Klotz Guitar Studio
Private Guitar Lessons

Jazz Guitar Lessons

I was introduced to jazz by accident, but studying it has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. I grew up playing rock and metal and had a pretty decent grasp on those styles by the time I went to college. I was able to distinguish between major, minor, and pentatonic scale lines by ear pretty easily, but I had one recording that baffled me. I took the recording in to my guitar instructor and asked him if he could tell me what those sounds were. He responded with the names of some scales I had not heard of… half-whole diminished, whole-tone, and super-locrian if I remember correctly. I assumed he could better teach me through the music he knew and so I agreed to study jazz. I fell in love with the music, it has made me a much better musician/teacher, and it continues to influence my directions of study today.

By learning jazz guitar, you gain a deep understanding of how music works and you are able to function at much higher levels in all genres of music. I am fortunate to perform in a wide range of contexts and meet a lot of great musicians because of that understanding. Jazz guitar lessons at Klotz Guitar Studio range from basic jazz language to advanced jazz concepts depending on your interests and prior experience.

Basic Jazz Guitar Lessons

In these lessons we focus on learning basic scales, arpeggios, chord voicings and their application to repertoire.

Intermediate Jazz Guitar Lessons

Intermediate lessons get deeper into vocabulary, improvisation, and rhythm. The repertoire continues to expand into more challenging tunes that introduce new concepts.

Advanced Jazz Guitar Lessons

Advanced lessons focus more on exploring and mastering advanced conceptual ideas. These topics vary but include ideas such as advanced substitutions, intervallic improvisation, cluster voicings, and advanced pentatonic applications.

Core Areas of Study

Repertoire

Songs are critical to the application and reinforcement of any learned vocabulary. As lessons progress they are used to introduce new concepts.

Phrasing (Improvisation/Comping)

This topic has an endless list of ideas, but here are a few examples:

Rhythm

Rhythm could be considered a phrasing topic, but I consider it to be too in-depth (and often overlooked) to not be its own topic. The goal is a mastery of all primary subdivisions: eighth notes, triplets, sixteenth notes, quarter note triplets, and hemiolas. It's important to be fluent with all of these subdivisions in order to really sound great in any situation.

Other Common Jazz Guitar Lesson Topics

Jazz Guitar is a broad style with many different areas to explore. It is common for lessons to branch out into topics such:

In Summary

If you are still reading at this point I applaud you for you internet attention span. If you can't tell by the length and detail of this page, I'm very passionate about this topic. I hope you will consider taking a lesson and checking out what I have to offer.

Best wishes on your musical journey!
Eric