+ Bridge the worlds of theory, improvisation, and jazzy hip-hop, and improve your piano chops with Grammy-winner Kiefer in his course, Kiefer: Keys, Chords, & Beats. Jazz music is daunting to wrap one’s ears around. It is safe to say most Americans have a complicated relationship with one of our oldest art forms. Jazz is chronically…
While playing chords on a bass is nothing new, the practice has long been considered a little taboo. But now that players like Thundercat are making chordal playing more prominent, it may be time for you to get your chord chops in shape. In this article I’m going to outline some of my favorite voicings on the four-string…
+ Wanna learn how to turn the intersections between jazz and modern hip-hop into creative gold? Soundfly’s new course with jazz pianist and beat producer, Kiefer, on keys, beats, and chord changes, comes out this October! Hop on our mailing list now. When most people hear the word improvisation, they immediately think of jazz, but limiting improvisation to the…
By Mara Rosenbloom Photos by Nick Lerman Musicians throw around the term “the blues” a lot. Often there seems to be an assumption that we all know — and agree on — what that term means. In a jazz context, say, a jam session, if someone says, “let’s play a blues,” typically the only follow-up…
By The Phantastics Kansas City is very much a city that lives up to its state motto, the “Show Me State” — there’s a shell of skepticism, challenging you to present something impressive— but once you crack the outer shell, you will be enveloped by a very soft teddy bear of love. That’s what we have…
By Elliott Sharp Editor’s note: For many years, I’ve been challenged and inspired by the work of Elliott Sharp, who has etched a place as one of America’s most dynamic modern composers. He’s hard to pin down both musically and literally, since he regularly travels the world for performance, recording, commissions, and likely a bit…
+ Welcome to Soundfly! We help curious musicians meet their goals with creative online courses. Whatever you want to learn, whenever you need to learn it. Subscribe now to start learning on the ’Fly. In 1994, a mysteriously unauthorized 18-minute bootleg live recording of Bill Clinton playing the saxophone at a Prague jazz club ends up on a CD and gets…
Happy Friday! Some of our all-time favorite musical combinations come from artists referencing their idols or putting songs and styles they love into their own musical voice. This week we found remixes and covers all over the web, resulting in genre-bending collaborations that have turned music we thought we knew into something else entirely. Check out Guns…
I love jazz. I love playing jazz, listening to jazz, shedding jazz, and talking with other people who love jazz, about jazz. I recently released, with my group the PLS.trio, a new modern jazz record in the style of greats such as Pat Metheny and Esbjorn Svensson. According to a review by All About Jazz, our music takes…
