Thanks Dan and GDaddy.

GDaddy, the course I have been listening to refers to what you are on this discussion. The author refernces Louis Armstrong to creating his trumpet style birthed out of his vocal techniques. And much of what has developed has come from that principle. I love the melodies. It just comes down to what makes those melodies so appealing is the accompaniment of the chords behind it.

Dan, I am definitely going to dig into the Berklee link you left. It is good to know that I am in good company with another player out there that loves this stuff. I have done chord inversions for a number of years so to create another sound beside the root based chord. One guy that I have an eye in watching is Joe Pass. He, like Wes Montgomery, have nailed what I want to aspire to in that they have the ability to play melody and chord movements in the same time. So, you see where I am going with my inquiry is if I can understand how these chords inter-relate I can begin to venture into how to create melodies within a series of these chords.

The next time I listen to the program I will try to get the link for you. I found it by chance on the iTunes-U page. It was the only music/jazz course and it seemed quite extensive in that it goes into the history back to the beginnings of how the banjo was used first because the volume was greater than an acoustic guitar. It then goes into how the acoustic became electrified along with some absolutely incredible players from the 20's & 30's. You know the term "shredder" is often what you hear when teaching the "youngin's" the guitar. Mounds of distortion on top of overdrive with anything left going into delay and reverb; now you are "shredding." These guys back in the 20's & 30's were swifter than anybody today with all the processing only they did it raw on an acoustic guitar.

Gdaddy & Dan, when you get the chance, do go to iTunes-U and look up jazz class available. There are some 75, 15 minute programs that are aired out of Atlanta, GA. The author's name is, "Dr. Gordon Vernick." The program is called, "Jazz Insights." You check it out.

I will spend some time over the weekend looking over the Berklee chords 101, 102 and jazz guitar info, if they have any free topical stuff available. Thanks again for the chord options. I am going to be toying with them as well over the weekend.

Thanks,
RickeG