Wherever you are in your playing, getting some 1-1 support, even just for a period of time, can make a big difference. Looking back at my own playing over the years, the biggest jumps always came when I had that extra bit of guidance from someone who knew exactly what I needed to work on. I try to make this community as helpful as possible for everyone, but there’s only so much I can do in a general setting. The biggest progress tends to happen when things are more focused and personal. So I offer a coaching package of 4 lessons. The idea is to use that time properly and make a real shift in your playing, rather than just dipping in and out. Over the 4 lessons you’ll get: • 4 x 1-1 sessions with me • feedback on your playing and specific things to improve • help with tunes, improvising and understanding the harmony • a clear idea of what to practise between sessions • 4 lesson recaps so you can keep track of what we’ve worked on • a full practice plan to follow once the lessons are finished It’s really for people who want to move things forward properly and not feel stuck going round the same things. I’ve got space for one person to start this at the moment. If you’re interested, send me a message and let me know where you’re at with your playing, and we can see if it’s a good fit.

People are often inquisitive about why I talk about enclosures all the time. Questions like… “Is jazz just made up of enclosures?” The answer is “no” of course. Jazz is so much more than that, however so much of the “chromatic material” that you hear in your favourite jazz solos is made up of enclosures. There are a bunch of other “chromatic concepts” that you might find that aren’t exactly “enclosures”. I’m maybe halfway through my new course on here that outlines all of the above and gives you practical exercises to drill them into your playing. It’s going to help consolidate a lot of what I teach in my online classes and will hopefully serve as both a library for these ideas as well as a way for you to actually start using them in your practice. Check out the free mini version in the classroom right now!

My beginners course has changed. I’ve renamed it from “Jazz Violin Starter Pack” to Jazz Violin Foundations. Jazz Violin Foundations is designed to help you make a proper start in jazz by actually playing, listening and doing, not getting stuck in theory. It’s my complete guide to getting from 0 to the point where you can start playing with other people. For the next week, it also still includes the 10 Tunes You Must Know course. That’s the part where you take what you’ve learned and apply it to real tunes. Learning melodies properly, understanding the harmony, and getting comfortable playing through songs. After that, I’ll be keeping the two separate, as I’ve spent a lot of time honing them into two distinct courses that work together but also stand on their own. You’ll work on things like: • training your ear so you can hear and play ideas naturally • using the blues as a foundation for jazz language • call and response to build phrasing • simple theory that makes sense on the violin • learning melodies by ear • working through a full jazz standard step by step • improvising with small, usable ideas • groove and time feel • starting to hear and use real jazz language If you join now, you’ll also get the full 10 Tunes You Must Know course included. That’s the part that takes you from learning the basics to actually being ready to get out and start playing with other jazz musicians. You can get hold of it in the classroom now while both courses are still included together. Get The Course

Tomorrow between 10 and 11am (UK time) I have a little time tomorrow to chat with anyone on here about their playing and progress. Totally free, anyone welcome. Only really 2 slots available however. Sign up for your 20 min slot below. https://scheduler.zoom.us/matt-holborn/jazz-violin-chat

Last minute call out for any questions you might want answered this afternoon!