Roni Ben-Hur

Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur teaches the method of harmonic analysis he learned from master pianist and educator Barry Harris : breaking a song down to its most basic harmonic format and using that skeleton as the starting point for solos. The working example throughout is How High the Moon . What's covered Finding the layer beneath the chord changes — How High the Moon as major keys descending in whole steps (G, F, E-flat), each reached by leading chords Destination chords vs. leading chords, and why the dominant truly drives the progression Why Gm7 to C7 is really an extended C11 — color chords vs. the chords that have to be there Substitution options on the dominant, including diminished, augmented, and tritone alternatives The bebop approach to adding chromatic notes to major and dominant scales, with examples from Roni's book Talk Jazz The important chords within the dominant scale, and analysis of a complete written solo that puts the principles into action You'll come away with a systematic way to analyze any standard — understanding the architecture so you can make informed choices and build melodic lines with the logic of the bebop masters. Knowing the basic format also makes it far easier to transpose a tune to any key.

Roni Ben-Hur breaks down Charlie Parker's Confirmation , a bebop classic whose chord changes appear in countless jazz standards — which is exactly why he treats it as a practice vehicle for learning to navigate common progressions, not just a tune to memorize. What's covered A full performance of the tune, followed by a chord-by-chord analysis of the A section How to identify arrival points (harmonic centers) versus the leading chords that take you to them — and why you shouldn't treat them with equal weight The progressions inside Confirmation that show up everywhere: tonic to relative minor (F major to D minor), the move to the IV chord (B-flat 7), and the 2-5-1 The II dominant (G7) — when it acts as a leading chord and when it becomes a tonal center of its own Practical advice on the famously difficult head: practice the melody slowly, or set it aside and work on soloing over the changes By the end you'll understand not just how to play Confirmation, but how to hear and outline the harmonic movements it shares with so many other standards. Full video is 1 hour and 29 minutes.

Jazz guitarist Roni Ben-Hur takes a deep look at the diminished chord — a chord that always wants to take you somewhere — and shows how to move it beyond its basic passing-chord role into a colorful harmonic device for comping and chord-melody playing. What's covered The structure of the diminished chord as a cycle of minor thirds — why every note can be the root, and why there are really only three diminished chords Using the diminished as a leading chord, demonstrated through standards like "What's New" and "Spring Is Here" The relationship between diminished chords and dominant 7th chords, and converting between them with a half-step technique Instant chord inversions and substitutions on the fretboard that fall out of the minor-third cycle Adding colors and tensions beyond the plain diminished sound, including flat 9 extensions and borrowed notes The exceptions — when not to use diminished substitutions over IV and II dominants Roni notes that a thorough explanation of diminished theory also appears in his book Talk Jazz , but the class builds from a clear introduction into more advanced material. A practical course for intermediate players who want to add depth to their chord progressions and apply these voicings tastefully in real tunes. Includes a Soundslice example on using the diminished with one borrowed note.

Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur explores advanced jazz harmony through the lens of the diminished chord — the "leading chord" that creates forward motion in jazz progressions. Working at the guitar, he shows how diminished chords function inside dominant seventh harmony and how to put them to work in your comping and chord soloing. What's covered Why the diminished always acts as a leading chord , with examples from It Could Happen to You , Strike Up the Band , and Tenderly The structure of the diminished chord: a cycle of minor thirds, and why there are really only three diminished chords Diminished voicings in drop 2 and drop 3 , with fingerings across the string sets Inversions — how inverting a diminished gives you the next one The relationship between diminished chords and dominant sevenths, and how each diminished contains four different seventh chords a half-step away Substitution and reharmonization ideas you can apply to any jazz standard For intermediate and advancing players ready to move beyond basic chord changes, this class gives you a clear, systematic way to understand and use one of jazz harmony's most versatile tools.

Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur breaks down Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicings , the four-note chord structures at the heart of jazz guitar comping. Starting from the basic 1-3-5-7 stack, he shows exactly how each drop voicing is derived, why these shapes are always playable on the guitar when close-position voicings often aren't, and how to invert them across the fretboard. What's covered How a Drop 2 voicing is built: dropping the second note from the top of a four-note chord Working through every inversion of the Drop 2 shape, with side-by-side comparisons to the unplayable close-position versions Drop 3 voicings and the wider, more open sound they produce Adapting one template to any chord quality — major 7, dominant 7, 6, minor 6, diminished, and altered 5ths Hearing the voicings in context through the first eight bars of rhythm changes in C How four-note voicings function as the core of bigger five- and six-note chords Ben-Hur teaches at the whiteboard and the guitar, naming every chord tone as he goes, so you come away understanding the system rather than memorizing grips. A solid foundation for any player ready to organize their chord vocabulary. Full video is 1 hour and 5 minutes.