Jimmy Bruno, Lesson One (jazz guitar)

Playing Technique
#1

Troy interviewed Jimmy Bruno, so I suspect Jimmy has a few fans here.
Once upon a time I was enrolled in his online school. It is now closed. But Jimmy posted this video the other day outlining what he calls Lesson One, the stuff you have to know before he’ll try to teach you anything else. (It’s not lesson one in the sense that he would expect you to learn all this in an hour.)

I remember submitting my video of the “Five Fingerings” and then improvising over ii-V-I cadences and “Satin Doll”. If you did well, he’d tell you. If you effed up, he’d tell you so and require you to do the whole thing over.

I enjoyed my time there. It’s where I discovered how problematic my picking was and I’ve been trying to fix it ever since. Ironic that discovering this place and finding an interview with Jimmy Bruno in the archives. Life’s funny that way.

Jimmy Bruno, Lesson One

Here’s some of Jimmy’s playing in his prime.

Jimmy Bruno, Burnin’

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#2

haha i was just watching that guys youtube video lesson, what a character! bet he has a ton of knowledge, but might be a bit biased on his outlook although he has some points. he wants you to be more near his level to get you to his level and beyond. so both teacher and student can kind of improvise with each other at a faster pace.

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#3

I think he got a gig with Buddy Rich’s big band when he was 19. Here’s the only live footage of Jimmy at that age that I have come across.
Jimmy’s solo starts around the 4:40 mark. You might not recognize him at first!
Jimmy Bruno at 19 w Buddy Rich Big Band

For the curious, this hit single from the late '50s has Jimmy Bruno’s dad on one of the guitars.
The Virtues, Guitar Boogie Shuffle

#4

I think Jack Peterson wrote a book similar to what Jimmy is talking about:

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#5

I’ve seen that book and it’s a good one!
It may seem complicated hearing Jimmy go through it the way he does in the video but what you learn when you work with it is how easy it is to go from one type of chord (say a dominant 7th) to another (a minor 7th): only one note changes. And you become comfortable starting things on notes other than the root. You really do learn the neck thoroughly.

#6

Ah, The old JBGI. anybody remember Jimmy contributing to the discussion on Usenet rmmgj?

#7

i wonder how many people on here even know of usenet… what did rmmgj stand for and what was normally discussed? i barely know of usenet, but only because of my earlier IT background during windows 95/98/2000. back when it was a miracle if you could get linux running on a machine. :smiley:

haha nevermind i found it. Rec.Music.Makers.Guitar.Jazz

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#8

Yep, I’m old. Usenet is/was like a text-only Reddit.