Announcement: GuitarControl.com Release a Two-minute Jazz Guitar Lesson
New York, NY (PRWEB) August 09, 2013 -- To help beginning guitarists learn new chords and experiment with jazz style, Guitar Control today announced the release of a cool guitar lesson that covers techniques for playing a classic jazz melody. In the lesson, Los Angeles-based session guitarist Jon MacLennan shows how to play alternative arrangements of common chords and teaches techniques guitarists can use to expand their repertoire of licks, build improvisation skills, and write original music.
Available on YouTube, the lesson lays out MacLennan’s method for forming jazz chords and playing these chords in different positions on the neck. MacLennan teaches correct finger placement and strumming pattern for each chord in the lick, focusing on the importance of smooth transitions between chords and correctly forming alternative jazz arrangements to achieve a unique sound.
Using a melody inspired by legendary jazz guitarist Joe Pass as an example, MacLennan shows how to play a C-minor chord in four different positions on the neck and play a common jazz progression. MacLennan demonstrates the lick one note at a time, and describes how to form each chord step-by-step during the lesson. Sheet music and chord diagrams are included at a link in the video description.
Alternative chord arrangements like the ones shows in the video are a staple of jazz music. Joe Pass developed a unique jazz sound by exploring new chord arrangements, often adopting sounds or melodies from other instruments. LIcks like the one taught in the video can be heard in Pass’ recordings with musicians like Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald.
A Los Angeles-based session guitarist and composer, Guitar Control instructor Jon MacLennan earned a degree in ethnomusicology and jazz guitar studies from the University of California, and worked as an instructor for the Los Angeles Pierce College Department of Music. An accomplished jazz guitarist, MacLennan recorded guitar and ukulele for the hit Fox show Raising Hope; appeared on the Disney series The Suite life of Zach and Cody; and has composed, arranged, and produced three full length albums of his own.
MacLennan designed the Fast Track Guitar System, a 3-disc instructional DVD available through Guitar Control. In the Fast Track Guitar System, he expands on the basics covered in the YouTube video to teach advanced techniques for playing jazz, blues, rock, folk, and many well known guitar anthems.
GuitarControl.com is packed with resources, video tutorials and lessons, articles, and affordable DVDs to help new guitarists learn and experienced guitarists master their instruments. Guitarists of any experience level find guitar lessons from instructors with a broad array of music backgrounds and styles - blues, jazz, metal, classical, folk, progressive rock, punk, and everything in between. Guitarists can find relatable, easy-to- follow videos regardless of their ability or musical tastes.
Claude Johnson, Guitar Control, 888-687-4216, [email protected]
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