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berklee

Course Review: 3 Week Bebop Challenge – Tier 1 & Tier 2 by Cecil Alexander

July 12, 2023 by azsamadlessons Leave a Comment

This is a great course from jazz guitarist Cecil Alexander. Framed as a 3-week challenge, this formats allow aspiring jazz guitarists to have a clear idea of how to play bebop.

There are two Tiers to the challenge, one more for intermediate players and another one for more experienced players. There is an overlap in the materials for both tiers & Cecil makes this very clear on his website. However, being a completist, I got both so I could compare and understand how Cecil organized this challenge.

Cecil’s approach is a mix of lick-based vocabulary building and more theory or concept-based approaches. In the three weeks, you get a lot of material to work on.

For Tier 1, Cecil gives you:

  • 4 PDF Files
    • 1-page Practice Plan
    • 2-page Week One Examples and Exercises
    • 8-page Week Two Examples and Exercises
    • 4-page Week Three Examples and Exercises
  • 3 Videos (Total running time: 42 minutes and 20 seconds)
  • 2 Backing Tracks (over Solar and a Bb Blues)

For Tier 2, you get:

  • 4 PDF Files
    • 1-page Practice Plan
    • 8-page Week One Examples and Exercises
    • 2-page Week Two Examples and Exercises
    • 4-page Week Three Examples and Exercises
  • 3 Videos (Total running time: 43 minutes and 11 seconds)
  • 2 Backing Tracks (over Solar and a Bb Blues)

The main difference between the two tiers is that with Tier 1, Cecil guides you on how to maximize working & learning licks. He shows different ways to internalize vocabulary so that the licks can come out organically in your solos. This is Week 1 of the Tier 1 material. Week 2 of Tier 1 is basically Week 1 of Tier 2… anyway there is an overlap as I mentioned.

In Tier 2, the difference is that you get Cecil’s explanation of “Cells” and he approaches learning, labelling, practicing cells to effectively incorporate them into your improvisational vocabulary. Tier 2 doesn’t include the lick learning method introduced in Tier 1, but if you’re used to getting licks down, this is probably not a big deal breaker.

In both tiers, Cecil explains his approach to bebop scales in a systematic way. This is probably where the material that was released as his Bebop Workbook (reviewed here) came from. I find that the bootcamp is great to accompany that workbook if you have it (or want to get it).

Personally I found that there is so much stuff to work on here, but Cecil does a wonderful job of explaining things. The videos are the highlight for me especially to see and hear how Cecil plays all these ideas.

The accompanying PDF files are helpful as well so that I can just pause the video and work on a lick at a time. The only thing were some of the typos in the tablature. I found that in order to get Cecil’s fingerings I really needed to watch the video closely. Still, if you’re just looking to learn the concepts and not his fingerings, this shouldn’t be a problem.

If you’ve gotten any of his lick books from Jazz Lesson Videos, this bootcamp might be a useful counterpoint (pun intended) to his books. Although I did work on this bootcamp material when it was released two years ago, I appreciate it more now.

In conclusion, if you’ve been thinking of taking a private lesson with Cecil but haven’t yet, this bootcamp gives a bit of a private lesson kind of vibe since it’s paced for 3 weeks. Recommended for serious guitarist who want to get bebop vocabulary under their fingers. Be warned that this is difficult stuff but it certainly will reward you if you really work on it.

Pros: Great explanation & teaching from an amazing guitarist.
Cons:  No left hand or right hand fingering notated, you have to refer to the video for that. Occasional typos in the tablature.
TLDR: If you wanna learn bebop guitar, this is a good way to get organized practice material. Having it in the challenge format is helpful too so you know how long to work on the material.

You can get this at his website:
Tier 1: https://www.cecilalexander.com/shop/3-week-bebop-challenge-tier-1
Tier 2: https://www.cecilalexander.com/shop/3-week-bebop-challenge-tier-2

Also… if you enjoyed this review and want to read my past reviews of Cecil’s works, do check out my review of his excellent Picking Masterclass and reviews on his musical exercises (Pentatonic Licks (Static Harmony) & Pentatonic Licks (II-V-I) by Cecil Alexander, Assorted Licks & Minor II-V Lines by Cecil Alexander and Musical Exercises Review: Bebop II-V Phrases, All The Things You Are Etude, Solar Etude (Melodic Minor Modes) and Green Dolphin Street Solo Arrangement by Cecil Alexander

You can read my previous reviews in his series with Jazz Lesson Videos here:
Book Review: 54 Pentatonic Licks by Cecil Alexander
Book Review: Bebop Workbook by Cecil Alexander
Book Review: 57 Double Time Lines by Cecil Alexander
Book Review: 56 Hip Licks by Cecil Alexander
Book Review: 50 ii-V-I Licks by Cecil Alexander
Book Review: 20 Bebop Etudes by Cecil Alexander
Book Review: 30 Exercises on Static Harmony by Cecil Alexander

For my thoughts on his work on the pickupmusic website, check out:
Licks Package: 10 Advanced II V I Licks by Cecil Alexander
Licks Package: 10 Must-Know Bebop Licks by Cecil Alexander

Filed Under: Guitar Technique, Jazz Guitar, Licks, Practice Secrets, Video Lessons Tagged With: arpeggios, bebop, berklee, guitar lessons, how to practice guitar, improvisation, jazz guitar, jazz guitar techniques, practice, vocabulary

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