The Formula

Name: The Formula
SKU: SCDVD_04
Price: 29.95 USD
Availability: InStock

$29.95

Learn the Conti approach to advanced re-harmonization of your chord melody arrangements to achieve a pro-level sound. Considered by many pro guitarists and pianists as the “go to” resource on the subject, this is another best seller now enhanced with 6 hours of DVD video!

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Streaming Video Options (Info About Streaming Video)

Category: Source Code DVD Series Tags: chord melody, formula, reharmonize

Description

Description

Overview Video

Learn The Formula, the Conti approach to advanced reharmonization of your chord melodies to achieve pro-level sound. Considered by many pro guitarists and pianists as the “go to” resource on the subject, this is another best seller now enhanced with 6 hours of DVD video! First, Conti reduces what is generally viewed as highly complex subject matter to a handful of quickly comprehensible guidelines. Next, through a series of examples, Robert clearly demonstrates his Formula to create the reharmonized pro-level arrangements as seen in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine, the Play Pro Chord Melody Today DVD Series and his Signature Chord Melody Arrangement books. Learn his methodology and you’ll be amazed when you hear the results you’ll begin to accomplish very quickly.

The Formula – Disc One – 4 Hours

Conti teaches The Formula! Then he presents 4 SOLID HOURS of the “How To Nuts & Bolts” with numerous ideas and examples. Within the first few chapters of this Book and DVD, any upper level intermediate student will learn exactly how to begin creating stunning Pass, Peterson and Tatum type substitutions and reharmonizations for any standard, simply by learning Conti’s Formula to manipulate the most basic elements of harmony with ease.

The Formula – Disc Two – 2 Hours

Robert spends ANOTHER 2 HOURS to present the viewer with 3 full length songs that further demonstrate real world applications of the methodology he taught on Disc One. You’ll soon understand why thousands of savvy jazz guitarists and pianists rank The Formula! as the ultimate methodology book on the subject of reharmonization.

We are frequently asked the difference between The Formula and The Chord Melody Assembly Line. Simply, The Formula teaches more advanced concepts in reharmonization. If you’re just starting out with wanting to create chord melodies from a lead sheet or fake book, start with The Chord Melody Assembly Line instead.

The Formula Includes:

Full size 8.5″ x 11″ Booklet
Two DVD set totaling 6 Hours of high quality instruction from Robert Conti
Easy to read chord grids for every note

I think it is the best

I think you are the only one that explains the magic of chord melody! I admire Conti's method, I think it is the best, a hands on approach and at the same time it teaches the way professionals play. Like we Brazilians say, he doesn't only give the fish, he teaches to fish! I love jazz standards and I hope I will study a lot with Conti's help!! Thank you very much! It's a pleasure for me to recommend a very good teacher and Conti is one!!!

Opened up a universe of sounds...

I would like to thank Robert Conti for sharing his knowledge, I have learned a lot from "The Formula" and his chord melody arrangements that I already acquired all of them. I spend hours reading the songs, absorbing the sounds and it inspires me a lot to find "The Formula" in them and find my own paths. His method has opened up a universe of sounds and harmonic pleasures that I didn't know existed. Thank you very much again and I hope to find you happy and in good health.

Incredible breakthrough for me

Over the years I've learned, memorized and performed many songs but it was only after reading your Harmonic Protocol that I now understand how to approach reharmonizing a song in a harmonically rich jazz idiom. Incredible breakthrough for me -- thanks again to you. Of course, still a long way to go in that direction, but I believe by learning to fluidly play several of your chord arrangements I will build my chord vocabulary and eventually get to where I can cycle through and play those chords as you say -- "as easy as writing my own
name."

Enthusiasm to persevere

I am progressing well with the previous material that I have ordered. This is the first educational material that I have had the enthusiasm to persevere with - it's brilliant. I have a new lease on life, musically speaking!

The Formula

Amazing stuff- secrets unlocked!

Dense materials

I just read the first ten pages are full of great concepts and it will take time to assimilate and internalise them... I love your approach! It will be a great journey exploring the rest of the Formula!! Grazie Robert!

Terrific materials on chord melody

I am a retired (EARLY retirement!) university professor and administrator who taught music criticism at the graduate level. I've also been a practising musician for over 40 years now. Although I have played in jazz bands for years, I restricted myself mostly to comping until I discovered Robert Conti's column in Just Jazz Guitar, and then his terrific materials on chord melody. I was delighted with the DVD of The Formula to finally be able to see and hear Mr. Conti. His down-to-earth style of instruction really resonated with me.

1 2 3

This IS the guitar of one’s dreams…

First, the punch line: After a month I’ve concluded that this guitar is not a substitute, surrogate, or compromise for that more expensive jazz box that one longs for and cannot afford. This IS the guitar of one’s dreams.

I’ll be as brief as I can. I have many guitars. But no real jazz guitars. I don’t play much jazz, but sometimes want to go there, and somehow my .strandberg* just isn’t right. I try to stay away from retail stores because there is ALWAYS something that catches my eye. But, I needed a set of strings and since I was near a store, I stopped by. As usual, I looked at used wall. There was nothing interesting. Walk away. Quickly. But… what’s that? Needing a ladder to get to it, there was a red wine archtop high on the wall. Conti? What’s a Conti? I’d never heard of them. I suspected that it was some Asian product, à la Cort (Nothing wrong with Cort. I believe they made my .strandberg*.) I found someone to get it down and I played for three minutes. I was meeting someone for lunch in fifteen minutes so I had no time to play much. I put it back.

It was two weeks before I was back in that neighborhood. In that time I did some research and if you are reading this, you’ve done the same and I won’t bore you with the details of Robert Conti’s business model to bypass the middleman. None of his guitars would be sold in stores. No distributors. Instead, he sells direct to player. He asks his prospects to trust that the guitar he gives them will make them exceptionally happy. That’s a big ask. You can’t play one to see if you like it.

Armed with this information and with more time set aside I went back to the store. While every other Conti customer needed to muster faith to buy, I had the luxury of actually playing one. The model is Equity, discontinued after the first production contract ended. The guitar played well and seemed well taken care of, 99% brand new. There were very few scratches, no dings. I copied the serial number and went home.

I went back to the Conti website but could find no serial number reference, nor a support page, but I could chat online with Steve. I asked about the serial number, and he told me the guitar was built in 2013. He also said that from what he knew of the previous owner, it should have been well taken care of. Wow. Steve told me the guitar was solid wood, not laminate. He asked me about the price and told me it was a very good deal. So, I went back the next day and bought it.

The next day I cleaned it and changed strings. It was clean but needed a little detailing. The cleaning process brought me closer to the instrument (LOL the truss rod cover on the headstock still had it’s original protective plastic covering). At every turn I was surprised and impressed by the build.

I love this guitar and I consider myself lucky to have it.

Will re-energize my daily practice routine.

Robert is an entertaining and competent instructor with a wide range of past real-playing experience of the bandstand. Mike provided tech support and sent ZOOM setup instructions before the lesson to avoid wasting time on video-audio snags.

Robert took a few minutes at the start of the ZOOM lesson to review my personal history, music experience, and to assess my technical skills. He came well prepared for my lesson (3 handout documents) with a focus on improvisation, as requested. He “tuned” this first lesson to my level of interest and playing ability.

His approach to improvisation is direct, different, and perhaps unique. He presents a down-to-earth focus on fingering the fretboard rather than using a theoretical approach of pairing various scales/modes to each chord in a progression, one at a time.

Robert demonstrated the wide application of major scale riffs to a surprisingly wide range of chords built from the major scale. This simplification avoid overthinking (my bad habit) which creates lock-up, anxiety, and lag when suddenly called upon to solo on the jazz bandstand. He played these riffs over backing tracks “live” that he called out to Mike who played the audio files on-demand. Both Robert and Mike were attentive to my music lesson. Robert concluded the lesson with additional tips and a clear assignment and challenge to be completed before a future lesson.

To conclude, the “hands-on” Conti method avoids over-complicating the improvisation process and it will re-energize my daily practice routine.

Video Comments

See attached video for Lee's comments

A brilliant approach

The Precision Techniques has helped me hone my technique tremendously and like every Robert Conti Book with CD it is extremely practical and gets you running in the real world playing while mastering the theory as you go so it is extremely efficient and all-encompassing and frankly, better than the dozens of books and classes that I’ve tried. It is a brilliant approach.

Robert's teaching approach stands out

It was a pleasure to spend the two hours with Robert and I must also thank you for the technical assistance and making sure everything went smoothly - I know it’s a team effort on your end.

As for my comments on the lesson : Robert gave me plenty to think about and I’ll be putting the ideas into practice in the woodshed. It was particularly enlightening to hear how he approaches improvisation over certain chord changes and this is something I look forward to picking his brains about in future sessions too on other standards. Roberts teaching approach is something that stands out - he has a way of making you feel comfortable and engaged whilst also being very to the point. I particularly appreciated that he didn’t waste precious time just having me play things over and over as from experience a lot of ‘teachers’ seem to do that instead using the time to impart as much advise and information they can on the student - often a means to get more money out of students and not give too much away in terms of valuable information. As Robert said - he’s not here to teach someone how to play, he’s there to show you what to play and why etc. this is exactly what I need. He had me play the lines to get them under my fingers and ensure I understood the concepts and knew that I am to take them away to practice in my own time. This allowed Robert to use all the time available to feed me more and more ideas and pearls of wisdom.

I will most certainly be booking another lesson after I’ve got some more practice in as there are many more things I’d like to ask Robert and certainly a lot for me to learn!

Best and most efficient way to learn jazz guitar

So much easier for me to practice and learn all of the valuable information Robert has shared on these videos! This is without question the best and most efficient way to learn jazz guitar and I plan on ordering more around Thanksgiving! I totally stand behind Mr. Conti's teaching methods 100 percent as they really work! He truly understands what he is talking about and knows how to teach it to others in the most comprehensive and applicable ways possible! It also helps that he is one of the best Jazz guitarists I have ever heard!

The Formula

Description

Overview Video

The Formula – Disc One – 4 Hours

The Formula – Disc Two – 2 Hours

The Formula Includes:

Customer Reviews

More Pages To Explore

Get Updates From Conti

Streaming Video Option

Now available

up to 30% off

limited group of studio & prototype entradas

black friday sale Details

Worldwide Students Speak

The Formula

Description

Overview Video

The Formula – Disc One – 4 Hours

The Formula – Disc Two – 2 Hours

The Formula Includes:

Customer Reviews

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More Pages To Explore

Get Updates From Conti

Streaming Video Option

Now available

up to 30% off

limited group of studio & prototype entradas

black friday sale Details