Introduction

Maybe one day I'll write a book....Maybe one day I'll be banging cans on the corner of Mass. Ave and Boylston...You never know. Of course, that's not important. I've got some theoretical knowledge about music especially in the jazz realm. The real question is why would I have a livejournal? I don't really talk about my feelings. I am doing this to share my theoretical knowledge, encourage debate and potentially inflate my own ego (That was a joke). That being said though, there are a few things you should understand before taking my theories seriously.

1. They're THEORIES. What we call them around here at Berklee is Common Practice. This is not doctrine. This is not "Rules." These are reasons people have made understandable music throughout history. I don't want you to sound like MIles, but I want you to understand what Miles did so that you can sound like you.

2. I'm a guitarist primarily. I can go more into my background if there are posts asking about such things but primarily I am a guitarist and we are quarky people with quarky ways of thinking about things.

3. I'm a Berklee Student. We have certain codified terms that we coin. There are sometimes other ways to describe the same situation but I'll try to be as open to that and as consistent as possible.

4. I assume some things about you while I write these lessons. I assume that you have music background, can read staff music and can play a chordal instrument (Guitar Piano etc). I don't really want to sit here and write about Do Re Mi. I want to get to the cool stuff. If you're looking for beginner things, email me at dmohr@berklee.net and I'll do correspondence with you on such things.

5. I'm not always going to write these in order. I have things on my mind that I want to get to. If you don't understand the concept, you probably don't understand some things that should come first. Email me and we'll talk about it.

6. I'm a nerd. I'm often on the computer and my aim is jazzguitar4life.

That being said, let's get our learn on...