In this new masterclass by Portland, Oregon guitarist Christopher Woitach, we discover the basic steps to learning a tune the way a jazz guitarist would do it. Christopher begins by explaining the importance of learning transcriptions, arrangements and making your own arrangements before going into the core of the lesson which is… how do you arrange pieces on the fly, on the bandstand?
He then shows 4 different ways to interpret the melody of a jazz standard, from simple rhythmic embellishments to more complex melodic interpretations. All this is helpful especially if you have never done this before.
Christopher also shows how certain elements like introductions or endings can become part of a song, even if they were not composed by the original composer. This is an important thing to know especially if you expect to survive in jazz jam session and casual gigs with no prior rehearsal.
It is also obvious that Christopher cares about this topic and teaches it with a lot of care. I enjoy his teaching style and examples throughout. This is definitely a fine addition to his previous two masterclasses on Mike’s Masterclasses, previously reviewed here and here.
All in all, this masterclass is the kind of video I wish I had when I started playing chord melody 24 years ago! It would really have helped me establish guidelines to learning this kind of playing. For anyone new to chord melody or arranging in a jazz guitar kind of way, get this masterclass now.
Pros: Good clear examples in Soundslice format so you can closely study what Christopher plays. Clear explanations on how to approach the method (and apply them to any song).
Cons: No transcriptions for the final two performance examples. That being said, the point of the masterclass is to actually do this yourself (make your own arrangements) therefore it does make sense for these being video only examples.
TLDR: If you’ve only played “fixed” chord melody arrangements and want to start playing your own improvised arrangements of jazz standards, this masterclass is a great one to get.
You can get this video from Mike’s Master Classes here: https://mikesmasterclasses.com/course/beyond-the-arrangement-playing-standards-freely/
I received a complimentary access to this course for review purposes from Christopher Woitach. Thank you Chris!
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