Jake Lizzio

PDF + Tabs + Jam Track for new Dorian video

HEY EVERYONE I hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Im gonna come clean- I have a jazz deficiency. The first time I was ever able to sound slightly jazzy was with the help of dorian and the i-IV progression. A little pentatonic minor on top with a sprinkling of natural 6th, and I felt like Santana. 

I'm trying to shine the light on others with my newest video on Dorian (it should publis...

Polymetal Tab

I tried for the 50th time to set up a webcam/screecap to explain how this riff came together, but I can never get the audio to properly record through OBS out of my DAWs the way I need it to. 

My first studio upgrade will be a laptop, this will allow me to start doing livestreams and more production-based videos by continuing to use my current production PC unfettered but having the audio s...

Sneak Peek and Name That Time Signature(s)

This clip is HEAVY compared to what I normally do but my next video is on polymeter, and I've been making parts of the video before I undergo final filming.  The audio clip I've attached is for a section near the end the end of the video where I demonstrate how easy it is to make complicated music with polymeter, although most of the video will be demonstrating more tame examples of it. ...

Can you all screen this video for me?

I wanted to try something different with my time off today and made this video about the copyright strike I just received for my last video on odd times.

It's not the sort of video I normally make and I'm not ready to throw it out there to 80,000 people. I was hoping I could get your honest reactions to it first. 

Thanks so much!

-Jake

Rap Beat for your use!

Here's the rap beat from my last video as a loop. Spit some fire, do ya thing. 

Expect a fun new video on a specific diatonic chord soon!

Tabs for todays video, Neoclassical composition

These are the tabs for the Neoclassical section I posted earlier and that will show on today's video. 

I'll post the rap beat soon so you can all do your own nerdy music theory rap

Power Tab is old but I really like using the program so if you don't have it already I'd getting it.

Sneak Peek - The Neoclassical song in my next vid

In the next video I'll be composing Rap and Neoclassical using Harmonic Minor. 

The Neoclassical section is done being written and almost done being recorded, I wanted to share it all here with you before it goes live (probably Monday). Once the video is up I'll post the tabs and music!

If it isn't immediately obvious, this is pure harmonic minor up until the "solo" where it uses both...

i - iiº Jam from Tonight's video

Here's a 6 minute loop of just two chords, Em, and F#dim7. 

You can imagine how musical and energetic this could sound if played with a real band and dynamic changes, this is just 4 measures on loop. 

I'd recommend playing over it a few times in E Harmonic Minor and also in E Pentatonic Minor or E Minor, it's tons of fun. Then maybe try to make your own version of a i-iiº jam in...

Tablature for E Harmonic Minor Prelude

Tonight I should have a video up that continues our exploration in to Harmonic Minor. To demonstrate how easy it is to compose good sounding progressions, I plucked these chords of out thin air in the video then later wrote this melody on top. 

You'll see/hear me play it in the video, and I'm posting the tabs just for you all. There will be an additional diagram available to everyone that w...

Random Chord Generator in G

I put forth some simple rules for writing easy chord progressions in major during this video 

https://youtu.be/M8eItITv8QA

I made this little "program" will play all of the possibilities for you in G. 

About 3 years ago I started to teach myself to write code. I learned the fundamentals and had a little ex...

Signals Music Podcast #2 - Faustas Udrenas

After my first epsiode, Patron Kevin Powell suggested I interview a student and I had the perfect person in mind. Faustas is 20 and going away to Michigan to finish up a math degree, but is an accomplished musician already and has taught me much in and outside of music.

In this podcast we discuss musical growth and influence, as well as the role of theory when writing. We also discuss the career...

An exclusive gift for your patience

I haven't uploaded a video on over two weeks. The entire time I've been writing, recording, and producing my first official single, "Generations". 

Well it's done, and this is the first place I'm uploading it! I want you to have it for free, so please enjoy, and be on the lookout for the music video to post either today or tomorrow.

The song will be available on iTunes/Spotify etc in ...

Using 5:6 polymeter as a lead player

I've been playing around with konnakol (it's that indian "scat singing" you may have seen) for many years, but it doesn't always translate over to my instrument, the guitar. Recently though I had some success- a common practice in konnakol and indian music is to play polymetric groupings.

For example, play 8th note triplets, but group them as a 5 note phrase. You could play the note...

69 minutes of improvised music. Nice!

I had the pleasure of jamming with some great musicians tonight, and had time to set up some mics ahead of time. Most of the jams start with a simple 1 or 2 chord progression, and from there the feel develops as the universe demands.   

There are a few moments where things go off the rails, like when we try and fail to figure out Toto's "Rosanna". I do really enjoy the phrygianesque ja...

Free Background Music - Thinking Theme, Vsauce Ripoff

I needed some "pondering" music for my last video, so I whipped this up in about 30 minutes. It's in 7/4, which keeps it from being too noticeable in the background. The Tritone keeps it mysterious, while, the major third keeps it from getting too creepy.  It had it randomly modulate, and also removed sections to avoid repetitiveness. 

My inspiration was the background music you hear i...

Hard Mode Rhythm Challenge

My next video will be pretty complicated, and should post on Saturday. I'll be posing you all a challenge - how do you write the demonstrated rhythm? 

In the video everything will be visual, but the hard mode challenge is for you to figure it out by ear. Take a listen to the kickdrum and bass in this jam and tell me what you think is going on? 

I'll also be posting the full jam w...

My Neil Young song

Howdy!

One of the projects I finished before I started my Youtube channel was  I decided to write a Neil Young song. Luckily I had a guy that could imitate his voice fairly well, Mike Muggli. You've heard him on the first episode of the Signals Podcast.

I wrote a fingerpicking progression that went from D major to Fmaj7, two "god chords" that don't fit into a key, but give a dreamy fl...

Where What and When should I live stream?

Hey you wonderful folks you!

I'll be doing live lessons, jams, song writing sessions, and more. I finally got the audio routing to work out correctly, and it's only a few more hours of tweaking till I get the video to look good.  

I want to know what your thoughts are on if I should stay on YouTube or switch over to Twitch for live stuff? Also what sort of stuff would you like to see ...

Sciency Tech Background Beat

Here's a track for you to use in any way shape or form. It'd work great as the background music for "How It's Made". 

2 Royalty free background tracks for videos / games / etc

You have 100% permission to do ANYTHING YOU WANT WITH THESE BEATS. 

"Bass and Drum" is a good loop to add excitement under a voiceover or narration, I made it specifically for my videos. 

The Dark Droning beat I made for Egyptian themed escape map for the game Counterstrike. It'd make great menu-music for a desert-inspired indie game.

I hope you find some use out of these, ...

THE DEBUT EPISODE of the Signals Music Podcast

I'm very excited to share with you all episode 1 of the Signals Music Podcast. My maiden voyage into podcasting is assisted by Mike Muggli. He's a choir director and music teacher with a background in sound engineering and synthesizer geekdom. You can hear his music here 

https://soundcloud.com/moog-lee

And his Yo...

New video tomorrow, new tracks this week

Hey everyone, I have a new video for you all tomorrow that will showcase how to compose chord progressions in minor keys. 

I've decided to expand the genres in which I demonstrate things too, so you'll see some EDM, Metal, Floyd-Rock, and more. 

Hopefully this video will show you how easy it is to start writing things that actually sound GOOD, and that all you need to make it sou...

What's getting done in April?

Just wanted to update you all with my "production schedule" for this month.

I'm usually working on 2 or 3 ideas at the same time and try to get one uploaded each week. This month here's what you can expect-

-A lesson on writing in minor keys

-Information on context in music

-A rhythm puzzle

-An audio/video remix of one of YouTube's music heroes (?)

I'll be very busy...

A Blank Canvas - Neutral Jam from the "Meet the Modes" video

I recently made a video demonstrating the modes over a jam track. I've extended the loop to 7 minutes for your modal mischief.

This is an EXTREMELY BORING track. It is up to YOU to make it exciting by playing around with different scales. Keep in mind, there are many scales outside of the major modes that will still work over a track like this. Any scale with a root and a 5th will work (that's a...

Holy Hemiola!

My next video on Hemiola will be up soon. At the end of the video, I demonstrate an improv solo over layers of hemiola, all in a simple B Dorian progression.

As a bonus for you all, I've included the audio to the whole piece of music, as well as the piece with no lead so you can improv or write your own lead on top. It's VERY fun to play off of both sides of the rhythm here...

Also I've in...

For my first "Let's Write..."

In April I'll be making a video where I make a full section of music start to finish, and walk through the composition choices I make for each instrument. What style should we start with?

Funk Jam in A Dorian

You can use A Pentatonic Minor as well to melt faces over this track. 

Acoustic Summer Jam Track in A Major

Upbeat, Jack Johnson style jams. 

Minor Blues Jam Track in A

A smooth and smoky Minor Blues in A. Try Pentatonic, Minor, and Dorian in places. 

Pink Floyd Jam Track

This track in E Minor is a blast to play over. I made a video on my channel on how to imitate David Gilmour over this same track.