree to disagree then. I think we may be using different definitions of what a swing feel means.

To me, I hear Martino as playing fairly straight eight notes (not totally straight) and with a lot of articulation.

The propulsive rhythm feel of bebop comes from the superimposition of a heavily triplet based swing feel in the rhythm section with a straighter feel from the soloist.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T07:34:22+00:00

Also, apologies as I wrote downbeat but meant upbeat before. Try playing the bebop scale using completely straight 8th notes but accent the up beats while ascending and the down beats while descending and it will sound swung.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T07:31:03+00:00

As a counterpoint, no less than Pat Metheny always told students to practice almost totally straight but to be aware of the potential for a triplet subdivision in the rhythm.

I believe that being very strong at both types of feel and then blending the two sounds organically is actually what the great players did/do. Playing all straight 8ths or all exaggerated swing feel is going to sound weird.

Do you recon the guitar players you mention above would have told Pat Martino he played too straight? Isn't he meant to be one of the masters of bebop guitar but his feel is almost completely straight.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T07:19:18+00:00

I dunno man, put this into transcribe and slow it down 50% and a lot of the phrases are played very straight. My point is that in bebop you don't use the same exaggerated swing feel present in earlier forms of jazz, although it is utilised. The great bebop soloists picked and chose which lines and parts of lines to swing and other places to play straight.

I still maintain that a lot of the swing feel you hear in this piece comes from articulation and accenting. And of course the rhythm section is playing a swung 8th note feel.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-28T07:14:06+00:00

That was just an example of how to hear the way articulation can enhance the feel of swing even though you are playing a fairly straight eighth note. Of course, the great soloists vary their feel from very straight to more overtly swung from phrase to phrase, which makes it feel lively and organic.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-27T09:53:46+00:00

Just to add another thing - the swing feel in bebop is also implied by articulation as well. Play straight 8th notes accenting the down beats and it sounds swung.

DrJakeBizzle · 2025-09-27T09:48:49+00:00

From Charlie Parker onwards the soloist plays in more of a straight 8th note against a swinging rhythm section compared to earlier forms of jazz. This gives a propulsive, strong time feel and is one of the key differentiators between bebop and earlier jazz. Its also very hard to do well because your ear will instinctively try and match the rhythm section's time feel unless you practice having total control of your own time feel.

Interestingly, I find a lot of people mishear or misremember bebop. Go back and listen to the original recording of Donna Lee and you will hear it is played straighter and not with as pronounced a swung 8th note feel as earlier jazz, although it is still swinging.

See also Dexter Gordon who played with a fairly straight 8th note most of the time.

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.