Mike Godette

Mike Godette adapts the bebop language of piano legend Bud Powell for guitar, with 12 licks transcribed from Powell's solos — another installment in Mike's improv style series. Each lick is broken down and analyzed, with the fingerings and articulations that help that pianistic sound translate to the fretboard. What's covered Six major ii–V–I licks and two minor ii–V–I licks , including a line from the bridge of Cherokee A turnaround lick, a chromatic triad pattern, a suspended dominant seventh idea, and an intervallic major lick Analysis of the harmonic devices at play: delayed resolutions, tritone substitutions, chromatic approach tones, and altered tensions Targeting the V chord early over the ii chord — a core bebop habit Powell uses constantly Picking, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides chosen to capture Powell's articulation on guitar A strong fit for intermediate to advanced jazz guitarists looking to expand their bebop vocabulary with vocabulary straight from Powell's keyboard. Running time: 53 minutes. 4 pages of PDF included (with TAB).

Mike Godette breaks down 12 iconic Joe Pass licks , digging into the intervallic and harmonic concepts behind each one along with Joe's signature articulation techniques. Every lick gets its own 5–6 minute video explanation with clear demonstrations and practical insights. What's covered Major and minor ii–V–I lines drawn from Pass's soloing Turnaround licks, an altered scale run, and an intervallic major lick Chord soloing ideas — an unmistakable hallmark of Joe Pass's style The articulation choices that give Joe's lines their character Detailed PDF transcriptions of every lick so you can follow along and apply the ideas in your own playing A good fit for intermediate to advanced players who want to fold Joe Pass's timeless vocabulary into their improvisation. Running time: 68 minutes. 5 pages of PDF included (with TAB).

Mike Godette explores the improvisational style of trumpet legend Clifford Brown in this guitar lesson, built around 12 licks transcribed from Brown's solos . Each lick comes with notation and tablature, plus a 4–5 minute video segment where Mike works through the fingerings, articulations, and theory behind the phrase. What's covered 12 Clifford Brown licks, transcribed and adapted for guitar Translating complex trumpet lines onto the fretboard, with articulation techniques that capture Brown's feel The theory behind each phrase: arpeggios, chromatic passages, and voice leading Scale choices including altered, diminished, and whole tone scales ii–V–I vocabulary you can fold directly into your own solos Suited to intermediate and advanced players who want to broaden their jazz vocabulary and craft more compelling solos by borrowing from one of bebop's great horn players. Running time: 52 minutes. 5 pages of PDF included.

Mike Godette explores the improvisation style of piano giant Oscar Peterson , adapted for guitar. Working from 12 licks transcribed from various Peterson solos , Mike deconstructs each one in detail, explaining the intervallic and harmonic devices behind Peterson's bluesy sound and how to translate them to the fretboard. What's covered 12 Oscar Peterson licks, analyzed one at a time Double stops — a hallmark Peterson technique for adding bluesy flavor — adapted for guitar with clear examples and exercises Sweep picking approaches for replicating Peterson's pianistic articulations Jazz blues vocabulary and the harmonic structures underneath it Practical tips for folding these devices into your own soloing Suited to intermediate and advanced players who want to push their blues playing into new territory with more sophisticated harmonic and intervallic ideas. Running time: 57 minutes. 4 pages of PDF included.

Mike Godette examines the improv style of saxophonist Sonny Stitt , adapted for guitar. Mike takes 12 licks from a variety of Stitt solos and breaks down each one individually, explaining the intervallic and harmonic devices at work in every line. What's covered 12 transcribed Sonny Stitt licks, analyzed one at a time ii–V–I vocabulary and chord substitutions drawn from Stitt's soloing How to take saxophone lines and articulate them effectively on guitar Slurs and sweep picking patterns that help achieve a more saxophone-like sound Theory explanations so you understand why each line works A good fit for intermediate to advanced players who want to bring more of Stitt's bebop language and horn-like phrasing into their guitar soloing. Running time: 52 minutes. 5 pages of PDF included.

Mike Godette takes a close look at the improv style of alto saxophone great Cannonball Adderley , adapted for guitar. Working from 12 licks transcribed from a variety of Adderley solos , Mike breaks down and analyzes each line one at a time, explaining the intervallic and harmonic devices at work. What's covered 12 transcribed Cannonball Adderley licks, analyzed individually ii–V–I vocabulary drawn from Adderley's soloing The intervallic and harmonic devices behind each line, so you understand why they work — not just how to play them How to fold these ideas into your own improvising for more of that Adderley sound A good fit for intermediate to advanced players who want to bring a horn player's phrasing and vocabulary into their guitar soloing. Running time: 62 minutes. 5 pages of PDFs included.

Mike Godette extends the voicing formulas from Unorthodox 7th Chords (Part I) to seven additional 7th-chord qualities, then takes them through the chord scales of harmonic and melodic minor . Each chord quality is broken down with all of its voicings and inversions, and how they function intervallically. What's covered Unorthodox voicings for Major 7#11, Major 7#5, Minor (Maj7), Dominant 7b5, Dominant 7#5, Diminished (Maj7), and Diminished 7 chords All voicings and inversions within each chord quality, and their intervallic structure Running isolated formulas through harmonic minor and melodic minor chord scales — five chord scales for each How chord scales and Roman numerals work in the harmonic and melodic minor scales For intermediate-to-advanced players ready to push past the four common 7th-chord types into the more colorful corners of minor-key harmony. Running time: 42 minutes. 11 pages of PDFs included.

Mike Godette continues his exploration of 7th-chord voicings, showing how every 7th chord can function in two or three different ways when superimposed over different bass notes . Building on Unorthodox 7th Chords (Part I) , this class lets you take all the 7th chords you already know and reuse them with entirely new harmonic functions. What's covered Major 7 voicings reused as Minor 9 and Sus13 chords Minor 7 voicings reused as Major 9 and Sus9 chords Minor 7b5 voicings reused as Dominant 9, Minor 6, and 7#5b9 chords Dominant 7 voicings functioning as Dominant 7b5b9 a tritone away Mixing and matching these voicings through numerous major and minor ii-V-I examples For intermediate-to-advanced players who want to multiply the harmonic mileage of voicings they already have under their fingers. Running time: 50 minutes. 15 pages of PDFs included.

Mike Godette demonstrates less common ways of voicing 7th chords by working through every possible ordering of the 1-3-5-7 formula and finding which combinations line up on the guitar. The result is a new set of 7th-chord sounds — some spread, some intervalically close — useful for both comping and chord melody. What's covered Unorthodox voicings for four chord types: Major 7, Minor 7, Dominant 7, and Minor 7b5 7th chord inversions and spread voicings Isolating specific voicings and running them up and down in chord scales 18 different chord combinations for major and minor ii-V-I progressions An intermediate class for players who want to expand beyond standard grips and add exotic voicing options to their comping and chord-melody vocabulary. Running time: 42 minutes. 9 pages of PDFs included.

Guitarist Mike Godette translates chord voicings from the piano music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel onto the guitar, showing how impressionist harmony can work in a jazz context. Mike spent years combing through piano scores, circling voicings that could be adapted to the fretboard, and organized the best of them into this class. What's covered Voicings organized into four tonalities: major, minor, dominant 7, and minor 7b5 Major seven and major nine voicings drawn directly from impressionist piano writing 18 chord combinations for major and minor ii–V–I progressions using these voicings Practical tips for handling the wide stretches that come with pianistic voicings, including posture adjustments and finding keys where each shape sits comfortably How to move voicings around the neck to discover where they translate best This is a strong fit for intermediate to advanced players who want to expand their chord repertoire beyond standard jazz guitar shapes and explore new harmonic territory. Some voicings involve serious stretches — Mike encourages you to skip or relocate any that don't sit well and keep the ones that do. Running time: 53 minutes. 10 pages of PDFs included.