Product Details

• Actors: Mike Dowling
• Directors: Happy Traum
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Homespun Tapes
• DVD Release Date: February 1, 2004
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• ASIN: B0001K2S7C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,890 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Infectious syncopations, hot soloing, lush chords....nothing captures the spirit of jazz better than swing. Mike Dowling has it down cold, and on this follow-up to "Swing Guitar: Rhythm’s Where It’s At," he has put together a perfect lesson for any player interested in lead soloing and improvisation.

Mike's clear instructional style is easy to follow, and you’ll get great practice as you jam along with the rhythm parts he and David Hungate provide.

Starting at the beginning, Mike uses "Mary had a Little Lamb" to demonstrate how you can create a swing tune out of just about anything. He explains how to use chord shapes to give you the basis for moving around the neck, and how to take a basic melody and embellish it with arpeggios, riffs, pedal tones and other improvisational devices. Before long, you’ll be calling it "Mary had a Swingin’ Little Lamb!"

Mike gets further into the process with "C Jam Blues," which teaches you to improvise around a short "riff," or melodic passage in various positions on the fingerboard. He plays out the chord progression and then launches into some effective blues/jazz improvisations. A classic Hot Club riff leads you into Fats Waller’s great swing standard "Honeysuckle Rose."

Duke Ellington’s "It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" is a great vehicle for you to trade licks with Mike and Dave, and you’ll learn how to play it anywhere on the fingerboard. "Raggin’ It" moves through a typical ragtime progression with simple but effective harmonies that can work in any number of tunes. Finally, "Sweet Georgia Brown" wraps it all up with great chord changes, color tones, ragtime syncopations, and techniques that tie in all the elements you’ve learned on the lesson. Mike says that "true improvisation comes from a creative place deep in the player’s imagination," and on this video he gives you the tools you’ll need to create and develop your own ideas, and swing along with the best of them.