When I first started working through this particular masterclass by guitarist Ben Eunson, I couldn’t help but think of three books: Bach Shapes, Bach Shapes II and Bach Shapes: The Etudes by Jon De Lucia.
Brooklyn based saxophonist and composer Jon De Lucia made it a point to explore the improvisational possibilities from J.S. Bach’s rich melodic vocabulary, and in this instance, we have Ben Eunson doing the same but specifically for electric guitar.
So the question is: what makes this masterclass special… and why should you get this?
In Ben’s own words:
We’ll be analyzing the compositional language of J.S. Bach, and examining how Bach’s language can be directly interchangeable with a modern single-line soloing approach.
In this in-depth masterclass, we’ll be studying Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV. 1002: II. Double, which contains a vast array of arpeggios, scales and melodies that can easily be adapted within the context of contemporary harmony.
We will examine 10 detailed examples from this piece, reinterpreting them within the context of modern harmony to aid in developing an improvisational language inspired by Bach.
The masterclass is divided into two sections:
- Section 1:
- Introduction 1 & 2
- Performance: Partita For Solo Violin No. 1 in B Minor (ii. Double)
- Section 2:
- Examples & Analysis for 10 excerpts
- Final Thoughts
The material is well organized and everything makes sense. Of course, with any of Ben’s materials even when things make sense, you have to put in the work for these things to come out in your playing.
I gotta say that this particular masterclass is interesting to me because it explains some parts of Ben’s playing that I’ve heard, and now with his explanation I kind of see where some of ideas come from. It also explains the Bach videos that he’s posted on YouTube and Instagram too.
All in all, if you dig Ben Eunson’s playing and love the music of J.S. Bach, then this is a no-brainer. However if you’re looking for more foundational material to understand how Ben improvises, I recommend getting his other material first (especially the How To Practice series and How To Warm Up).
Pros: An alternative approach to getting jazz vocabulary and also learn a piece of music from J.S. Bach at the same time.
Cons: You’re basically paying to understand how Ben approaches the material and his fingering choices to get the kind of sound he’s known for. So, if you’re strictly looking for a large QUANTITY of melodic ideas, this is probably not for you. However if you’re into concepts that open up your playing and improvising, you might just like this!
TLDR: If you dig Ben Eunson’s playing and love the music of J.S. Bach, this is one way to understand how Ben approaches this material.
I receive a complimentary review copy of this masterclass from Ben Eunson. Thanks Ben!
You can get the video masterclass here: https://bensguitarclub.teachable.com/p/improvising-with-js-bach
[Review Archive]
I wrote a lot of other book, course and video reviews too.
Check out the rest here:
[Read more reviews]
[Submissions for Review Consideration]
- Are you an author who wrote a jazz, guitar or music book?
- Have you created a DVD or an online video course or subscription based website?
- Would you like me to review your book/course?
Please send me a message at azsamad3 at gmail.com with:
For courses: a link to the course/video/product + access info etc.
For books: a link to the book (Dropbox) or PDF attachment (if it’s small) for review consideration.
Depending on whether I dig the book/course, I’ll let you know if I do plan to review it!
I cannot guarantee a review for every submission & if I’m not too into it, I may opt not to review it. I mean, it’s better to get a good review that for me to write a bad review just because it’s not a match for the kind of stuff I dig right? :p
NOTE: All reviews reflect my honest personal opinion so be aware that I will point out both cool Pros and Cons that I see in the work. You dig?