It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 1: Chord Tones

This lesson is part of the course Jazz Violin with Aaron Weinstein.

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Learn to play jazz violin like the masters, with lessons on building solos for standard jazz songs using improvisational devices you can play anywhere. Aaron shows you how to use melodic variation, repeating motives, harmonic entry points, and more. Includes rhythm tracks, analysis of each solo, rephrasing suggestions, and more powerful tips.

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Lady Be Good

In this video, you'll learn a solo to “Lady be Good” that uses many of the riffs and blues ideas you’ve just worked on.

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Pre-composed solos for jazz and swing standards, including “Honeysuckle Rose,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” and more
Instruction on devices used for improvising, including using the melody as an improvisational tool, finding motives, arpeggios, harmonic entry points, and more
Melodic analysis and suggestions for rephrasing and variation
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Play-Along audio and video tracks for each song so you can play along with Aaron
Play-Along audio backing tracks at fast and slow tempos by master guitarist Matt Munisteri
Notation of each solo along with analysis phrasing ideas

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It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 1: Chord Tones

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 2: Solo

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 3: Play-Along Track

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 1: Chord Tones

This time, Aaron talks about using the chord tones of a melody as an improvising device. He demonstrates this with a solo on Duke Ellington’s classic "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing).” Here are versions by Duke Ellington and Django Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France with Stéphane Grappelli on violin. As he mentions throughout this course, Aaron’s intent is to demystify the elements of jazz improvisation and make them accessible to everyone. In this video, Aaron walks you through the chord progression and associated arpeggios as building blocks for constructing a solo for “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”

“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)” Notation PDF Download (Available to subscribers)

Previous Lesson

← Lady Be Good, Part 3: Play-Along Track

Next Lesson

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 2: Solo →

Previous Lesson

← Lady Be Good, Part 3: Play-Along Track

Next Lesson

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 2: Solo →

Previous Lesson

← Lady Be Good, Part 3: Play-Along Track

Next Lesson

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 2: Solo →

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It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Part 1: Chord Tones

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