Jazz

Jazz is my own field: I studied jazz guitar at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and play it daily, among others with swing/jazz trio Trio Brandhout. What you learn in the jazz guitar lessons comes straight from practice.

We work from the jazz standards, the shared repertoire that lets you sit in anywhere in the world. You learn to accompany a standard (comping), play the melody and then improvise over it. For rhythm guitar, Freddie Green is the great example: as the guitarist of the Count Basie big band he kept time for decades with four-to-the-bar chords, and that way of comping is still the foundation of swing rhythm. For study material I use, among others, the books of Barry Galbraith, a studio guitarist from the golden jazz years whose books on comping and single-line playing have become classics.

Beyond the tradition there’s the more modern jazz-rock and fusion repertoire, with heavier sounds and rhythms from rock and funk. Gypsy jazz in the style of Django Reinhardt gets plenty of attention too; I perform regularly in that field myself.

Mostly interested in the theory behind it? Have a look at jazz theory and improvisation.