I think if you can get 10 tunes learned by heart; the melody, the harmony and an idea of what to play over it, then you will be well on your way to getting 100 tunes in your repertoire. The jump from 10 to 100 happens without you really noticing. The first 10 is the hard part. That's why I started putting this mammoth course together many months back. I wanted a clear example of how you might go about learning those first 10. Each tune has; The barebones of the original melody to be learned by ear A version of the melody played with a more jazz feel The Harmony explained clearly with colour coded lead sheets A recording of me playing chord tones over the harmony like a bassist (with transcriptions) A recording of me playing a double stopped harmony over the chords (with transcriptions) Some improv tips A sample of me soling over the changes with a short explainer I guarantee that if you manage to learn everything I have put together here, you WILL be able to say "I know that one" when someone calls it at a jam. Right now the course is only $30 on here, soon to be going up to $50 when its finished. (its also added on to my "Jazz Violin Starter Pack" course for the time being too) Get in now to get the discount but have access to the course for life! find it here https://www.skool.com/jazzviolin/classroom

Today I pieced together the whole of my Coquette etude and learned it properly. Its filled with lots of twists and turns, lots of different harmonic concepts and a few simple Grappelli licks too. I put together something like this each month or thereabouts for my Jazz Violin Practise Club, available for anyone on the VIP package here. Or all of the material we learn in there is broken up and turned into exercises for Premium and VIP members. If you fancy getting a hold of this sort of thing each month, plus full transcriptions of everything, explainers and help along the way of learning everything. Why not try it via the link below. https://www.skool.com/jazzviolin/plans

My friend sent me this video of me playing a blues 13 years ago. It taught me a few things about myself and progress. Firstly, I don’t love it. It was difficult to see my technique, plus hearing my sound and intonation was a tough one. But it is great to see that the many hours of practise that I have done since then have really helped. I didn’t start out from a young age with good technique, I was a terrible violin student as a child and teenager, most of my work on this has been as an adult. Small amounts of practise consistently and a “long game” approach has helped me develop a lot as a violinist. This is something I believe in so much for all learners, there is no quick route to success with any instrumental practise. Some good things… It did remind me that I’ve had a good sense of swing for a while, I grew up around my jazz musician grandfather and spent summers when I was visiting going around with him to his gigs, playing “trad” jazz. Listening to this has really helped me take stock of what I could already do from a young age which in turn has helped me really think about how I help others who might not have had this exposure to jazz early on. I have some fun plans for helping others get themselves around jazz rhythms on here. There is a new course in the works! Please be kind in the comments...

I love posting in here. A few days ago I posted a video of a little etude I wrote on a blues for myself over a blues. Ok, then what? 1. @Viktor Houf posted in comments his version! 2.Because I posted about what I was going to do with the etude for myself, I actually followed through and at every given opportunity with my violin I’ve been practicing it in 4 different keys. 3. il probably use this etude in my practise club for the next few weeks on Monday and really dig into it with everyone.

This is exciting to me. I am a Fiddle player in Missouri. I was intrigued about the 46 runs in the key of G12 minor 5123 etc. how do I get that so I can start practicing