JAZZ EDUCATION – INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED LEVELS
I have been teaching jazz guitar since 2009. Using an intuitive and holistic approach, we work on integrating the various elements of music – the intellect, knowledge, and theory along with the intuitive, somatic (body), and emotional and energetic realms. We discuss not only the “stuff” of music – notes, scales, chords, vocabulary – but also how to embody and apply all of it. We can also discuss mind/body training and flow states. We learn to move away from playing from the “right or wrong notes” that our minds tell us – and instead towards using all the notes, listening and playing what we hear. We will start or expand our jazz/blues/improvisational vocabulary, depending on what music inspires you the most. I love using recordings and transcriptions (learning solos of jazz masters) to help you develop a sense of language, so you can "speak" (or sing, rather) in an informed, intelligent, and musical way. We can also discuss various possible challenges to expressing creativity, and how to work through them as well – helping us to achieve and maintain those more effortless flow states.
Topics include:
- Improvisation
- Transcriptions/Jazz vocabulary
- Learning jazz tunes/standards
- Composition
- Rhythm/Time
- Scales and Modes
- Theory
- Advanced jazz chords and chord melodies
- Voice leading techniques
- Accompaniment
- Bossa Nova/Latin jazz
- Blues
- Reading
- Performance anxiety/nerves/inner work/flow states
- Breathing exercises for playing
- Life lessons we can learn from music
- Lots more!
Please reach out if you have any questions. Looking forward to working with you!
THE POWER OF ONE NOTE: HEALING THROUGH MUSIC – FOR ALL LEVELS
Do you deeply feel there is more to life than the story you were told? What are you REALLY looking for, and why are you drawn in that direction? Are you looking for a deeper meaning to life’s existential questions? Does music inspire you, and maybe even frustrate you? I believe music carries the answers to many of Life’s deeper questions and points the way back to our true Self, beyond our perceived limitations. It carries the power to heal. It carries the potential for creative expression and to feel our deepest essence. It allows us to experience the freedom and joy that we always long for.
At the same time, do you long to play music or pick up an instrument, but are overwhelmed by the amount of time it takes to really master it – the 10,000 hours, as they say – that you shy away from it and avoid picking it up at all? The reality is, with music you are never done, regardless of how many hours, even a million. So, where should we really begin?? And what is the way towards a fulfilling and creative musical life? This is ultimately the more important question!
I would say it can be summed up in one word: PRESENCE. Isn’t this what draws us to our favorite musicians and artists? There is something about them and their music – it is deeper than just some notes. It is their energy, their very BEING. I believe that, like life, music is an endless path on the one hand – BUT THE FULFILLMENT YOU REALLY DESIRE LIVES WITHIN AND STARTS WITH ONE SIMPLE NOTE. The knowledge, theory, amount of songs you can play, your ability to shred on the instrument – that is all important and valuable, but it is not the ESSENCE of what calls us to music in the first place. What you are really looking for is yourSELF – a strong connection between you and your instrument – this is the essence of
Yoga, which means “Union.” It is the same thing you seek in a relationship or any other attainment. It is your True Nature, that lives in this Now moment. Playing music can be a gateway to the Kingdom of Heaven, to the peace and love tha resides within us forever. From that place of reverence, we can learn to sow seeds for the tree of musical and creative greatness.
So…what is it that stops us or hinders us from growing – or even picking up an instrument in the first place? Maybe we feel scared, like it would be too hard to learn. Maybe we already play, and want to start playing professionally or take it to the next level. Or maybe we are just a little stuck
or stagnant or in a rut and get things flowing and moving a bit.
Whatever it is, or appears to be, there is a way through it and back to the inherent inspiration and creativity that is an inherent part of your BEING. Through the use of breathing techniques, somatic awareness, and yogic ideas and practices, we can get in touch with our true selves and unlock our incredible presence and energy and creative potential – and express ourselves more freely and fearlessly.
INTUITIVE GUIDANCE READINGS – DONATION BASED
Are you aware that you create your own reality?
From one perspective, we think and feel that life happens TO us – but at a deeper, more conscious level, things also happen FOR us – to help us and wake us up to our infinite and eternal nature.
The pain we experience in life is often a reflection of a false belief system about ourselves, caused by a trauma of some kind. This results in the outer world reflecting this back to us because of an energetic imbalance in our thoughts and/or body.
If you are experiencing certain issues in life, I can compassionately hold space and offer a deeper understanding for you, as well as resources and a path forward. We can discuss shadow work, positive focus, energy and the Law of Attraction/Mirroring to help us wake up to who we really are and powerfully create the lives we want.