Chord Melody FUN-damentals
Bruce Forman — student of Barney Kessel, sideman to Ray Brown, and USC educator — reveals the moves and creative approaches behind expressive chord melody playing. Inspired by Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and the jazz greats.
- Voice-leading mastery: Chromatic and common tone exercises to build harmonic awareness
- 5 fully notated chord melody solos: On classic standards, with analysis and performance notes
- Tension & drama techniques: Resolve melodies in unexpected harmonic ways
- Audio & video downloads: Every example demonstrated by Bruce himself
- Guitar Pro files: For deeper practice and exploration
ALL BOOKS AND COURSES BY Bruce Forman
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Bruce Forman
Bruce Forman is one of the most versatile and prolific figures in American jazz guitar. With 21 recordings as a leader and countless sideman dates — including featured roles on Ray Brown's final albums and soundtrack work on three Clint Eastwood films, most notably the Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby — Forman has been a cornerstone of the international jazz scene for over four decades. A faculty member at USC's Studio/Jazz Guitar Department, Bruce is also a raconteur, arranger, novelist, and philanthropist. His national mentoring program JazzMasters Workshop provided over 2,500 free sessions for young musicians. His projects range from his acclaimed trio Formanism to the western bebop band Cow Bop, the theatrical piece The Red Guitar, and the podcast GuitarWank, co-hosted with Scott Henderson. Barney Kessel called him "one of the great lights of our age on guitar" and Kenny Burrell described him as "extremely versatile and very musical."
