
Dennis Hodges teaches jazz for students with a rock background. In this series you will learn to play jazz chord progressions and licks without theory being forced upon you. Dennis has arranged each lesson so that you can learn the example piece first and then learn about the theory in the following scene if you want.
Lesson 1
Dennis kicks off the lesson series with a lesson on an F major blues solo.
Length: 27:19 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 2
Dennis covers the rhythm accompaniment to the F blues solo presented in the previous lesson.
Length: 16:58 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 3
Learn how to play a 12 bar jazz blues solo in Bb. Dennis provides an in depth analysis of the solo from a theoretical standpoint.
Length: 20:30 Difficulty: 2.5 FREELesson 4
Dennis teaches the accompaniment part to the Bb blues solo taught in the previous lesson.
Length: 13:03 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 5
Learn a 12 bar jazz blues solo in Eb.
Length: 21:55 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 6
Learn how to accompany a 12 bar jazz blues in the key of Eb. Dennis uses a walking bass line and three note chord voicings for this particular accompaniment.
Length: 18:58 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 7
Learn this Ab jazz blues solo taught by Dennis Hodges.
Length: 21:18 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 8
Dennis explains the accompaniment part to the Ab blues solo taught in lesson 7.
Length: 14:14 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 9
Dennis teaches a jazz blues solo in Db major.
Length: 20:45 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 10
Dennis teaches the accompaniment part to the solo in lesson 9.
Length: 7:46 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 11
Learn this Gb blues in 6/4 time based on the Miles Davis tune "All Blues."
Length: 12:42 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 12
Dennis teaches the accompaniment to the solo in lesson 11.
Length: 12:58 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 13
Dennis continues his straight ahead jazz series with a lesson on a jazz blues solo in B.
Length: 18:59 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 14
Here's a lesson on jazz blues accompaniment with a walking bassline.
Length: 12:54 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 15
Learn jazz guitar with this straight-forward look at a solo in E major.
Length: 13:52 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 16
Learn the accompaniment part to the solo in lesson 15.
Length: 3:28 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 17
Dennis Hodges continues his growing Jazz-Blues series with a lesson on a solo in A.
Length: 15:33 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 18
Learn the accompaniment to the solo in lesson 17.
Length: 11:14 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 19
Learn jazz with a straight-forward lesson on a solo in D.
Length: 21:39 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
About Dennis Hodges
View Full Biography
For better or worse, Dennis Hodges cannot stop playing music, and (he hopes) will never stop playing music.
Growing up in Flint, Michigan, Dennis had a tremendous passion for drawing. He couldn't stop copying moves from bands he saw on MTV, though, and it didn't help that his parents filled the house with Santana, Stevie Ray, and Allman Bros. (on real records, no less!) so it wasn't long till he got his first guitar. It was junk. Within a few weeks his parents traded in a poor acoustic for a less junky 3/4-size electric.
Dennis started lessons right away at the age of 8. He still remembers hating it for awhile, and not taking it seriously until he was 12. He is thankful his parents forced him to practice early on and kept paying for lessons,
even though rational thinking should have stopped them after a year.
Around this time drawing became less important, and guitar consumed all his attention. After 6 years of lessons he parted ways with his teacher and, after trying out two others with no results, decided to continue alone.
His nerdistic tendencies paid off, as he put in hours working on picking and left hand exercises and learned as many Randy Rhoads and Kirk Hammett solos as he could.
Luckily, there were playing opportunities at school talent shows and church. Dennis was playing bass at his church when he was 13, helping to hone his performance skills in a group setting.
In high school, Dennis joined the marching band on sousaphone for all 4 years. It was as awesome as you could expect. He was also fortunate enough to be in several different metal bands, still play at church, and get the
incredible opportunity to play guitar for many local community theaters. This kept his sight-reading in shape and gave him an appreciation for different styles of music (and paid pretty well, from a high
schooler's perspective).
In 2001, Dennis came to Bexley, Ohio to study guitar at Capital University with Stan Smith. His studies emphasized jazz and classical guitar. Here his metal past merged with a deeper understanding of the instrument and
music in general, and the basis for most of his teaching style was set in motion.
Dennis now plays guitar for Upper Arlington Lutheran Church every Sunday, for St. Christopher in Grandview, Ohio, with the youth group, and also plays for touring Broadway shows that stop in Columbus. Occasionally,
he plays weddings and private parties, and he is starting a new cover band with some friends, called Dr. Awkward. He is blessed to have his understanding and supportive wife Kate, and is glad to be at JamPlay!
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Miche introduces several new chord concepts that add color and excitement to any progression.
Free LessonSeries DetailsTrace Bundy talks about the different ways you can use multiple capos to enhance your playing.
Free LessonSeries DetailsMark Nelson introduces "'Ulupalakua," a song he will be using to teach different skills and techniques. In this lesson, he...
Free LessonSeries DetailsTime to unlock your creativity because in this information packed lesson. Mark dives deep into how to deconstruct the process...
Free LessonSeries DetailsErik expounds on the many possibilities of open tunings and the new harmonics that you can use in them. He explains what...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJim Deeming discusses how to use a metronome for practice, skill building, and speed building.
Free LessonSeries DetailsJessica kindly introduces herself, her background, and her approach to this series.
Free LessonSeries DetailsSteve Eulberg does a quick review of this lesson series and talks about moving on.
Free LessonSeries DetailsOur electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Jane Miller talks about chord solos in part one of this fascinating mini-series.
Free LessonSeries DetailsLisa breaks into the very basics of the electric guitar. She starts by explaining the parts of the guitar. Then, she dives...
Free LessonSeries DetailsAllen shows you the 24 rudiments crucial to developing finger dexterity. This is a short lesson but the exercises here can...
Free LessonSeries DetailsTosin explains some of the intricacies of the 8 string guitar such as his personal setup and approach to playing.
Free LessonSeries DetailsChris brings his ingenuity to this lesson on the American folk song called "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" Also known as...
Free LessonSeries DetailsBrendan demonstrates the tiny triad shapes derived from the form 1 barre chord.
Free LessonSeries DetailsThis is a crucial lesson that explains tablature, how to read it, and why it's important.
Free LessonSeries DetailsLearn a variety of essential techniques commonly used in the metal genre, including palm muting, string slides, and chord...
Free LessonSeries DetailsMark Brennan teaches this classic rock song by Jethro Tull. Released on the album of the same name in 1971, this song features...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJames explains how to tap arpeggios for extended musical reach.
Free LessonSeries DetailsWhile we have attempted to provide you with an accurate rendition of our video lesson experience, there are some features which
require a membership with us!
At JamPlay, we give you the ability to monitor your own progress for any lesson! If you watch one of our lessons and feel as though you understand around half of it, mark your progress at 50%. This adds the lesson to your customized Progress Report, and gives you an incredible ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.
With thousands of lessons at your fingertips, JamPlay can be a touch intimidating to a first-time user. With Progressive Bookmarking, we give you the ability to systematically bookmark sections of any lessons you are working on to quickly access later. After all, what is the point of all this content if it isn't easy to use?
JamPlay also gives you the ability to leave notes for yourself on any lesson. Just like in any educational system, taking your own notes while learning gives you the ability to highlight the instruction that is important to you. Leave your notes, and we store them in our database for you to reference each and everytime you come back to the lesson.
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.I am wondering why my comments are being taken off of here. Sorry, but you tell that was a good lesson.
i am finding it very hard to get motivated to play this because theres only a few sparce notes here and there when your playing it any slower than full speed.