
Brendan Burns breaks down jazz styling and chord voicings for lead ideas and comping.
Lesson 1
Brendan Burns discusses drop two voicings. Then, he explains how to explain dominant seventh voicings on strings 4, 3, 2, and 1.
Length: 24:11 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 2
Brendan Burns discusses the minor 7th chord voicings on strings 4, 3, 2, and 1. To form a minor seventh chord, simply flat the third of its dominant seventh counterpart.
Length: 15:07 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 3
Brendan adds to his jazz chord voicings series with a discussion of major 7th chords.
Length: 24:32 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 4
In the final installment of his Jazz Chord Voicings series, Brendan discusses and demonstrates the minor 7 flat 5 chord voicings.
Length: 12:54 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
About Brendan Burns
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Brendan has been passionate about music since childhood. He began his studies on trumpet, in elementary school, and then moved to guitar as a teenager. He holds a Bachelor's Degree from Berklee College of Music, and has studied with Norm Zocher, Joe Stump, Bret Willmott, Bob Pilkington, Jay Weik, Tim Miller, & Charlie Banacos.
While at Berklee, Brendan was a member of the Music Mentoring Program, teaching private lessons to gifted high school students. He is currently teaches, and is chair of the guitar department at Brookline Music School. Brendan also teaches guitar for Tune Foolery & privately at his home in Cambridge, MA.
Along with educating, Brendan plays out often as a Solo Guitarist, performing standards, pop, and classical repertoire. He has recorded and played with the chamber-fusion band Ra Quintent, and as well as Vessela Stoyanova's Eastern Stories Under Western Skies Project. Brendan also performs as a leader, director and sideman for various Boston art-rock projects, and is former member of MIT's Gamelan Galak Tika.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Thanks for the info on the guitar Brendan. I am just starting on the Dominant 7th chord voicings. -Rich
They can keep you busy for a while. Enjoy!
Brendan, love the sound of your guitar! What model is it? I travel quite a bit, and this guitar looks pretty compact.
It's a Klein Electric Guitar. Unfortunately, they are currently out of production. I think there is a video somewhere here on JamPlay where I talk about this guitar.
Brendan-I appreciate the lesson. A little discouraged thats its the first one and I am having trouble. I am trying to match up a supplemental piece with the voicings you are using as you move through "Do, Re,Mi...Te(b7)". I need to keep pausing to see your fingering-then trying to look through the chords given to try and see where we are. I could follow these grips and change keys easier if I had a supplement--or maybe I am missing it or how to use what is provided. Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks
I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble. The PDF to reference is titled: "Jazz Dominant 7ths" in the Supplemental Content section. This handout has all the melodic tones for a Dominant 7th chord (of which there are a lot!). Try starting with the Diatonic ones: In the key of G, it would G, A, B, C, D, E & F in the lead. The Ab, A# are alterations. I give you two voicings for the 5th & 6th in the lead (just pick one for now). In retrospect, it might have been wiser to do break this down into 7 chord basic chord voicings, and then some alterations. I get this impression that all of this information is a little overwhelming. Does this help?
Thank You I figured I was just mising it. Let me work through it but I think I got it. It is alot to take in with one go round--like swallowing a watermelon whole. I am getting alot from your lessons--and here it was me misinterpreting what was provided.
This stuff takes time. Go slow. Be clear. Let me know if you run into any other snags.
A solid piece of work...Thanks
Rock it!
Brendan, Happy New Year! Wow, just got through this for the first time and I had to comment here...Incredibly helpful lesson. This really is putting it all together for me.....voice leading and chords and melody?!?!? Looking forward to more....
There is so much more! Keep exploring on your own. I'll have some new lesson up in late Spring this year.
my favorite teacher! thank you man!
Thanks Mike!
Again, as usual with Brendan, great lesson! I'm a follower! Thanks
Fantastic lesson. Learned a lot about jazz from this video.
Hi Brendan you are very good teacher, but please use a guitar with reference dot on the fretboard, it is easier to understand on the other side on the screen
When you sing through the mixolydian mode, shouldn't you start on 'sol' when the root of the 7th chord is in the lead ?
I'm not exactly sure what you are referencing, but there are several ways to use solfege. I use a "moveable 'do'" system where the mixolydian scale would is: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Te - (Te is flat Ti). Does this help clarify?
Supplemental content is up!
I'm excited for this lesson set. Brenden's lessons from intervals to tiny triads and now jazz voicings have been very helpful. I don't have a music background but these lessons have been very helpful and really opened up my playing.
Ooh a lot of Jazz lessons already but this is a nice addition. Now Jamplay has a lot of Blues and Jazz lessons, I like both! Looking forward to these series, really like the way you teach Brendan!
Hey! Just thought I'd leave a quick note regarding how some of the chords are labeled. A dominant chord with a (#5) or a (+) after the name of the chord is considered to be pretty much interchangeable with a (b13) in most jazz circles. Although they are technically different (distance of an octave), these labels pretty much mean the same thing for all intensive purposes...You'll probably run into all these different names on lead sheets at some point in time...
no supplemental material provided.
Whoops! I'm working on this right now. It should be up in under 24hrs.
Supplemental content will be up shortly. Thank you for your patience.