Stoked you joined the waiting list for my Melodic Triads programs!

Here's a three-part gift
I thought you might like while you're waiting for registration... 

Gift #1  🎁

JUST before getting sick and losing the ability to play, I took my 9-piece band (guitar, piano, bass, drums, 5-piece horn section) into the studio and recorded the music that would eventually get released as my album called This City. It was a modern jazz project of mostly original compositions where I arranged everything for the full nonet... sort of like a mini-big band.

Here's a one minute preview clip from the opening track titled "Early" and based off of Bill Evans' tune Very Early. It picks up at the end of the piano player's solo and the transition into the guitar solo.

If you're into the modern jazz vibe of it, my first gift for you today is to give you a download of the full track to enjoy.

When listening, keep in mind that almost every component of the recording is relying entirely on the concepts Stefon Harris had been showing me at the piano and the melodic triads concepts I just laid out for you in the Bill Evans Fretboard Secrets course - the non-functional changes I used to harmonize the melody, the voicings I composed for the guitar and the piano, the countermelodies, the horn arrangements, and even my guitar solo... all melodic triads.

Gift #2  🎁 🎁

In the above track - Early - I wanted you to hear the ideas I presented to you in Bill Evans Fretboard Secrets. 

Now I want you to SEE them in action and one of the ways I might use them in the real world.

So check this out!

The above is piece of the actual guitar chart that I brought into the studio with me. Checkout the chords in the [D] section. Those are the changes I needed to solo over. They are tough. PLUS it was in the studio with the mics on, the recording rolling, and eight musicians looking to me to lead everything. 

A lot to think about.

So above each advanced harmony, I scribbled out a funny looking bit of notation. Those are the primary quadratonics I wanted to use to improvise for each chord. The circled letter is the triad I'm going to aim for. Sort of like we just studied E7#9#5 together, but everything we did was based on a C major triad. These triads are the "right hand" triads of the piano voicings I was hearing for each harmony. The "/Qx" was Stefon's way of saying triad + "tension x."

For example in measure one I wrote (G)/Q2 over the Em7 chord. That means I'm going to play a G major triad with a tension 2. That might seem unnecessary for such a simple chord. But check out measure three, and you'll see an E7b13#9 chord. That's a lot to think about vs a C major triad with a tension b6. By circle the triads my eyes saw them and my fingers jumped straight for those triads during my solo. Those were my sweet spot notes that created a strong sense of resolution and melodic integrity while also keeping me planted in the upper structure of each chord... bringing out and accentuating the advanced nature of these harmonies and create the sonic illusions I talk about. All while giving me the ability to play relatively simple phrases in a lyrical and melodic way.

I'm not expecting you to be able to just see those quadratonics and start improvising immediately! It takes a little time to get used to this stuff... I was about 6-8 months into studying under Stefon Harris by the time I was in the studio.