Was thinking about this today and wanted to know your thoughts? Is it just someone who can improvise over chords? Is it someone who knows some section of the “jazz canon” (tunes from a certain era of jazz) Is it someone who plays “the language” in their solo? Is it someone who can swing? Some might say it’s all of these out together however sometimes one or two of these are missing or one of these points seems to be a min focus over all of the others? I don’t think you have to have ALL of the above but I reckon most of these need to be in there somewhere. What am I missing?

Tell the group in 1-3 words, what your current goal is for your playing. mine: learn more tunes

Today I've been practising using a string of enclosures on the the chords in a Rhythm Changes. This little line/exercise uses two tryes of enclosures, aiming at different notes of the chords, also making sure the chord tones are generally on the STRONG bats (1234) with the enclosure notes surrounding them. Try it out! (By the way, the transcription of this is in the "Exercises" course in my classroom for anyone on Premium or VIP tier)

Hi all, I've been rejigging all of my courses in the classroom to make things easier for people to understand what I offer and how you can get hold of all of the material I’ve put together (and continue to put together) for jazz violinists of all abilities. I’ve also created a simple pathway specifically for beginner jazz violinists to help you get the most out of what I do and know exactly where to start. Its attached to this post! If you’re not sure where to begin, just head to:👉 Classroom → Start Here It walks you through the pathway step-by-step and shows you what’s included at each membership level. If you’d like access to everything, you can join: 🎻 Premium – Unlock all courses and materials 🎻 VIP – All courses + weekly live classes + replays Or you can purchase most of the courses for a one time fee. As always, feel free to ask any questions. Excited for you to dig in!

Some say it’s pointless But here’s why I think it’s pretty much necessary It’s perfect source material for building jazz language. You can rip bits of people solos, learn them in the right context and use them when you solo. You can really get into the rhythm, swing and small intricacies that make up someone’s style and the greater style that is jazz music. You can get the feeling of playing a GREAT solo. When we first start playing jazz, chances are that we aren’t playing GREAT solos. We are just learning right now. By learning to play someone else’s genius improvisation we are getting the chance to play great music, as we do when we learn to play classical or folk music, we play GREAT pieces of work by master composers. Anyone disagree with me? I'm ready to have my mind changed, I promise!