Jim Ellis

Patricia Improvisation Ideas

Jim Ellis — Tue, 05 May 2026 21:05:30 GMT

Minor Blues Pentatonic Studies

Jim Ellis — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 15:08:42 GMT

Unit Seven Shell Voicing Study

Jim Ellis — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 16:48:23 GMT

Unit Seven

Jim Ellis — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 16:17:13 GMT

Blue Bossa Shell Voicing Studies

Jim Ellis — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:45:44 GMT

Two notes. That's all you need to comp through Blue Bossa.

Jim Ellis — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:36:18 GMT

Shell voicings are the secret weapon of great jazz compers. By stripping a chord down to just the 3rd and 7th, you reveal the voice leading that makes harmony move.

In this excerpt from our full Blue Bossa Shell Voicing Study, we focus on the ii-V-i in C minor — one of the most important progressions in jazz.

Dm7b5 — The 3rd (F) and b7th (C) define the half-diminished sound. This is your ii chord, the starting point of the resolution.

G7 — The 3rd (B) and b7th (F) form the tritone that drives the resolution back to Cm7. Over a G7b9, these two notes still do the heavy lifting.

Listen for how the 3rds and 7ths resolve stepwise into the next chord. That smooth voice leading is what separates comping from just playing chords.

The full lesson covers every chord in Blue Bossa across both key centers — C minor and Db major — with shell voicing diagrams, practice progressions, and voice leading guidance for every change.

Melodic Minor

Jim Ellis — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 16:54:19 GMT

Melodic minor is one of the most powerful sounds in modern jazz — yet many players never feel truly comfortable using it.

This scale unlocks rich dominant colors, altered tensions, and modern harmonic movement that simply aren’t available in major or natural minor. One structure, multiple harmonic possibilities.

In the latest lesson, we explore melodic minor through Nica’s Dream by Horace Silver — a perfect tune for hearing how these sounds work in real music. You’ll see how melodic minor ideas directly shape both improvisation and comping.

Work at internalizing and hearing the tones after playing the chord.

Improvise with the backing track for Nica's Dream with a 👉 Free Trial at fretprints.com.

Video Podcast 500 Miles High

Jim Ellis — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:26:01 GMT

Always and Forever Changes

Jim Ellis — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 01:51:40 GMT

Dominant 7ths to 9ths

Jim Ellis — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 18:11:15 GMT

When you’re comping on dominant 7ths, the root is often unnecessary. The 3rd and 7th define the chord, and replacing the root with the 9th instantly creates a clearer, more modern voicing.

Why this works

Keeps the harmony clear without crowding the bass
Adds color without sounding altered
Improves voice-leading into the next chord
Sits better in a group setting

How to apply it

Take any dominant 7th shape and swap the root for the 9th
Think 3–7–9–13 instead of root-based grips
On ii–V–I progressions, use rootless V7 voicings with the 9th on top or inside

Practice idea
Comp through a tune and omit the root on every dominant chord, using the 9th instead. Listen for smoother motion and more space in the sound.

This one adjustment can immediately upgrade your dominant chord vocabulary without learning new shapes, just hearing the chord differently.

Here are the shapes that you'll need:

Work at internalizing and hearing the shapes. Remind the ear of a low G. Try tapping it with the picking hand.

Our Spanish Love Song

Jim Ellis — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:43:10 GMT

Drop 2 and Drop 3 Voicings

Jim Ellis — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:19:43 GMT

Play each Cmaj7 chord shape in root position and all three inversions (color-coded).
After you’re comfortable with the shapes on their own, move between them in different directions on the neck.
Listen for the smooth voice-leading and notice how the same four notes rearrange themselves in each inversion.

Try these steps:

Play all four shapes in order:
Root Position → 1st Inversion → 2nd Inversion → 3rd Inversion
Reverse the order.
Jump between any two shapes at random.
Play them with time (whole notes, half notes, or quarter notes).
Apply them to a progression—for example, move from Cmaj7 → Dm7 → G7 keeping the top voices smooth.

Work these out and let me know if you have any questions by responding to this email. Here's a wrap up of benifits.

• This builds clean voice-leading and helps you move the chord anywhere on the neck.
• Practicing the inversions gives you smoother transitions and better harmonic control.
• These shapes strengthen your fretboard awareness and make comping more musical.
• Mastering the inversions lets you play more fluid, connected chord lines.

Solar

Jim Ellis — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 00:08:30 GMT

Metheny Solo On Our Spanish Love Song 1st Chorus

Jim Ellis — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 22:34:38 GMT

St Thomas

Jim Ellis — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:18:05 GMT

Our Spanish Love Song Parent Scales

Jim Ellis — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:54:15 GMT

This tune is in the key of F minor. The key signature has four flats, so we begin with the F natural minor scale. In the diagram below, six of the seven scale tones are shown in orange. The remaining tone is shown in blue to highlight how it shifts when the harmony moves to the dominant seventh chord. This color change helps us track the voice-leading b…

Improvisation in Minor Keys

Jim Ellis — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 22:31:07 GMT

Download pdf https://members.fretprints.com/ImprovisingInMinor

Podcast - Georgia On My Mind

Jim Ellis — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 17:21:47 GMT

In this episode, I walk through my new etude on Georgia On My Mind—a full-form study built around clear voice-leading, lyrical phrasing, and practical fingerings that sit naturally on the guitar. We’ll look at how the lines trace classic movements like Fmaj7 → Em7♭5 → A7♭9 → Dm7, how the ii–V cycles are shaped, and how to use this approach to strengthen…

Barry Harris Method

Jim Ellis — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 14:41:13 GMT

First, assume we’re dealing with a tonic major chord. In the Barry Harris system, we train the ear to hear an eight-note environment: four tones that function as stable, consonant sounds, and four tones that create useful tension or dissonance.

These are the consonant tones: R–3–5–6. Practice improvising with just these four notes while playing over a C, C6, or any major-family vamp. Get comfortable hearing how cleanly they sit inside the harmony.

Now let’s outline the more dissonant tones. You’ll notice they form a Ddim7 arpeggio. As before, improvise using only these notes and listen closely to how the tension behaves against the same major-family vamp.

Now combine both groups of notes. Repeat the same exercise, listening for how your lines naturally move between tension and release. Pay attention to the character of each note both on the numbered beats and on the ‘and’ of the beat—each placement has its own feel.

Working with these two four-note groups is one of the quickest ways to internalize the sound of the Barry Harris major system. By isolating consonance, isolating dissonance, and then blending the two, you begin to hear tension and release as something you can shape, not something that just happens.

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Tonic Major Barry Harris Method

Jim Ellis — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 21:41:27 GMT

https://jazzguitar.fretprints.com/TonicMajorBarryHarrisPDF