Inspiration

    5 Simple Things You Can Do Today To Play Better Solos

    You’re constantly practicing, listening, and striving to improve your ability to improvise…yet for some strange reason, the next level of playing somehow seems to elude you. Etudes aren't doing the trick. Scale patterns have become...Read More

    You’re constantly practicing, listening, and striving to improve your ability to improvise…yet for some strange reason, the next level of playing somehow seems to elude you. Etudes aren't doing the...Read More

    How to Adopt an Improvement Mindset in Music and Everything Else

    So you want to change the way you play? To improve your sound and your solos. To become more effortless in your technique. To finally get rid of those bad habits and creative roadblocks in...Read More

    So you want to change the way you play? To improve your sound and your solos. To become more effortless in your technique. To finally get rid of those bad...Read More

    Discipline For Musicians: How to Get It Without Going Crazy

    To an outside observer, I look like a disciplined person. The kind of person who works hard and puts the time in to move forward on their goals. And to some degree this is certainly...Read More

    To an outside observer, I look like a disciplined person. The kind of person who works hard and puts the time in to move forward on their goals. And to...Read More

    15 Mistakes Beginner Jazz Improvisers Make

    Every single person who wants to play jazz starts out as a beginner. There’s no way around it!! And over the first couple years of learning how to improvise, only a small handful of beginners...Read More

    Every single person who wants to play jazz starts out as a beginner. There’s no way around it!! And over the first couple years of learning how to improvise, only...Read More

    Why Perfection is The Enemy of Jazz

    Everyone hopes to be perfect one day. Play with perfect intonation, the perfect sound, perfect lines…But what if I told you that the whole idea of perfection is actually what’s holding you back? That aiming...Read More

    Everyone hopes to be perfect one day. Play with perfect intonation, the perfect sound, perfect lines…But what if I told you that the whole idea of perfection is actually what’s...Read More

    Why The Way You’re Thinking About Music Could Be Holding You Back

    Scales, Chords, Progressions, and Tunes... These are the words we all use to define and think about music. It's how we make sense of the songs we hear, how we talk about the solos we...Read More

    Scales, Chords, Progressions, and Tunes... These are the words we all use to define and think about music. It's how we make sense of the songs we hear, how we...Read More

    How to use the 4 stages of learning to achieve your dreams as a musician

    Why is learning how to play jazz so hard? Is it that there are a million tunes to know? Or the thousands of great jazz solos to transcribe? Or is it all that crazy music...Read More

    Why is learning how to play jazz so hard? Is it that there are a million tunes to know? Or the thousands of great jazz solos to transcribe? Or is...Read More

    3 Tricks to Learning Tunes From Recordings That Have Nothing to Do With Practicing

    With all the play-along sets and backing tracks available everywhere today, it’s becoming less and less common for people to learn tunes directly from recordings. I mean, why waste your time figuring out the changes...Read More

    With all the play-along sets and backing tracks available everywhere today, it’s becoming less and less common for people to learn tunes directly from recordings. I mean, why waste your...Read More

    10 Things Every Comeback Player Needs to Know

    You’re a musician. Or at least you used to be one...You played an instrument in high school, faithfully took private lessons, and performed at dozens of recitals and concerts. Maybe you even went on to...Read More

    You’re a musician. Or at least you used to be one...You played an instrument in high school, faithfully took private lessons, and performed at dozens of recitals and concerts. Maybe...Read More

    Make 2017 Your Best Musical Year – Use These 3 Simple Steps to Reach Your Goals

    Let’s be real. New Year's Resolutions don’t work. Every year, January 1st comes and people act as if they’re going to entirely reinvent themselves, that this is the year. The year that’s different than all...Read More

    Let’s be real. New Year's Resolutions don’t work. Every year, January 1st comes and people act as if they’re going to entirely reinvent themselves, that this is the year. The...Read More

    The Ultimate Guide to Overcoming Frustration in Jazz Improvisation

    Believe me. I know how frustrating jazz improvisation can be. There have been many periods where I’ve wanted to quit for good. Never play again. Times when I’ve seriously considered putting my horn on Ebay,...Read More

    Believe me. I know how frustrating jazz improvisation can be. There have been many periods where I’ve wanted to quit for good. Never play again. Times when I’ve seriously considered...Read More

    The Inconvenient Truth About Becoming a Better Improviser…

    Making progress as an improviser is tricky business. I'm not talking about the baby steps along the way like learning a new tune, transcribing a solo, or even practicing a few scales. I'm talking about...Read More

    Making progress as an improviser is tricky business. I'm not talking about the baby steps along the way like learning a new tune, transcribing a solo, or even practicing a...Read More

    The Talent Myth: Why Exceptional Musical Ability Is Within Your Reach

    Talent. It's a word that's thrown around in all professions and all parts of life. From sports and academics to art and music. And nowhere is it more prevalent than in jazz improvisation. We listen...Read More

    Talent. It's a word that's thrown around in all professions and all parts of life. From sports and academics to art and music. And nowhere is it more prevalent than...Read More

    20 Practice Hacks for the Busy Musician

    Time is the only thing we really have in life and there never seems to be enough of it. But whether your goals are to just play for fun or to become a professional musician,...Read More

    Time is the only thing we really have in life and there never seems to be enough of it. But whether your goals are to just play for fun or...Read More

    How to Take the Guesswork Out of Jazz Improvisation…and Unlock Your Creativity

    If you’re like me, you can picture it in your mind. Walking on stage in front of an audience and jumping right into a solo. Knowing exactly what you want to play and confident that...Read More

    If you’re like me, you can picture it in your mind. Walking on stage in front of an audience and jumping right into a solo. Knowing exactly what you want...Read More

    How to Avoid the 4 Harmful Mindsets that are Sabotaging Your Practice Routine…

    If you’re serious about reaching your musical potential or stepping up your jazz improvisation game then the majority of your time as a musician should be spent in one place: The practice room. It’s where...Read More

    If you’re serious about reaching your musical potential or stepping up your jazz improvisation game then the majority of your time as a musician should be spent in one place:...Read More