Guitarwise - Guitar Lessons with Adam Smale

If you’re looking for some motivation learning music (or anything) maybe this will help.

You're too______to start playing jazz (or anything) If you think you are too _______ to start music, jazz, or anything. Watch this...❤️ BECOME A MEMBER TO ACCESS ALL PDF LESSONS ❤️ YOU CAN HAVE ACCESS to ALL t...

After 80+ years, it’s time for an update: Shell Voicings 2.0

The 2020’s are here. Isn’t it time for an update? Don’t be so quick to dismiss shell chords as old-fashioned or obsolete. Shell voicings aren’t just for playing music from a by-gone era. Adam shows you a sli...

Your guitar has a problem. Every guitar has a problem. When I show it to you, you won't be able to unsee it. But it will help with everything you learn/do on guitar from now on!

Every Guitar has this same problem (strange guitar fact) Every Guitar has this same problem. There is a strange fact about the guitar that once you see it, you won't be able to unsee it. But what I’m going to show ...

How do you develop an authentic jazz vocabulary? You know, like our iconic jazz heroes.

The secret to jazz vocabulary (no bullsh*t) Adam Smale shares the secret to jazz vocabulary. Learn jazz vocabulary the way jazz was learned in the early days: by teaching yourself rhythmic phrases. By ...

If you want to play over chord changes, you have to know what notes make up those chords.

Can you Play Jazz without knowing your CHORDS? Adam Smale takes you through the simple music theory of chords. Whether you play jazz guitar or any instrument, you will know your chords.Your Jazz Rocks wit...

Is it scales? Or is it a focus on chord tones? There's a debate amongst many on what you should use for jazz improvisation.

This will change the way you improvise (jazz) Forever Scales vs Chord tones. In this jazz guitar lesson I teach you the right way to improvise with chord tones with just a little bit of music theory. There can b...

The GRAMMYS has a new category, Alternative Jazz, for 2024. Good? Bad? Stupid? Ridiculous? What are your thoughts?

Check out this great conversation I had with Jocelyn Gould. We discuss her winning a Juno award (Canada's equivalent to a Grammy), her "thirds rule" of learning which is something you should watch if you are learning jazz/music, what it’s like being a woman in still male-dominated industry, and you'll be shocked to hear her answer when I ask her who her biggest influence is.

Jazz Guitarist Jocelyn Gould: How Did She Get So Good So Fast? Jocelyn Gould is only in her 20's but she has won a Juno award, got a full-time professorship at a college, and has already released 3 albums all with only b...

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT
If you can make it out to any of these performances in November, it would be amazing to see you. There may be a couple of additions. I will keep you updated.

https://www.adamsmale-jazz.com/shows/

This has been my favorite interview. Check out this great conversation we have. How to Musician: On being a professional touring guitarist.

What Does it Take to Play with Norah Jones, Tracy Chapman, Lizz Wright: Adam Levy Adam Smale, of Jazz Rocks with Adam, interviews Adam Levy. Adam Levy has performed with Nora Jones, Tracy Chapman, and Lizz Wright. He has also worked with R...

Do You Really KNOW Your Chords?

CHORDS: Do Really KNOW Them? CHORDS: Do Really KNOW Them? If you are like 95% of people, you likely started learning "chord shapes" either from a teacher, a book, or online. But do reall...

Check out why THIS solo was so influential and firmly established him is the godfather of modern jazz guitar.

THIS Solo Changed Everything Jim Hall's solo on I Hear A Rhapsody, from the 1975 recording, Jim Hall, Live, influenced so many guitar players like Pat Metheny, John Scofiel, John Abercro...

Less is more.

Play more like Julian Lage If you ever noticed that Julian Lage doesn't play big full sounding chords. He prefers sparse hints of the harmony in a few different ways. Try using the in...

Temper the tempered tuning! Try this tuning hack to sweeten the tuning so your guitar will sound just a little more in tune.

Guitars NEVER Play In Tune: Try THIS Little Known Technique Are you annoyed that your guitar never seems to play quite in tune? Especially when playing chords? Adam Smale teaches you how to get your guitar to seem lik...

Why are chromatic notes important? Well, first off everything you play will sound WAY cooler. And it's part of the jazz language. So I want to show you how to do it the right way!

Practice SOLAR With Me: Improvising and Proper Chromatics (Full Solo) Adam's downloadable lesson takes you through similar examples of playing improvising exercises over the chord changes to Solar, by Miles Davis. You'll learn ...

I share my thumb pick secrets...

How Using a Thumb Pick Changed EVERYTHING For Me How Using a Thumb Pick Changed EVERYTHING For Me - Adam Smale talks about what made him start using thumb picks exclusively, how he uses thumbpicks to play j...

He has one of the biggest online jazz education websites in the world. He also is a friend of mine. Here's my interview with Matt Warnock

Matt Warnock: Building a Jazz Education Empire Adam Smale interviews Matt Warnock from MWG Courses and Matt Warnock Guitar. Matt and Adam grew up in the same area of Canada but never knew each other until...

Revealing secrets passed down to me by great jazz musicians. There is a systematic approach to learn bebop burn. I developed a workbook (jam tracks also available) demystifying bebop essentials. (Link to workbook in comments) 👇

Pro Jazz Musician REVEALS Jazz Bebop Improv Secrets Pro Jazz Musician Adam Smale guides you through the secrets of jazz bebop improvisation through concepts and exercise. Adam uses the song All The Things You ...

Do you swing hard enough? It's time to get your swing on and groove like a mo fo!

Swing Like a MO FO: This is the SECRET In this video, Adam Smale takes you on a journey through the world of getting your swing on! He covers a variety of methods and techniques that will help you...

Do you wonder what is taking shape in jazz right now? What does the future look like? Will we still recognize the genre?

Here are 11 trends and predictions for jazz in 2023.

Future of Jazz: 11 Trends & Predictions (No.6 Is Scary) Hey Jazz Rocks with Adam viewers, it's Adam Smale here, and I'm excited to share my 11 trends and predictions for jazz music in 2023. From the fusion with el...

I debated on posting anything about the sad passing of a musical icon to so many of us, Jeff Beck. What do I say that hasn't already been stated by countless others? I'm just going to thank him in song, and with my guitar. The best way I can express myself anyway.

I wrote this song "Relentless" originally for a pedal demo. I was 100% going for the sound of Jeff's album Guitar Shop (1989). I wore that cassette tape out. The melody and subsequent guitar parts, including his tone, were totally inspired by him. The solo, is all me. Jeff would have expressed himself with less notes than me and said more, I'm sure.

Relentless - A Tribute to Jeff Beck (RIP) 😢 I originally wrote this this song for a pedal demo. I was clearly channeling (on purpose) Jeff Beck's album Guitar Shop (1989). The melody and the background...

Tired of feeling limited by your current jazz vocabulary? Do you want to expand your ideas and take things to another level? Check out my latest video on using upper structure tensions.

The easy-to-follow PDF lesson goes deeper than the video and will show you how to incorporate these powerful, harmonically rich notes into your playing allowing you to stand out as an improviser.

Click the link below to watch and start taking your jazz solos to new sonic places!

Unlock the Power of Tensions: Double Your Jazz Vocabulary Instantly Learn how to use tension notes in jazz improvisation on the guitar, or any instrument. Tension notes are usually thought of as non-chord tones. But if treate...

Don't let these dictate what you play when you improvise. Learn to sound way more interesting by playing FORWARD, instead of BACKWARD!

90% of Us Are Improvising BACKWARDS!! | Jazz Improvisation Tutorial In this lesson Adam shows you why 90% of Us Are Improvising BACKWARDS! In this Jazz Improvisation Tutorial, you'll learn why bar lines are holding you back ...

I explain how to get that Bill Evans sound on guitar. (And go way deeper in the available PDF lesson with a ton of examples) These chord shapes may seem unfamiliar to most, but are designed to be sparse (3-4 notes), fairly easy to grab, and sound really hip. Don't forget to get a copy of the PDF (Link is below and on YouTube).

Why is No One Using These Really Cool BILL EVANS Chords for GUITAR? 🤘 Adam's downloadable lesson takes you through a whole bunch of Major and Minor II V I chord progressions to teach you how to incorporate these very unique Bil...

Feel like sometimes there's too many chords to solo over? Chords go whipping by and you have a hard time coming up with ideas to play. You go into panic mode.

Here's two methods to make improvising over chord changes easier by thinking less.

Too many Chords? Make Your Solos Way BETTER and EASIER (Do This) Adam Smale compares two different reduction methods to make playing through busy chord changes easier. Adam discusses Pat Martino's Minor Conversion approach...

If I could go back in time this is the advice I'd give myself when learning Jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo1lpKaMqGs

How I Would Learn Jazz Now (If I Could Start Over) My advice I would tell myself if I could start over and were a beginner learning jazz right now. Trust me, I would learn much faster with the knowledge and e...

This was a fun gig with some great musicians.

Stan Killian - sax
Peter Brendler - bass
Evan Hyde - drums
Me - guitar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltG1xfaPkWE

Adam Smale Quartet Playing Daahoud (Live Jazz NYC 2022) Adam Smale performs the song Daahoud. Filmed at a live jazz concert in New York. Daahoud was written by Kenny Dorham. The most notable recording of this song...

Don't do this exercise unless you want be a better improviser.
- You'll end up knowing the song inside and out
- You'll have a hard time getting lost
- You'll play long fluid lines
- And you'll sound like you're making the changes
..and many other things.

So, why would you want to learn how to do this silly exercise?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBkNRN7kEQE

Why This Stupid Thing Will Make YOU a WAY BETTER Improviser ✅✅ GET THE PDF LESSON HERE ▶︎ https://www.adamsmale-jazz.com/shop/not-so-stupid-exercise-and-backing-tracks/This exercise will teach you how to create long, ...