Jeff Brent's Lessons

Jeff Brent's
Free Lessons Page
Table of Contents

On this page you'll find lessons and
educational articles I've written on music.

My Teacher Profile
A listing of all the instruments, styles and musical subjects that I teach

Included here are:
riffs & licks,
scales, chords,
the pianist's left hand,
practical techniques
Lessons with Audio Examples

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Table of Contents:

Alphabetical Listing

Riffs & Licks

Modes, Scales and Megascales

Chords, Chords, Chords

The Jazz Pianist's Left Hand

Guitar Section

Practical Musical Advice

Lessons with Audio

Piano Tablature Codified (w/audio)

The Definitive "Giant Steps" Analysis

"Lydian Chromatic Concept" Discrepancies

Just Intonation and W.A. Mathieu's "Harmonic Experience"

* * * * * * *

Alphabetical Listing:

My Teacher Profile
A listing of all the instruments, styles and musical subjects that I teach

The 7 Blind Men and the Elephant
The importance of a well-rounded musical education.

Advanced Piano Fingerings for the Chromatic Scale and Diminished Scales
This article covers advanced fingering techniques such as Liszt's "Thumb Over", Seth Griener's "Speed Fingering", "Thumb on a Black Note", etc.

Blues CESH
This article deals with chromatic embellishments of a static 7th chord in the Blues idiom. PDF file.

Bopology 101
Learn to solo in the BeBop idiom. Complete with MIDI audio examples & guitar tab.

C# minor Blues Pentatonic Fingerings
The three main piano fingering postions for C# minor blues pentatonic illustrated. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Comping
The "Dues and Don'ts" of accompaniment.

Creating Melodies using "The Suggestive Method"
The natural path to melodic construction.

Diatonic Tertian Mega-Scale
A cool and useful idea for improvising over ii-V7-I changes. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Exploring 9th Voicings
Some interesting uses of LH chord stuctures utilising a major 9th interval span.

Fast Extended Chromatic Piano Runs
The very fastest way to do an extended chromatic run. Complete with MP3 audio example.

Piano Fingerings for Eb minor pentatonics & Bbm Blues modes
How to get around these "tricky" scales.

Fowler-Brent Shorthand
A precise and intuitive way of notating chords and scales.

Generic Slash Bass Notation
Generic "Slash Bass" Leadsheet Notation Codified.

"Giant Steps" Analysis
Demystifies John Coltrane's "Giant Steps".

History of the Jazz Pianist's Left Hand
A brief synopsis of the history of the Jazz pianist's left hand.

Internalizing Rhythm
Find where it lives.

Jairazbhoy’s Hindustani 32 Thaat system
The 32 permutations of the Classical Hindustani Thaats.

Jazzing Up a Simple Tune
Some ideas for reharmonizing non-Jazz songs.

Just Intonation and W.A. Mathieu's "Harmonic Experience"
A critique of Mathieu's study of Just Intonation

Left Hand Closed Voicings for Piano
Where to play closed chord voicings in the left hand.

Left Hand Stride Piano Tenths
An article dealing with 10ths in the left hand and their use in Jazz.Complete with MIDI audio examples.

"Lydian Chromatic Concept" Discrepancies
A review of "The Lydian Chromatic Concept" with proofs that it is based on a false premise.

Melodic Tendencies
Note choices based on psycho-acoustic factors

Mystery vs. Mastery
Musical evolution and the loss of innocence.

Piano Rootless Drop Voicing 251s
Drop2 and Drop3 voicings are presented to the jazz pianist within the context of both major and minor rootless 2-5-1 progressions (along with their most common altered dominants) in all twelve keys.

Piano Tablature
My system of tablature for piano and its symbols explained. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Piano Tuning in a Nutshell
Too cheap to hire a piano tuner?

Positional Visualization vs. Thumb Crossings
An alternate way of thinking about efficient piano fingerings.

Practicing
How long should I practice every day?

Principles of Rhythm Guitar
The "Spare and Ringy One", the "Pushed Three" and the "Busy Four"

Rootless Chord Voicings for Piano
A concise explanation of Bill Evans' "Rootless Chords" system.

Rootless Major ii-V-I Tutor
The chord components' degrees are mapped onto an interactive fretboard. The V7alt buttons allow for instantaneous comparative analysis. Quite simply the most intuitive exposition of chord relationships I've ever seen. Special thanks to Joe Bianco for this.

The Secret Saxophone Scale
A Jazz/Blues scale that you hear all the time, but so secret (shhhh...!) that it has no name. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Shearing Style Block Chords for the Right Hand
Some ideas for which notes to put inside the octave.

Sidewinder Patterns
Sidewinder patterns consist of a sequence of identical fixed melodic intervals chromatically ascending or descending.

Singing
Understanding the musical instrument that is the human voice.

Spelling Diminished Scales
Conventions for diminished scale spellings: Fraternal Chromatics, Stacked Minor Tetrachords.

The Subconscious and Maximizing Practice Time
Getting the most bang for your buck when practicing by taking advantage of how the subconscious works.

Thoughts on Modes
Some insights into modes.

Tips on Transcribing
Practical advice on doing transcriptions.

Understanding Walking Bass Lines
Explanation of walking bass lines for non-Bassists.

Universal Scale over iii-VI7-ii-V7-I progressions
Using the last four notes of minor 7th chords or dominant 7th chords as melodic soloing choices. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

back to Table of Contents

Riffs & Licks:

Bopology 101
Learn to solo in the BeBop idiom. Complete with MIDI audio examples & guitar tab.

Universal Scale over iii-VI7-ii-V7-I progressions
Using the last four notes of minor 7th chords or dominant 7th chords as melodic soloing choices. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

C# minor Blues Pentatonic Fingerings
The three main piano fingering postions for C# minor blues pentatonic illustrated. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Fast Extended Chromatic Piano Runs
The very fastest way to do an extended chromatic run. Complete with MP3 audio example.

The Secret Saxophone Scale
A Jazz/Blues scale that you hear all the time, but so secret (shhhh...!) that it has no name. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Sidewinder Patterns
Sidewinder patterns consist of a sequence of identical fixed melodic intervals chromatically ascending or descending.

Melodic Tendencies
Note choices based on psycho-acoustic factors

Creating Melodies using "The Suggestive Method"
The natural path to melodic construction.

back to Table of Contents

Modes, Scales and Megascales:

Positional Visualization vs. Thumb Crossings
An alternate way of thinking about efficient piano fingerings.

Thoughts on Modes
Some insights into modes.

Bopology 101
Learn to solo in the BeBop idiom. Complete with MIDI audio examples & guitar tab.

C# minor Blues Pentatonic Fingerings
The three main piano fingering postions for C# minor blues pentatonic illustrated. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Fast Extended Chromatic Piano Runs
The very fastest way to do an extended chromatic run. Complete with MP3 audio example.

Piano Fingerings for Eb minor pentatonics & Bbm Blues modes
How to get around these "tricky" scales.

The Secret Saxophone Scale
A Jazz/Blues scale that you hear all the time, but so secret (shhhh...!) that it has no name. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Spelling Diminished Scales
Conventions for diminished scale spellings: Fraternal Chromatics, Stacked Minor Tetrachords.

Universal Scale over iii-VI7-ii-V7-I progressions
Using the last four notes of minor 7th chords or dominant 7th chords as melodic soloing choices. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Diatonic Tertian Mega-Scale
A cool and useful idea for improvising over ii-V7-I changes. Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Fowler-Brent Shorthand
A precise and intuitive way of notating chords and scales.

back to Table of Contents

Chords, Chords, Chords:

Rootless Chord Voicings for Piano
A concise explanation of Bill Evans' "Rootless Chords" system.

Exploring 9th Voicings
Some interesting uses of LH chord stuctures utilizing a major 9th interval span.

Shearing Style Block Chords for the Right Hand
Some ideas for which notes to put inside the octave.

Jazzing Up a Simple Tune
Some ideas for reharmonizing non-Jazz songs.

Fowler-Brent Shorthand
A precise and intuitive way of notating chords and scales.

back to Table of Contents

The Jazz Pianist's Left Hand:

Generic Slash Bass Notation
Generic "Slash Bass" Leadsheet Notation Codified.

History of the Jazz Pianist's Left Hand
A brief synopsis of the history of the Jazz pianist's left hand.

Rootless Chord Voicings for Piano
A concise explanation of Bill Evans' "Rootless Chords" system.

Left Hand Closed Voicings for Piano
Where to play closed chord voicings in the left hand.

Understanding Walking Bass Lines
Explanation of walking bass lines for non-Bassists.

Left Hand Stride Piano Tenths
An article dealing with 10ths in the left hand and their use in Jazz.Complete with MIDI audio examples.

Exploring 9th Voicings
Some interesting uses of LH chord stuctures utilising a major 9th interval span.

back to Table of Contents

Guitar Section:

Bopology 101
Learn to solo in the BeBop idiom.
Complete with MIDI audio examples & guitar tab

The Principles of Rhythm Guitar
The "Spare and Ringy One", the "Pushed Three" and the "Busy Four"

back to Table of Contents

Practical Musical Advice:

The 7 Blind Men and the Elephant
The importance of a well-rounded musical education.

Practicing
How long should I practice every day?

Comping
The "Dues and Don'ts" of accompaniment.

Singing
Understanding the musical instrument that is the human voice.

Tips on Transcribing
Practical advice on doing transcriptions.

Creating Melodies using "The Suggestive Method"
The natural path to melodic construction.

Melodic Tendencies
Note choices based on psycho-acoustic factors

Internalizing Rhythm
Find where it lives.

Mystery vs. Mastery
Musical evolution and the loss of innocence.

Piano Tuning in a Nutshell
Too cheap to hire a piano tuner?

Principles of Rhythm Guitar
The "Spare and Ringy One", the "Pushed Three" and the "Busy Four"

The Subconscious and Maximizing Practice Time
Getting the most bang for your buck when practicing by taking advantage of how the subconscious works.

back to Table of Contents

Lessons with Audio: