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

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!

Welcome to Learning Jazz Violin. This is a place of support and community for people who are, well… learning jazz violin. Please introduce yourself to the rest of the group by posting in the community discussion board. I’m Matt Holborn, a jazz violinist based in London UK. A lot of what I do is within the Django and Stéphane style, but I’m also passionate about straight ahead, swinging jazz, and different forms of folk music. I also play in musical comedian Bill Bailey’s live band. In this community you will find: • A free discussion board for posting about anything jazz violin related • 2 free courses in the Classroom section (Bowing, and Learning Honeysuckle Rose) There are also lots of different paid courses (which you can currently access by signing up to a paid tier). Each of them is designed not only to give you information but to help you get into the mindset of a jazz violinist. I teach by ear with videos, technical exercises based on jazz language, and assignments based on opening up your violin playing with harmony and improvisation. I don’t have a one-size-fits-all method because that just isn’t how jazz works for me. My teaching is about showing you how many jazz musicians think, and how you can use that to shape your own musical voice in jazz. I hope you enjoy using this space with us! Matt