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To be paying for course without support does not sound like a reasonable option at all. Basically you pay 30 bucks for 2 printed pages and few minutes of recordings. One page is usually some 2-5-1 licks, sometimes chord arrangement. The other page is HEAD to a jazz-blues tune - with all the fingerings. Recording usually has the tune played through and broken down into pieces - discussion is focused mostly on technique rather than on harmony. For $30 that is NOT a lot. Fun starts when you try to record ad SOLO over that tune and send Mark emails with those.
Originally Posted by Stu Foley
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08-06-2014 11:28 AM
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Thanks Woland.
It may sound like I'm being deliberately obtuse, but If I sent him a recording of me playing the first 8 measures of a transcribed solo and then breaking down, what more can he say other than get the next 8 measures down.
I'm sure he is very supportive btw, but surely if something is transcribed for you note-for-note the onus is then on the student to just keep practicing it until she/he can't fail.
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Hey Guys,
Jeff suggested that I drop by given the topic, although he and JT (woland) have already done a good job of framing the tunes and material in the series. However, I'd be happy to share more info about the course and what inspired me to author it back in 1998.
As far as the personal interactivity is concerned, anyone who knows me will tell you that I am available almost 24/7 to my students, and for those who take advantage of it they get far more for their $$ then just the material itself. It might be personal recordings, transcriptions, arrangements of model solos, questions regarding the optimum use of their study time, etc, etc. My passion for communication and literary work (I've been writing for JJG for 12 years now) goes back to long before I ever picked up a guitar.
Finally, if you have any other questions, course-related or not, fire away. Time permitting, I'll try to field them as best I can. All for now..
- Mark
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Once again Stu - the course teaches how to play heads of several jazz blues tunes. You get transcription of the head - not the solo. Solo is entirely up to you. Mark gives you some turnaround language (2-5-1 part) that is usually in C so after you learn as notated you will still need to transcribe it to the key in which current blues assignment is (most of them are in original keys). Not all of the blues tunes have the turnaround that uses 2-5-1 so on some that part of material will not apply. And you will have to do A LOT of lifting yourself before you integrate those phrases in your own blues solos. Mark can assist you in that. But to me it was mixed success - I am a slow learner - 2 weeks time between installments was NOT enough to master material. Originally Posted by Stu Foley
For learning soloing on jazz-blues Mark's TrueFire course called "Jazzed blues assembly line" is MUCH effective - I think that getting it and working your way through it before starting 1 on 1 "Swing Blues" lessons may be a better approach.
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Aha! Then I feel a bit stupid.
My understanding was that the approach was to learn a vast number of model solos until you get to a point at which you can poach lines from any one of them when the need arises. I didn't realise that there was emphasis on improvisation or that much in the way of critique would be necessary.
Thanks for your patience Woland. I have no doubt that anything that Mark Stefani puts his name to would be quality material.
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Mark offers model solos as a separate offering from "Swing Blues" and these are pretty good ones but a bit hard - harder than Greg Fishman's Jazz Etudes. In "Swing Blues" the solos are up to you - that is why I suggested that TrueFire "Assembly Line" course:
Jazz Guitar Lessons - Jazzed Blues Assembly Lines - Mark Stefani
If you cover this part then improvising on the tunes from "Swing Blues" course should be much easier. Unless your blues is already very strong.
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Stu, the 'model solo approach' sounds much more like what Robert Conti teaches. His big thing is "you learn jazz by playing jazz." He wants you, the student, to get high-quality lines under your fingers first. He thinks it's easier to understand the theory behind them once you can play them. (Learning to play them means, in part, listening carefully to them...)
I think Conti recorded a couple of Mark Stefani's tunes. I think they're pals.
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Hi Mark (Rhodes), Yeah I like Conti's introductory chats on his vids. He tells you straight..'gotta get the music under your fingers. I can't do it for you'. Love it. Glad the picking's going well, BTW.
Hello Mark (Stefani), I like your playing and the lineage from which it originates. A lot of the demos on your site are very inspiring but quite daunting for the hobbyist. Your website is vast. Is there a prerequisite to the swing blues course? I have your original Truefire Jazzed Blues course. Mr Woland kindly suggested the sequel- Jazzed Blues Assembly Lines as a way of organizing vocab before the full swing blues course. Would you Concur?
I guess 'Where does Mark Stefani start his Jazz Blues enthusiasts?' would sum up my question.
Many thanks.
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Stu, thanks for the kind words. I suppose that I should give you and others a little bit of background on both the Jazzed Blues and Assembly Line collaborations with Truefire. When their CEO (Brad Wendkos - great guy) approached me, he had heard my playing and knew how much I had transcribed players like George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, Robben Ford, etc, etc. So we decided to use some of that material, which he felt would have a tremendous appeal to blues guys as well as jazz guys. While it's been very well-received, it represents more of the funky blues side of my work stemming from their influences. Yes, they put "jazz" on the title, but there was very little if any connection to what I teach in the Swing Blues series. Originally Posted by Stu Foley
To address your question, the only prerequisite is a basic knowledge of blues and a desire to learn the core language needed to play over jazz changes (i.e. classic II-Vs, turnarounds, etc). Keeping things real, the only issue I run into occasionally is if a player doesn't understand the distinction between minor, major and dominant blues cliches. I was always astounded at how my main jazz mentor, pianist Oscar Peterson, was able to make Misty sound like Stormy Monday. Benson is cut from the same cloth, both masters of major blues, something that no scale can explain. You combine that knowledge with the aforementioned jazz language, and you've got the ticket to playing compelling, soulful solos over any standard.
That's why the subtitle of the Swing Blues series (Doorway to Jazz) says it all. Hope this helps. Til next time..
- Mark
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