Genil Castro

Genil Castro breaks down his chord melody approach to the jazz standard Stella by Starlight , showing step by step how he builds rich harmonies around the melody. You'll see how to play melody and harmony simultaneously, add chord substitutions and reharmonizations, and use harmonics, arpeggios, and chord inversions in your own arrangements. Included in this lesson A complete arrangement transcription Harmonic examples of different options for harmonizing the melody, with and without the harp harmonics technique How Genil came up with ideas for the arrangement, inspired by his influences (Gamela, Joe Diorio, Ted Greene and others) Five- and six-note voicings from the melodic minor scale Discussion of the context and origins of the tune The course includes downloadable PDFs of sheet music and tablature, plus a Soundslice practice version of the arrangement. Level: Intermediate/Advanced. Running time: 41 minutes. 7 Pages PDF Included.

Genil Castro continues his deep dive into Beyond Melodic Minor with part II: Going Outside with the Melodic Minor #5 . In this advanced jazz guitar lesson, Genil shows how to superimpose dominant scales over static minor chords — a modern way to add life and outside color to your sound. In this class, Genil discusses Introduction to the Melodic Minor #5 scale and its dominant modes, Lydian b7 (#9) and Altered (13) : definition and construction A strategy for playing outside over a static minor chord using dominant scales Chord-scale relationships: the chords derived from the Melodic Minor #5 scale and how to use them in a dominant chord progression Soloing and improvisation with the scale, including enclosures, chromaticism, and approach notes Examples of how the Melodic Minor #5 scale is used across jazz and fusion Practice techniques: exercises for fingerings, scales, and phrases, with examples This is an advanced class. Running time is 39 minutes, with an 8-page PDF and audio included.

Genil Castro takes the melodic minor scale a step further, introducing two altered versions — melodic minor #4 (also known as harmonic major) and melodic minor #5 — and showing how their dominant modes open up new sounds for jazz improvisation. This is Part 1, focused on tonal context; it connects with Genil's earlier improvisation lessons on this site. What's covered A review of the plurality concept — seeing one shape (a minor 6 voicing) as C minor 6, F9 or B altered, an idea Genil traces to Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry Vertical and horizontal perspectives of scales, starting from a Bill Evans-style voicing as a "vertical summary" of melodic minor The dominant modes of melodic minor, including the altered scale and Lydian b7 (with a nod to George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept) Dominant modes of melodic minor #4 Dominant modes of melodic minor #5 Applying these scales tonally in a II–V context Designed for advanced players who already know their melodic minor modes and want fresh dominant colors to draw on. A follow-up lesson explores these sounds in outside and modal playing. PDF included: 9 pages. Skill level: Advanced. Duration: 43 minutes .

Genil Castro continues his Insights and Tips on Harmony series with a class on two foundational ideas: voice leading — the most effective way to move from one chord to the next — and plurality , the phenomenon of one chord structure functioning in many different ways. The vehicle is 3- and 4-note rootless extended voicings, applied to comping and chord melody. What's covered What plurality means in practice — how a single shape can be an Fmaj7, a rootless Dm9, or a Gsus13 depending on the bass note, echoing Mick Goodrick's question: not how many chords you know, but how many usages for each chord Voice-leading fundamentals: preserving common tones and changing only what's absolutely necessary Comping with 3- and 4-note rootless voicings built from the major scale The cycle of 4ths through the major scale, voice-led chord to chord through root positions and inversions Chord melody on Satin Doll using 4-note rootless voicings and voice leading Using chord voice leading to produce melodic lines An intermediate-to-advanced class for guitarists who want their chord changes to connect smoothly and their voicings to do more than one job.

Genil Castro opens his Insights and Tips on Harmony series with a study of what he calls anchor chord forms — chord shapes you hold in place while melodic movement happens around them. He demonstrates the idea with a chord melody arrangement of Charlie Chaplin's Smile in F, then works backward step by step to explain how the forms are built and how they function. What's covered Harmonizing the F major scale with 1-5-7-3 seventh-chord voicings and with triads Building anchor forms with the third in the bass — and the melodies available on top of each shape How one anchor shape plays multiple roles: a major chord with the third in the bass becomes a minor 9 with the fifth in the bass Diminished forms as auxiliary dominants, why they invert every minor third, and how to uncover a 7♭9 chord's real root A fingering tip Genil picked up from Pat Martino : finger your open strings so shapes slide anywhere on the neck Applying anchor forms to comping, chord soloing, and chord melody — including their use in Brazilian music By the end you'll have the complete chord melody of Smile under your fingers, along with a flexible set of shapes you can reuse in any key and any tune.

Genil Castro shows how to practice his "life-vest" arpeggio strategy by applying it to a real tune: Henry Mancini's Days of Wine and Roses . The third lesson in his life-vest arpeggio series, this class was created in response to student feedback asking how to put the devices from the first two lessons to work in a song, and it includes a complete harmonic and melodic mapping of the tune in five positions (PDF and audio materials included). What's covered Mapping the entire tune in one area of the neck so you can picture the whole harmony in a single position Learning the arpeggios chord by chord, keeping a one-octave range to build melodies around each chord shape Arpeggio choices for each chord — such as playing from the root or from the fifth for a Lydian color Hearing the chord changes through your single-note lines, without any accompaniment Practicing until the sounds are integrated into your technique, so you play shapes and melodies without thinking about note names Tips on practicing, melodic playing, and harmonic awareness Expected outcome: the ability to play melodically over chord changes using the life-vest arpeggio and its variations. Suited to intermediate and advanced players, especially those who have seen the previous two lessons in the series.

Genil Castro maps the standard Stella by Starlight with bebop scales, showing how to practice and integrate them by visualizing a tune's harmony and melody in one area of the guitar. This is the second lesson in his Chroma Zone series, following up on the introduction to bebop scales in lesson one. What's covered Learning the melody first — in two registers where possible — as your first improvising tool Harmonically mapping the whole tune within a single six-fret area of the neck Visualizing melody and harmony in one position as two sides of the same coin Dominant bebop scale shapes ( Mixolydian and Mixolydian b9 b13 ) in four positions Practicing bebop scales starting from the root, third, fifth, and flat seventh Technical tips on playing the triplet with sweep picking and legato The Pat Martino diminished matrix for finding dominant inversions on the fingerboard Syntactical vs. non-syntactical aspects of music, and why a note gets called Cb Includes sheet music (PDF) with examples for each chord. Suited to intermediate and advanced players who want a concrete practice method for getting bebop scales into real tunes.

Jazz guitarist and educator Genil Castro introduces bebop scales through the lens of his Life Vest Arpeggio concept in this 38-minute masterclass — the third lesson in his improvisation series, following Life Vest Arpeggio I and II. The focus is the "chroma zone": the chromatic world that surrounds the arpeggios you already use for preparation and resolution. What's covered Bebop dominant scales derived from Major, Harmonic Major, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor scales Review of visualization strategies for applying arpeggios over II-V-I in major and minor keys Staying in one position so chords, scales, and arpeggios are seen as one complete picture Mixing arpeggios with bebop scales for chromatic lines over common progressions and static chords Why chromatic notes belong on the upbeat — and how placing them on the downbeat destabilizes the harmony Two ways of thinking about preparation: the Pat Martino "everything is minor" approach vs. the Joe Pass "everything is dominant" approach Tips for studying Linear Expressions by Pat Martino A focused next step for improvisers who have the arpeggio framework down and want to add chromaticism and tension without losing the harmony. Full class: 38 min — includes a 6-page PDF and a 3-minute audio track .

Genil Castro continues his Life Vest Arpeggio approach in this follow-up to his popular The Life Vest Arpeggio for Jazzers masterclass. Picking up where Part I left off, Genil takes the major seventh arpeggio and starts altering it — raising the fifth, lowering the third — to unlock even richer extended and altered sounds over complex progressions. What's covered Simple, powerful ways to play over min7b5, dominant 7th (both altered and Lydian b7 sounds), tonic minor, and minor ii–V–I progressions Using a major seventh sharp-five arpeggio a step below a dominant chord to get the sharp 11 Playing a minor-major seventh arpeggio a half step above an altered chord Soloing with extended harmonic sounds over the bossa nova classic The Girl From Ipanema Genil's personal "911 strategies" — reliable arpeggio fallbacks when a progression gets you in trouble The transformations that form the basis of Genil's jazz soloing style Best taken after Part I, once the major seventh arpeggio is already in your fingers. You'll come away with several arpeggio choices for every chord type instead of one. Full video is 37 minutes. 9 Pages PDF.

Genil Castro shows you how to play his beautiful solo guitar arrangement of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square — the tune from one of the first YouTube videos he posted in 2006, which introduced his music to over a hundred thousand viewers. He first learned the song from a Rosemary Clooney/Ed Bickert recording, and several of the harmonic ideas here come from a live George Shearing and Mel Tormé record. In addition to the arrangement, you'll learn Genil's flowing harp harmonic technique, and how to play chords with artificial harmonics Personal right-hand fingerstyle tips, with close-ups — including how to shape your nails for the best flesh-and-nail tone George Shearing-style reharmonizations applied to guitar How to choose chord voicings from the melody note — building your vocabulary of chords with the 3rd on top Why the lyrics of a song should guide your arranging choices Beginners to chord melody get a feel for a musical way to approach arranging; more advanced players can examine and borrow ideas to enrich their solo playing. Fragile, delicate and flowing — that's Genil's style. 7 Pages of PDF materials in standard notation and TAB Full video is 45 minutes

Genil Castro shares his personal approach to simplifying jazz improvisation: using one major seventh arpeggio shape as a "life vest" to navigate chord progressions, instead of memorizing a different arpeggio for every chord type. The idea grew out of a Wes Montgomery phrase that was Genil's entrance ticket to improvisation — and out of feeling overwhelmed by the dozens of arpeggios in Ted Greene's Single Note Soloing books. What's covered The Life Vest Arpeggio and how it simplified Genil's playing Maximizing one arpeggio over both major and minor ii–V–I progressions , including altered chords and extended sounds Practical tips: starting arpeggios from the seventh so chord tones land on downbeats, staying within an octave, and which notes to avoid landing on Seeing the major scale as preparation and resolution, and superimposing the IV major seventh arpeggio over the ii and V Musical applications so you can put the concept to work in your own lines If you've struggled to connect lines smoothly in your jazz improvisation, this single-tool approach offers a manageable way in. Full video is 39 minutes 18 Pages PDF

Brazilian guitarist Genil Castro demonstrates comping with artificial harmonics in this half-hour class — the third lesson in his harp-harmonics series — using Miles Davis' composition Blue in Green as the vehicle. Genil describes the technique as diving into "the electric lap piano realm" of pianistic voicings. What's covered Playing artificial harmonics with the index finger and thumb, and mixing them with natural notes Sending the lowest notes of a chord up an octave to create voicings (inversions) that would otherwise be impossible on guitar Splitting five- and six-note voicings into groups of three for a Fender Rhodes -type sound Working through the changes of Blue in Green chord by chord, with chord-melody comping examples Why the middle four strings often give the most comfortable timbre for these voicings Chord plurality : how one melodic minor voicing can serve multiple functions (Gm6, C7/9, A7 altered, and more) "Expanding the harmonic possibilities of the guitar through the use of artificial harmonics." Genil's influences range from classical composers such as Chopin, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky to jazz guitarists like Lenny Breau, Jim Hall, and Joe Diorio. An intelligent introduction to expanding your chord vocabulary and note choices through harmonics. A download is included with the full class.

Brazilian jazz guitarist Genil Castro continues his exploration of artificial harmonics , inspired by the playing of Lenny Breau. Where Part I covered the core technique, Part II gets into the finer points of what Genil calls the "electric lap piano" : using harmonics to play closed, pianistic voicings that would otherwise be nearly impossible on the guitar. What's covered Plurality — how one voicing can serve multiple harmonic functions, a concept Genil first found in Ted Greene's books How adding a harmonic transforms the voicing: understanding exactly which chord and inversion you're creating All four inversions of closed voicings — root position through third inversion — built from playable drop 2 and drop 3 shapes Chord alterations and extensions: turning major 7 chords into altered dominants and rootless extended voicings Bill Evans-style voicings and six-note melodic minor chords Voice-led major and minor II-V-I examples Putting it all together, with musical examples drawn from Stella By Starlight and My Funny Valentine An essential continuation for anyone who studied Part I. Includes 17 pages of PDF materials in standard notation and TAB , plus Soundslice-enhanced versions of all written examples for looping and slow-down practice. Full video is 31 minutes.

Brazilian jazz guitarist Genil Castro makes his Mike's Master Classes debut with the first of two videos on artificial harmonics — the dreamy, harp-like Lenny Breau technique that influenced players from Chet Atkins to Ted Greene. The focus isn't just how to play the harmonics, but how to apply them musically and use them to expand your harmonic vocabulary beyond typical drop-voicing sounds. What's covered The two essential aspects of the technique: mixing harmonics with regular notes, and playing simultaneous groups of three or four notes The orthodox Lenny Breau technique — thumb, index, and pinky roles — with Genil's first-hand story of seeing Larry Coryell and Lenny Breau play it live in 1983-84 Scale runs with harp harmonics: pentatonic, chromatic, and full scales up and down Moving harmonics around the fingerboard, mirroring chord shapes 12 frets up The "Breaurio" chord — a Scriabin-style voicing Joe Diorio showed Genil, mixed with harmonics Musical applications on Stella By Starlight and Ivan Lins' Setembro Dave Liebman's five-phase schema for integrating new material into your playing Includes 17 pages of PDF materials in standard notation and TAB , plus Soundslice-enhanced versions of all written examples so you can loop and slow down each one as you study. Full video is 30 minutes.