Imagine Taking Jazz Guitar Lessons From a Pro
If you are passionate about learning to play jazz guitar we can help. If you already play and want to play what you hear instead of just what you know, we can help. We have some of the best Jazz Guitar Lessons online. Tom Dempsey has proven himself to be a great Jazz Guitarist.
We also offer beginning and intermediate guitar lessons, as well as, lessons in every genre of music. Classes are offered in Accoustic, Blues, Country, Bass, Rock, and Jazz. Click here.
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Jazz Guitarist From Way Back
Larry Warfield and I have both been musicians since our early years. Larry S. Warfield, got his first guitar at age 10. Read about his early adventures on “The Old Guitar Was Good For Something But Not Much.” He started learning to play jazz when he was 13. One of his first endeavors was learning to play Kenny Burrell’s “Chittlins Con Carne” on Kenny Burrell’s album “Midnight Blue.”
While attending the University of Oregon, he played with “The Soulful Six“, later named “COAL”. He played with the jazz band “Gow Dow” in Southern California.
I started learning to play piano at age 4. My teacher had to teach me the alphabet before doing much with music. In junior high I switched to trumpet. Louis Armstrong was my music hero.
The Jazz Music Experience
Jazz music is an exceptional style of music because of the way it plays on the listeners emotions. The improvisation of jazz creates a wide range of emotional responses for the listener.
The Jazz style is abstract and contemplative, which is usually associated with a relaxing, mellow mood. The beautiful harmonies, syncopated rhythms plus the improvisation can create a very soothing experience for the listener. But, that is just one of the moods that jazz music can evoke within the listener.
Research has shown that listening to jazz music promotes creative and abstract thinking. It improves the listeners cognitive processing and imagination. Studies also show the positive effects of jazz on memory and recall. When a person is energetic and optimistic, listening to jazz helps them come up with new and innovative ideas.
While working with young jazz soloists, Miles Davis once said, “Play what you hear, not what you know.”1 Davis also stated that a satisfying gig happens when the musicians allow their imagination to take over through solo improvisation, rather than patterns they have learned and practiced.1
We are all fascinated by music creations that happen in-the-moment. That is proven by improv artists like Keith Jarrett or the rapper, Eminem, who regularly perform for packed venues.
Are you ready to take the jazz challenge and learn from the jazz heroes? Click Here.
1.Thinking in jazz: The infinite art of improvisation by PF Berliner [Google Scholar]
Jazz Guitar Lessons by Tom Dempsey - Jazz Guitar Maestro
“…inventive, straight ahead and swinging. (Dempsey) shows how creative the modern mainstream of jazz remains in the 21st century. Scott Yanow, Jazz Journalist/Author
Guitarist Tom Dempsey is a definite voice in the big apple jazz scene. He is known for his hard swinging sophistication and pure musicality. He has performed and recorded with a virtual “Who’s Who” of world renowned jazz musicians.
Tom’s deep commitment to education has made him a highly asked for educator. In recent years he has taught Jazz at Lincoln Center, as well as other universities and music schools in the New York area. Tom also offers Jazz Guitar Lessons online.
As with every musician, Dempsey has a list of other musicians, past and present, who have inspired, influenced and helped shape his distinctive sound and style.
“Tom’s great improvisation and melodic interpretations simply sparkle and are played with wonderful groove, sometimes biting, sometimes bluesy, always on the money. ” Gene Bertoncini, Guitarist
Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, Grant Green, Pat Martino, and Joe Pass are just some of the Guitar Heroes that have greatly influenced Tom Dempsey’s sound.
One of the most interesting guitar techniques is Wes Montgomery’s signature use of octaves in his solos.
Another unusual technique is Kenny Burrell’s seamless transitions between hard bop and blues.
Have you heard of motivic development? Jim Hall uses motivic development to make subtle changes in the rhythm or melody to make the music more interesting.
Tom Dempsey also shows you how to use Grant Green’s well crafted lines for beautiful changes. Don’t forget Pat Martino’s virtuosic improvisational approach and masterful solo guitar playing.
In Tom Dempsey’s Jazz Guitar Lessons, he shares a number of the key elements that his Guitar Heroes have passed on to him.
First, he’ll show you some of the techniques and approaches that he picked up from each of them. He’ll play through a series of performance studies for musical context, complete with all of TrueFire’s learning tools to assist you as you play through the lessons.
Also, you’ll be able to slow the videos so you can work with the teachings at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are also included.
“Pay close attention to this gem of a course!! Review by jncinn on 23 Dec 2019
Lightbulbs definitely have gone off right and left for me and I’m still barely halfway though Tom’s phenomenal course!! Don’t think strictly jazz either as many ideas translate excellently into blues!! There’s some discrepancy with some proper chord box diagrams which will be fixed but Mr. Dempsey skillfully and patiently takes us through so many great pertinent chord progressions and the theory behind them. It’s a blast too because it’s already set me on a course of so many new guitar playing horizons!!” Jim C, Read
Great course for developing knowledge of jazz progressions Review by PaulGuitar101 on 1 Apr 2020
“An excellent course that takes you from some simple progressions to some quite sophisticated ones with lots of advice on substitutions and chord options. The logical progress of the lessons means that absorbing new information is relatively easy. Nice encouraging instructor. The backing tracks are excellent for practicing. Recommended.” Review by PaulGuitar101 on 1 Apr 2020J
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