Session 5: Common Tones and “Just Friends,” Part 1

from: Intro to Jazz Violin with Aaron Weinstein

This lesson is part of the course Intro to Jazz Violin with Aaron Weinstein.

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Learn to play jazz violin from the ground up with acclaimed violinist and mandolinist Aaron Weinstein, who teaches you pre-composed solos for eight jazz and swing classics based on improvisation devices like melodic variation, repeating motives, using harmonic entry points, and more. Includes rhythm tracks, analysis of each solo, rephrasing suggestions, and more. Appropriate for mandolinists as well as fiddlers.

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Session 1: “Honeysuckle Rose”

In this video, Aaron walks you through the solo for “Honeysuckle Rose” and explains what he’s doing in each phrase.

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The Intro to Jazz Violin Subscription Includes:

Eight one-hour lessons
Pre-composed solos for eight jazz and swing classics, including “Honeysuckle Rose,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” and more
Solos that focus on one device used for improvising, including using melody as an improv tool, finding motives, arpeggios, harmonic entry points, and more.
Melodic analysis and suggestions for rephrasing and variation
High-quality video recordings of each session, posted on Peghead Nation within a week of each session, so you can review what you've learned and revisit them after the workshop has concluded
Play-Along audio tracks for each song
Notation of each solo along with analysis of the solo and rephrasing ideas
Mandolin tab for mandolin students

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Session 5: Common Tones and “Just Friends”

Session 5: Common Tones and “Just Friends,” Part 1

Session 5: Common Tones and “Just Friends,” Part 2: Solo

Session 5: Common Tones and “Just Friends,” Part 1

In this session, Aaron continues his look at using chord tones while soloing—this time focusing on the common tones between chords. He says, “This is one of my favorite devices to use while improvising so I'm particularly excited to explore it with you! We will then apply this concept to a solo on the standard, ‘Just Friends.’”

Download the notation for the lesson, as well as a lead sheet to “Just Friends,” mandolin tab, and Play-Along Track MP3s, below.

Session 5 Notation (Available to subscribers)

“Just Friends” Lead Sheet (Available to subscribers)

Session 5 Mandolin Tab (Available to subscribers)

“Just Friends” Play-Along Track: Slow (Available to subscribers)

“Just Friends” Play-Along Track: Fast (Available to subscribers)

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