Vocabulary, Voice and the Fingerboard

There Will Never Be Another You — Improv & Playing the Changes (Livestream, June 23, 2026)

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🎸 There Will Never Be Another You💼 Livestream🎹 Improv & Playing the Changes📅 June 23, 2026
In this Tuesday livestream we work through the standard “There Will Never Be Another You,” focusing on improvising and playing the changes — both for soloing and comping. We start with a play-through, identify the key and map the harmony, then dig into guide-tone playing and practical ways to make melodic lines flow over the progression.

About This Livestream

After a full play-through, we look at how to read the tune: establishing the key of E♭, spotting clues like the opening and closing chords, the V7 (B♭7), and the relative minor. From there we map the changes across the fingerboard and emphasize tracking the thirds and sevenths (guide tones) on the middle strings to follow the largely circle-of-fifths motion. We then put it into practice with a slow, called-out solo over the changes, working in hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, and natural phrasing — before extending the vocabulary into ninths and elevenths and talking about using dissonance with confidence.

How to Get the Most Out of This Session

Use the chapter markers in the video player to jump to the topics most relevant to your practice. Keep your instrument nearby and pause often to try the ideas in context — practice tracking the thirds and sevenths of each chord on the middle strings to feel the circle-of-fifths motion, then add natural phrasing (hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides) and reach for the ninths and elevenths as target tones.

Chapters

  • 00:00 Intro & Song Demonstration
  • 03:27 Tune Analysis: Key & Chords
  • 05:53 Improvisation Building Blocks
  • 16:52 Advanced Improvisation Concepts
  • 27:54 Software & App Development
  • 30:43 Conclusion & Membership

Circle of Fifths

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🎵 THEORY🎼 HARMONYKEYS

The Circle of Fifths is one of the most useful maps in all of music. In this lesson we walk through how it is built, why each step moves by a fifth, and how it instantly shows you the sharps and flats in every key. The embedded diagram lets you see all twelve keys at a glance, and by the end you will be able to use the circle to find key signatures, build chord progressions, and navigate around the fretboard with far more confidence.

What You’ll Work On: Reading the Circle of Fifths in both directions, memorizing the order of sharps and flats, and connecting each key to its relative minor. You will learn how clockwise motion adds sharps while counter-clockwise motion adds flats, and how neighboring keys share most of their notes, which is what makes smooth modulation and common chord progressions possible.

Practice Tips: Say the keys out loud around the circle, clockwise then counter-clockwise, until the order is automatic. Then pick any key and practice its I–IV–V chords on the guitar, since those chords are always direct neighbors on the circle. Finish by working a ii–V–I in three different keys, using the circle to find each chord quickly.

Nardis — Improv & Changes (Livestream, June 16, 2026)

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🎸 Nardis💼 Livestream🎹 Improv & Changes📅 June 16, 2026
In this Tuesday livestream we dig into the jazz standard “Nardis,” exploring the modal and harmonic concepts that make the tune work. We break down the changes, look at how to choose the right note collections for improvising, and study how players like Bill Evans and Mike Stern approach the solo — then put it all into practice with some live playing.

About This Livestream

We start by establishing a tonic and the three common tonic chord qualities (minor, major, and dominant), then use the opening E minor 7 to F major 7 movement to narrow down the key center using the circle of fifths. From there we land on the E Phrygian sound drawn from the C major collection, and explore how the tune shifts toward an E major / parallel-major color over the B7 and into the C major 7. Along the way we touch on harmonic major, flat-nine melodic ideas over minor chords, and the exotic intervals that give “Nardis” its character — illustrated by looking at transcriptions of Bill Evans and Mike Stern.

How to Get the Most Out of This Session

Use the chapter markers in the video player to jump to the topics most relevant to your practice. Keep your instrument nearby and pause often to try the ideas in context — practice toggling between the E Phrygian (C major) note collection over E minor 7 / F major 7 and the E major / harmonic-major color over the B7, and try working those flat-nine and augmented-second ideas into your lines.

Chapters

  • 00:00 Introduction & “Nardis” Background
  • 02:47 Phrygian, Minor & Tonic Chord Qualities
  • 05:02 Analyzing the Changes (E min7 → F maj7)
  • 11:48 Parallel Major, B7 & C maj7 Color
  • 15:14 Live Playing & Soloing Demo
  • 19:13 Bill Evans & Mike Stern Solo Insights
  • 26:24 Wrap-Up & Related Resources

Have You Met Miss Jones Livestream June 9 2026

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🎸 Have You Met Miss Jones💼 Tuesday Livestream🎹 Bridge & Coltrane Changes📅 June 9, 2026

In this Tuesday member livestream, Jim digs into the improv challenges of “Have You Met Miss Jones?” by Richard Rodgers—the tune whose famous bridge helped inspire Coltrane’s Giant Steps changes.

About This Livestream

The session focuses on what makes “Have You Met Miss Jones?” tricky to solo over: the bridge, which cycles through three keys in Coltrane-changes fashion. Jim breaks down why the D7♭9 needs more than a plain D minor sound, how G harmonic minor (Phrygian dominant) leads the ear, and how to walk through the 3-6-2-5 movement with smooth voice leading. He also covers the A-section changes, the abrupt twist to the IV chord, tritone relationships, and practical ways to shift keys quickly while keeping the line connected.

How to Get the Most Out of This Session

Use the chapter markers in the video player to jump to the topics most relevant to your practice. Keep your instrument nearby and pause often to try the ideas in context — Spend the most time on the bridge—that’s the hardest part of the tune—and practice changing keys quickly through its three tonal centers. Over the D7♭9, reach for G harmonic minor (Phrygian dominant) and let it pull toward G minor. For ♭9 dominant chords generally, lean on the harmonic minor and harmonic major scales, which build the ♭9 right in. Work on smooth voice leading to connect the abrupt key changes so your lines sound musical rather than mechanical..

Chapters

  • 00:00 Welcome & Today’s Topic: Miss Jones
  • 01:16 The Bridge That Inspired Giant Steps
  • 06:03 Analyzing the D7♭9 (Not Just D Minor)
  • 07:16 G Harmonic Minor & Phrygian Dominant
  • 07:31 Walking Through the Bridge Progression
  • 11:44 Fm6, Tritone Relationships & Substitution
  • 12:43 Mapping the 3-6-2-5 Movement
  • 13:46 The A Section’s Twist to the IV
  • 18:06 Shifting Keys & the Coltrane Changes
  • 19:09 Smooth Voice Leading Between Changes
  • 24:22 Handling ♭9s: Harmonic Minor & Major
  • 29:06 Wrap-Up & What’s Coming Next

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Rhythm & Have You Met Miss Jones Livestream June 4 2026

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🎸 Rhythm & Timing💼 Member Livestream🎹 Subdivision & Jazz Standards📅 June 4, 2026

In this office-hour member livestream, Jim digs into rhythm and timing—how to feel, count, and subdivide tricky rhythms—before launching into a crash course on the jazz standard “Have You Met Miss Jones?” and its famously tricky bridge.

About This Livestream

The session opens with a practical look at two contrasting rhythms and how to internalize them by subdividing against a steady grid, comparing triplet feels to sixteenth notes so you can place notes accurately in swing and 6/8 settings. From there, Jim turns to “Have You Met Miss Jones?”, walking through the changes, the Coltrane-style bridge movement, chord-melody pointers, and how knowing your 2-5-1 voicings in all positions plus the right altered tensions makes the hardest section playable.

How to Get the Most Out of This Session

Use the chapter markers in the video player to jump to the topics most relevant to your practice. Keep your instrument nearby and pause often to try the ideas in context — Practice subdividing each rhythm against a steady count so you can feel where triplets and sixteenths land. Drill your 2-5 and 5-1 voicings in all five fingering positions so you can stay in one area of the neck through the bridge. On the dominant chords, experiment with lowering the 9 (flat-9) and borrowing from harmonic minor and harmonic major to get the altered tensions the changes want..

Chapters

  • 00:00 Welcome & Office Hour Updates
  • 01:15 Two Contrasting Rhythms Explained
  • 02:11 Subdividing: Counting & Feeling the Grid
  • 05:02 Practicing Rhythms on a Single Note
  • 06:27 Triplet Rhythm vs. 16th Notes
  • 10:02 Where Swing & 6/8 Feels Land
  • 11:44 Intro to “Have You Met Miss Jones?”
  • 13:44 Playing Through the Changes
  • 15:07 The Bridge & Coltrane Changes
  • 19:00 Chord Melody Tips & Chord Tones
  • 21:54 Working the Bridge: 2-5s in All Positions
  • 24:04 Altered Tensions & Scale Choices

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Doxy – Comping and Shell Voicings June 2 2026

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🎸 Comping💼 Tuesday Livestream🎹 Shell Voicings & Voice Leading📅 June 2, 2026

In this Tuesday livestream we focus on comping — building shell voicings and using voice leading to move smoothly through a tune built almost entirely on dominant seventh chords. You’ll learn how a handful of essential chord tones can guide your ear through the changes and free up your comping and single-line playing alike.

About This Livestream

We start with shell voicings — just the root, third, and seventh of each chord — and look at how voice leading lets those essential tones move by the smallest possible distance from chord to chord. From there we cover practical comping technique, including muting the bass line and a hybrid/thumb approach in the style of Joe Pass, then walk the dominant chords of the tune and explore a higher set of voicings. We dig into the second half of the form with its diminished and tritone-substitution sounds, summarize the tritone-sub concept, and pull up a circle-of-fifths visualizer to map each chord against its parent key. The session closes by extending the shell voicings with color tones like the sharp nine and sharp five to start building a more expressive, bluesy vocabulary.

How to Get the Most Out of This Session

Use the chapter markers in the video player to jump to the topics most relevant to your practice. Keep your instrument nearby and pause often to try the ideas in context — start with the bare root–third–seventh shells and add color tones only once they feel solid, watch how the third and seventh move between chords, and practice the comping technique slowly so the voice leading stays smooth.

Chapters

  • 00:00 Welcome & Today’s Topic: Comping
  • 02:33 Shell Voicings Explained (Root, 3rd, 7th)
  • 04:42 Voice Leading Through the Changes
  • 07:12 Muting, Hybrid Picking & Joe Pass Comping
  • 08:07 Walking the Dominant Chords
  • 10:51 A Different Voicing Approach (Higher Inversions)
  • 13:57 The Second Half & Diminished Chords
  • 18:03 Summary: Tritone Substitution
  • 21:25 The Circle of Fifths Visualizer
  • 24:11 Mapping the Changes on the Circle
  • 26:52 Extending Shell Voicings (Sharp 9, Sharp 5)
  • 30:14 Wrap-Up & Sign-Off

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