Hi, LWM blog readers. Lyman Lipke here, and it’s been a while! This week, I’m beginning a series for the Jazzandgrass instagram going over two choruses of the chord changes to “I Got Rhythm”, by George Gershwin. Many different bebop melodies have been written over these chord changes. Oleo (Sonny Rollins), Rhythm-a-ning (Theolonius Monk), Cotton Tail (Duke Ellington), and Anthropology (Charlie Parker) are just a few examples of tunes that use these chords. With the ubiquity of these changes, it would be a good idea to take a look at the framework, and some different ways we can approach these chords.
chord theory
Lyman Lipke here, once again, with an article pertaining to jazz. Is it time to learn the scales and the notes and how to shred? Not quite yet. Apologies for dangling the soloing carrot in front of you, but trust me, as someone who learned the scales and the notes before learning how to play the chords and connect them, you’ll be far more valuable (and employable) as a jazz guitarist. I’d like to talk a little bit about drop voicings, constructing a minor 7 chord, and…