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20 Sequential Concept-Based Lessons
with 9 songs each and 3 different play-alongs for each song, built for 39 different instruments

It's taken some time, but the 21,060 MP3 files and 7020 Finale files are completed for the DLP Jazz Series 1!!

We are now; creating Lesson concept images, building quizzes, developing exercises for you.

But, maybe even, more importantly... we're developing a social media side of DLP where you can interact with other users and DLP staff as you are using the curriculum!  
Having trouble with a song?  Post a question and another user and/or DLP staff will reply
Post videos of you playing a song, and then see other users play the same song.
Not understanding a concept?  Ask, and someone will reply to the running comments on another way to think about it.

This is Jazz Education for the 21st century, and it's coming to your home, your phone, your tablet..... later this year.
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I started recording songs for Lesson 20 of the Jazz Series today.  The DLP curriculum is always organized in groups of 20 lessons, so this is kind of the end of a series that has been my focus for several years. Lesson 20 is Jazz Standards- Volume 1 so the focus is on standard Jazz forms (AABA, Blues, ABAB etc) and it's interesting to write new melodies to some standard forms and chord progressions.  This is common practice all through the history of Jazz.  "Donna Lee" is a new melody on the chords of "Indiana".  The melody of "St. James Infirmary" morphed into "Sugar".  But it goes further than that.  The I IV V progression so commonly used by Beethoven and Mozart is the same I IV V progression used by Jerry Lee Lewis or Mumford and Sons.  The musical language always remains the same.  What we create from it changes.

So, coming to the end of this chapter is a little sad for me.  But that passes very quickly as I start hearing students at DSM playing the songs and talking about the concepts.  It's even more exciting to see videos come in from all over the world of people I've never met playing the songs. This is a very moving thing.  Besides, I have 40 more lessons of songs to write for the Kore Series and 40 more lessons of songs for the Jazz Series still.  I think I will remain busy creating music, which I love to do.
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The DLP Jazz Series will be released in early 2012. Once in a while when we're describing the Kore Series or Jazz Series to a potential new user they'll ask, "Will I be learning REAL songs in here or just exercises?".  The answer is, we believe, that these are real songs BUT that they are also songs that function as exercises to review ONLY the concepts you have learned up to that point.  They are songs built specifically for where you are in your musical learning and for where you are in your technical development on your instrument at this time.

So, from a concert I did this past Monday (12/12/11) are 2 songs from the upcoming DLP Jazz Series.  These feature; myself on Keyboards, Jennifer Escue (from the DLP Staff ) on Vocals, Jeff Plant on Bass, Larry White on Steel Guitar and Lamont Taylor on Drums.

I hope you enjoy these songs
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