Tim Lerch on TrueFire

**MarkRhodes** · 11-05-2019, 05:15 PM

Just winding up now but you can watch it on YouTube.
Tim --a member here!-- discusses his first TrueFire course: Solo Jazz Pathways.

25% discount for pre-orders today (and maybe tomorrow too). I placed my order. Tim is a great one and a genuinely good guy who is also a fantastic teacher----the trifecta!

**MarkRhodes** · 11-05-2019, 05:20 PM

A few samples of Tim's work, for those who are unfamiliar with it. (Not from the TrueFire course.)

**fep** · 11-05-2019, 05:24 PM

Awesome

**MarkRhodes** · 11-05-2019, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by fep

Awesome

According to the interview, Tim is going to do some blues courses too. He started out playing in R&B bands and then got a lot of blues gigs. He developed his solo jazz guitar style later. His blues chops are excellent.

**MarkRhodes** · 11-05-2019, 06:26 PM

I really love Tim's take on Percy Mayfield's "Lost Mind Blues".

**jaco** · 11-05-2019, 06:35 PM

Love Tim's playing, about time Truefire.

**WillMbCdn5** · 11-05-2019, 08:45 PM

Wonderful!!!!!!!!!! Tim has become one of my favorite players - his shouldering of the Ted Greene/Lenny Breau approach with a healthy dose of blues and taking it forward and making it his own is inspired.

Will

**WillMbCdn5** · 11-05-2019, 08:52 PM

Tim doing a Ted Greene blues study that is on my daily practise roster

Will

**alltunes** · 11-05-2019, 09:48 PM

Was a great TrueFire live session..I rewound quite a few times. I ordered the course (with the discount) and anxiously await its release.

That part where Tim moves the mb5 chord up a minor third to get the V and then up another major third to get the i was cool.

**archtopeddy** · 11-05-2019, 11:04 PM

Agree with alltunes. It's a great YouTube session. Thanks MarkRhodes for bringing it to our attention! I ordered the course too and look forward to working with it! (Congrats Tim -- You the man!)

**Michael Neverisky** · 11-06-2019, 05:50 AM

I'm in. I didn't catch the release date, is there one planned or is it simply asap?

Tim's love of music, the guitar, and his joyful enthusiasm is... well, infectious is the word that comes to mind.

**andyb** · 11-06-2019, 06:33 AM

I'm in as well, all signed up and pre-ordered.

I love Tim's playing, and have been working on some Ted Greene solo guitar tunes recently.

If this course gets me 10% there I will be very happy.

Andyb

**MarkRhodes** · 11-06-2019, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by jaco

Love Tim's playing, about time Truefire.

In the interview, TrueFire was interested in Tim long ago but the timing wasn't right.
I hope he does a lot of material for them.

**Jack E Blue** · 11-06-2019, 11:18 AM

I really enjoyed that. I swore I wasn't going to buy anymore courses, but I bit the bullet and pre-ordered this one. 4.5 hours of lessons from Tim Lerch for $21 (with discount). How could I resist?

**GregMath** · 11-06-2019, 12:18 PM

Can anyone confirm that the discount code still works today? If so, can you please share the discount code? I'd like to purchase the course. Thanks!

**morroben** · 11-06-2019, 02:38 PM

I pre-ordered it. I love chord-melody but I'm so bad at it. I'm sure I'll get a lot out of this lesson. I have some Ted Greene lessons printed out and sitting on my music stand, but they can be daunting and hard to digest just off the paper.

My teacher just had me do a chord-melody of a christmas tune. It was fun, but that was a pretty basic song, and the arrangement I came up with was nothing to write home about. But it's satisfying to be able to play a 'complete' tune by yourself...I imagine even cooler to improvise that way.

**MarkRhodes** · 11-06-2019, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by Michael Neverisky

I'm in. I didn't catch the release date, is there one planned or is it simply asap?

I emailed Tim about this and he wrote me back. He doesn't know the official release date. He had thought it would be before Christmas but it seems that Brad (Carlton) is real excited about this project and is shooting to move up the release date to "as soon as possible."

When Tim knows more, he'll let us know.

**dmorash** · 11-06-2019, 05:46 PM

Originally Posted by GregMath

Can anyone confirm that the discount code still works today? If so, can you please share the discount code? I'd like to purchase the course. Thanks!

i purchased today. Just hit the link from the teaser video - I couldn't find it by going to their website. The discount code is there as well.

**Jack E Blue** · 11-06-2019, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by GregMath

Can anyone confirm that the discount code still works today? If so, can you please share the discount code? I'd like to purchase the course. Thanks!

"LERCHLIVE" is the discount code in case you couldn't find it elsewhere. It's supposed to be good for 48 hours from yesterday afternoon (5 Nov).

**Rob MacKillop** · 11-07-2019, 05:09 AM

Well, I ordered it with the discount, and got a receipt from PayPal. But when I returned to the site to look for something else, Tim's course is still showing to be paid in my Basket. I've written to TrueFire to get them to sort it out. This is really boring for you to read, of course. I only mention it in case someone else has the same issue.

I remember having a duo with a singer doing the Great American Songbook stuff. I was absolutely fine accompanying her with walking basses, chord stabs, inversions, passing chords, etc. But when it came to solo, I found myself doing the same thing while trying to add some kind of melodic interest on top. It never came out to my satisfaction, and I quickly mastered a few cliches, which I trotted out all the time. It very quickly became really boring! It's hard to turn from accompanist to soloist when you are the sole player. I hope Tim's course will give me some fresh ideas. The price is ridiculously low.

I hope it's a great success for you, Tim!

**Lobomov** · 11-07-2019, 05:14 AM

Truefire always have sales and discounts. Hardly 3 days will go by without you being able to get at least 20% on any given course.

I'm going to wait until the course is released on their page, where they usually open with a just released promo.

Looking forward to this one .. Hope it's not too dumbed down and simple, which always is a danger with truefire courses.

**Michael Neverisky** · 11-07-2019, 07:55 AM

Originally Posted by Lobomov

Looking forward to this one .. Hope it's not too dumbed down and simple, which always is a danger with truefire courses.

The few I have seen do move too slowly and often start off at a much too basic level, I agree. Tim did suggest that his course is comprised of multilevel content and pointed out that the fast-forward button is at your disposal. So, fingers crossed.

I do expect to come away with fresh ideas and perspectives. It's always worthwhile to listen to a player like Tim talk about what he's thinking when he plays. Can't wait!

**MarkRhodes** · 11-07-2019, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by Lobomov

Looking forward to this one .. Hope it's not too dumbed down and simple, which always is a danger with truefire courses.

That issue was raised during the interview. I think it's 4 hours worth of material. It begins, IIRC, with handling ii-Vs. If you already have that down, you can go to the next section.

One of the things Tim mentioned is the subject of one of his Mike's Master Classes lesson on two-note accompaniment, where you voice the 3rd and 7th of chords on (when possible) the A and D strings (or D and G) so that you have a lot room on higher strings for melody and improv. Tim does that a lot and it sounds really good.

**TLerch** · 11-07-2019, 12:18 PM

Hi Guys,
I am just getting home from Florida and reading this thread. Thank you all for your interest in what i"m doing at TrueFire. Not sure yet what the release date will be I'll post here when I know more. There is a lot of material in this course to be transcribed so hopefully that doesn't slow things down too much.
I appreciate this group and your enthusiasm for what I'm doing.
all the best
Tim

**MarkRhodes** · 11-07-2019, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by TLerch

Hi Guys,
I am just getting home from Florida and reading this thread. Thank you all for your interest in what i"m doing at TrueFire. Not sure yet what the release date will be I'll post here when I know more. There is a lot of material in this course to be transcribed so hopefully that doesn't slow things down too much.
I appreciate this group and your enthusiasm for what I'm doing.
all the best
Tim

We appreciate you, Tim! So glad you're here.

**joe2758** · 11-07-2019, 02:59 PM

Tim, you said you knew a "trick" about chord chemistry, but the dude didn't let you get to it. What were you going to say?

**AndyV** · 11-07-2019, 03:01 PM

Thanks for the post about this and Tim, thanks for taking time to prepare this course! Signing up was a no brainer. I mostly play lap steel these days but lots of this info will cross pollinate. - Andy

**MarkRhodes** · 11-07-2019, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by joe2758

Tim, you said you knew a "trick" about chord chemistry, but the dude didn't let you get to it. What were you going to say?

So glad you asked that! I heard Tim mention that---a trick to learning from the book "Chord Chemistry" by Ted Greene---but he never got around to saying what the trick was! I've written to the support staff at the Ted Greene site (tedgreene.com) to ask if anyone there knows. I'll get back here with whatever I find out.

**Dave70** · 11-07-2019, 03:51 PM

Tim wrote this in the youtube comments:

Thanks for tuning in guys, it was really fun to do this. many have asked me what the Chord Chemistry secret is. The Chord Chemistry tip is that the first many chapters are a "chord dictionary " and can be very overwhelming to look at and most folks might not look at the chapters later in the book that have lots of great info about what to do with those chord shapes, be sure to look closely at the later chapters!

**KirkP** · 11-08-2019, 01:29 AM

For anyone who missed the preorder discount deadline, you can also get a 25% discount on the first purchase when you sign up for the free Truefire 30 day trial.

**Jonah** · 11-08-2019, 04:27 AM

Whatever Tim plays - an excersise, an arrangement, a solo - I always feel like coming home.
For me gis playng is more than Chord chemistry, Ted Green's heritage and playing solo guitar style... first of all it is ver authentic intimate phrasing, natural gift of story-telling through playing, and never-ending humanity, personal presence.

**dmorash** · 11-08-2019, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop

I remember having a duo with a singer doing the Great American Songbook stuff. I was absolutely fine accompanying her with walking basses, chord stabs, inversions, passing chords, etc. But when it came to solo, I found myself doing the same thing while trying to add some kind of melodic interest on top. It never came out to my satisfaction, and I quickly mastered a few cliches, which I trotted out all the time. It very quickly became really boring! It's hard to turn from accompanist to soloist when you are the sole player. I hope Tim's course will give me some fresh ideas

I can so relate to this. It seems to be a high art to be able pull of a decent solo without an accompanist - without it sounding like the accompaniment is faultering, or if you keep the accompaniment strong then your options for soloing are too limited.

I'm hoping to get some more ideas along the lines of how to better hold a bar and use the free fingers to grab melodies and riffs - the sort of thing where you can maintain strong accompaniment and melodic ideas.