It’s All In How You Look At It (Sus4 and Sus2 chords)

by Jermaine Griggs

Wayne Dyer said: “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

It’s true in music too. Quite literally.

Take, for example, suspended chords.

If you ever see a suspended 4 chord (or “sus4″), it simply means to play the fourth instead of the third in a major chord.

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The Key To Real Growth This Year…

by Jermaine Griggs

You’ve heard it before… “Practice Makes Perfect.”

You may have heard it this way as well: “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.”

I prefer the latter because you can definitely practice something incorrectly and get “perfect” at doing it WRONG.

But at the end of the day, it’s about making and putting in the time.

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Happy New Year… Or Happy New YOU?

by Jermaine Griggs

I’ve been fortunate and blessed to see 28 new years in my lifetime.

And while I probably didn’t understand what was going on for the first 5, I’ve been cognizant of at least 20 of them.

And so, for at least 20 years, I’ve seen how excited we get about the New Year. We make resolutions. We make goals. We make decisions to cut off or cut out things that are not good for us. We set out to lose weight, increase our productivity, make more money, reach a lifelong dream, etc.

And that’s all good and fine.

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James Wrubel Is Back! New 17-Minute Jazz Video Lesson Posted

by Jermaine Griggs

I have a treat for you!

After being away for 5 years, I caught up with James Wrubel (from our jazz courses) and invited him to do some helpful lessons for you.

The first one is 17 minutes and available at: http://www.hearandplay.com/jazzlesson

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New Tool Teaches How To Play In All 12 Keys

by Jermaine Griggs

Everyone talks about how important it is to learn all 12 keys as a musician.

Not only does it give you the flexibility and fluidity to play any song you hear on the radio (as you’ll find songs spread across all 12 keys), but it ensures you’re never caught in a situation where you’re dumbfounded because you can’t follow along in the unfamiliar key.

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Learn Any Song Online? Any Song?

by Jermaine Griggs

What if you could learn virtually any song you wanted? A childhood or pastime favorite?

Sounds too good to be true right?

Well, it’s now a reality with our new Song Robot software we released earlier this year. Here’s how it works…

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How Blues Influenced Jazz

by Jermaine Griggs

After getting an e-mail from a concerned student who bought Jazz 101 and was questioning why it focused primarily on the “12 bar blues” instead of “jazz,” I wanted to shed some light on blues’ connection to jazz and how there wouldn’t be jazz as we know it without blues.

This article by the “Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz” puts it perfectly.

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Ask Jermaine: “Why Some Chords Break The Rules”

by Jermaine Griggs

This question comes from Gospel Music Training Center member Larressa: “Hi Jermaine, my name is Larressa. I go by mrslsj in GMTC. I am a beginner. I am taking on the challenge of transforming the song “I Give Myself Away”-Take 1. However, after listening to JP I decided as a learning experience to transpose the chords to all 12 keys, which has been great. I have done this but I have a few questions…”

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Awesome Feedback From A Student

by Jermaine Griggs

If you haven’t signed up for the 4 free video lessons, I highly recommend it. Click here.

After watching the 4 videos, student Tosyn Omojola had these touching words for me…

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Ask Jermaine: “How To Create Those Fancy Jazzy Chords”

by Jermaine Griggs

This edition of “Ask Jermaine” was posted by Ronald Verwer in our Free Lessons area. He writes:

Hi Jermaine, how fabulous the way you are explaining the composition of the various chords. Your flash cards are a great help. It becomes so easy to follow. By just sitting on the piano and practicing with the flashcards improves my playing tremendously. Even after 60 years of playing! You are a legend. The thing I want to know is how to create that Jazzy sound…

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