David Cohen

David Cohen brings you up to speed on chord progressions in this incredibly detailed 70-minute lesson, starting from the harmony principles taught in an introductory music theory class — roman numeral analysis, chord construction — and working up to more advanced jazz scale choices and substitutions. If you ever get confused about which scale belongs to which type of chord, this is the lesson to see. Dave's step-by-step analysis process Assigning each chord a roman numeral based on its place in the home key (and any related key) Noting possible extensions and substitutions: tritone substitution , direct substitution, parallel substitution, chromatic fill-in, and modal borrowing/interchange Classifying every chord by its broader function: Tonic, Predominant, or Dominant Choosing the scales that sound best for improvisation, with Dave's preferred scale and chord fingerings based on "mode zones" and advice on how to practice them Reharmonization concepts applied to a selection of the tunes Dave demonstrates everything with seven standard jazz tunes — the modal tunes So What , All Blues , and Footprints , and the standards Autumn Leaves , All The Things You Are , Blue Bossa , and Honeysuckle Rose — with references to what the jazz greats would do whenever possible. Preparation needed: an understanding of intervals, major and minor scales, and basic jazz chord construction — there will be lots of talk about roots, thirds, fifths, and sevenths. Includes 26 pages of material in TAB and standard notation.

David Cohen teaches the major scale across the entire guitar neck in this master class for beginning-to-intermediate jazz guitarists. You'll learn to visualize the scale and the chords, voicings, and extensions that come from it, with an exhaustive set of fingering systems — the emphasis is on getting the scale, chords, and licks into your fingers, with just enough theory to know what you're doing. What's covered Mode zones — seven first-finger positions covering the neck, each with an "activation chord" to help you memorize the shape 3-notes-per-string fingerings and how they shift you between zones Sliding scales — patterns that repeat across 2-string groups Full-range fingerings that traverse the whole neck, plus 1-string, 2-string, and 3-string playing Finding chord shapes inside the scale and comping a 2-5-1 in every mode zone Triads from the scale, triad pairs, and "triad triples" for harmonizing on 3-string sets A practice lick in each mode zone, with notation and TAB, and ways to vary each lick into your own ideas By the end you'll have a much better handle on the most important scale in music — and a foundation for learning every other scale the same way.

David Cohen gives beginning-to-intermediate jazz guitarists a complete system for visualizing the harmonic minor and melodic minor scales — and the chords that come from them — across the entire neck. You'll see exactly how a great number of chord shapes, voicings, and extensions live inside each scale, with a wealth of fingering options, licks, and patterns to practice. Fingering approaches covered Mode Zones — David's position-playing system, where the first finger defines one of 7 zones corresponding to the modes of each scale 3-notes-per-string concepts and practicing the stretches Sliding scales — patterns that repeat on 2-string groups Full-range fingerings that traverse the entire neck 1-string, 2-string, and 3-string playing Triads from the scales, triad pairs, and "triad triples" for harmonizing on 3-string sets Key concepts Harmonic minor: the Phrygian Dominant mode over dominant 7 chords, diminished 7th arpeggios, simple passages over ii-V-i, and turning a major ii-V-I into a harmonic minor ii (m7b5) - V7b9 - i Melodic minor: the interchangeability of minor-major 7, 7#11, m7b5, and altered dominant chords — their modes can all exchange licks and chord shapes — plus the famous "Jim Hall chord" At the end of the video, everything comes together over "Take the A Train." You'll come away with a large number of ways to use these scales and add real variety to your playing. Materials included with TAB.

David Cohen teaches the foundations of blues improvisation for guitarists who are relatively new to soloing: the major and minor 12-bar blues forms and the many ways to use the minor pentatonic "box" — though more experienced players will find plenty here too. The most basic 12-bar blues has three primary chords — I, IV, V in the major blues, i, iv, v in the minor — and David builds everything from the ground up, starting with learning the notes on the 6th string so you can find the box in any key. What's covered The minor pentatonic box position and other common "start frets" for it Chord shapes for the 12-bar blues: boogie power chords, E7-shape barre chords, shell voicings , and top-four-string (T4) voicings with 9ths The diatonic approach, plus matching major or minor pentatonics to each chord Suspended sounds highlighting the 9th and 11th, altered sounds for transitions, and free chromatic connection Other scales and modes beyond the minor pentatonic, introduced and explored David's highlighting/aiming method for targeting scale degrees, so each new position sounds convincing from the first try Common turnarounds These ideas are basic and fundamental to improvisation — a solid first step for any guitarist getting into blues soloing. Full class runs about 76 minutes.

David Cohen explains the CAGED system from the ground up in this second installment of his blues and pentatonics series. Using the five open chord shapes — C, A, G, E, and D — you'll learn to play the pentatonic scale in every position and every key, and to move comfortably through a twelve-bar blues anywhere on the fretboard. What's covered Assigning scale degrees to the notes in each pentatonic position, and how chord tones relate to them Turning each of the five open shapes into movable barre chords, with fingering tips for each How to find any chord shape on the fretboard using its root string Visualizing the pentatonic scale inside each chord shape A memorable name for each of the five positions, with tips on how to use it The five ways to change between the three chords of the twelve-bar blues while staying in one position If you've ever wondered how the CAGED system works and how to apply it, this is the lesson for you. 7 pages of written materials including fretboard diagrams and TAB come with this class.