R I C K P E C K H A M . C O M

Here you'll find music from gigs and lessons that you can download in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. If you need it, get Adobe Acrobat Reader for either PC or Mac, (its free).

If you're interested in my online guitar course, Berklee Guitar Chords 101, offered by berkleemusic.com, click here.

IAJE Clinic Equipment/Software list

Jazz Chord Summary is meant to serve as a survival kit for guitarists with an uneven understanding of basic 7th chords. Basic voicings appear in traditional notation, chord blocks and tab.

Scales for Practice offers some subjective titles for the modes of the seven scales I find most useful. It's helped me to get a handle on a large amount of material.

Uses of Harmonic Major outlines some harmonic situations for you to hear and start using these sounds.

Harmonic Major is the latest addition to the list of required scales at Berklee. I've had to learn a lot more about this scale to enable me to use it. There are some great colors that you won't find anywhere else.

Side Effects This is the lead sheet for a tune I wrote several years ago and I've been playing it ever since. You can hear it on 4 Madmen in La La Land.

Open string etude This exercise is similar to exercises written by saxophonist George Garzone to help his students to get into some interesting vocabulary. The single line stuff uses open strings from E min pent, the fingered notes use its tritone opposite, Bb minor. The chords at the end of each line feature interesting sounding chords.

Rhythms for practice brings together a couple of important elements: rhythmic solfege as discussed by Ronan Guilfoyle and rhythmic exercises similar to those introduced by drummer Gary Chaffee.

Gateway to chromaticism on guitar introduces some basic ways to introduce some angularity to basic minor pentatonic melodies.

Here's my latest release–a DVD intended to simplify modal voicings on the guitar. There's a little booklet enclosed with all of the material in tablature, in addition to traditional notation. Available from berkleemusic.com if you click here. They've even set it up to show a free trailer clip, if you're interested. Here's a link to the printed materials for the DVD.

John La Porta's book, entitled Intermediate Jazz Duets contains some of the most difficult music I've ever tried to play. Articulations on every note, quick tempi and beautiful melodic counterpoint throughout make this worthwhile for anyone who wants to really dig into state of the art contrapuntal writing.

The play-along cd features John La Porta playing the first part on one side of the stereo image while I play the second part on the guitar on the other side. You can listen to either part or both, allowing you to work up the parts. After you play through the heads, the rhythm section comps for you before returning to a shout chorus or the melody out. The recordings also feature Joe Hunt on drums throughout.