Thanks for a great lesson and such great advice. I also wish I'd learned to read (I had a weird mental block as kid that somehow if I did it would mess up my ear). And I'm with you on phrases over scales. Really just want to say a big thank you for your advice over the last few years. My band is picking up some lovely gigs at venues with (what I call) listening audiences. Really feel like we're making some great music. I'm lucky to be playing with some wonderful musicians, but there's no way I could keep up my end without guidance like this! P.S. speaking of flat 5ths I've been obsessing over a Jimmy Smith number with Kenny Burrell, Sugar Hill, they both play some very cool, weird sounding licks