Guitarist Profile 13 of 24
Master · The Songbook
You know tunes, and tunes are what the music is made of.
Mindset
Master
The balance between the journey and the destination.
You have both halves: somewhere you want to get to, and a way of practicing you actually enjoy. The goal gives the work a direction, and the daily work is a pleasure in itself, not only a means to an end. That balance is what every player is aiming for.
- What it gives you
- You finish things, and you enjoy getting there. A plan you stick with for weeks, played with real enjoyment, beats any amount of new information.
- Why it works
- Most players lean one way. Mercenaries chase the destination and wear out on the way. Monks love the journey and never get anywhere in particular. You hold both: you know where you are going, and you like the walk.
- The next level
- Keep the balance as the music gets harder: one four-week project at a time, and re-rate your six skills every one to three months so the focus moves with you.
Signature strength: Repertoire
The Songbook
Your repertoire is ahead of your other skills. That matters more than it sounds: every other skill is learned on tunes, and tunes are what get you onto the bandstand.
Deep dive
What a Master Songbook is like
You practice on purpose, and you enjoy it. You know what you are working on, you have a plan for it, and you still look forward to picking up the guitar. You have probably built your own system out of books, transcriptions and teachers, and it works.
This is the mindset the other three are working toward: a destination that gives the practice meaning, and a journey you would take even without one. From here, growth comes from depth and from an outside perspective, not from more willpower.
You have a working book and you add to it on purpose. The next level is owning those tunes: soloing and comping on them, not only knowing them.
Where the next level is
- Going deeper, not wider. At this stage the gains come from taking one tune or one idea much further, not from adding more.
- Hearing yourself from the outside. Even well-planned practice benefits from an ear that isn’t yours.
- Learning from players further down the road. Solo architecture, bebop language on real changes, the hard two bars of a tune: past a point, you learn most from people who have been there.
From members who started where you are
“I already knew a fair bit about jazz guitar before I joined Chase’s Guitar Academy, but I wanted to increase the vocabulary that I did know and also learn a lot more of the tunes that I didn’t know.”
“I have studied online a lot: ArtistWorks, Mike’s Masterclasses, JazzWire. These are great sites, but Chase’s is more interactive, and it’s all about the guitar. It has improved my playing considerably.”
What gets you there
- One tune, all the way
One tune a month, with every lesson pointed at it, takes you deep instead of wide.
In the academy: Tune-based learning: one tune a month, every class pointed at it
- An outside ear
Chase hears what you are working on and tells you what he hears.
In the academy: Personal feedback: Chase reviews your playing every week (Premium)
- Learn from people further down the road
Masterclasses with working jazz guitarists, and the advanced levels of the curriculum.
In the academy: Guest artist masterclasses (Premium) and the advanced Blueprint levels
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What the quiz adds
Your own six bars, and a plan
A profile is half the picture. The quiz also ranks your six skills against each other, names the one to work on first, and gives you a 30-minute daily plan and a starting point. It takes about 10 minutes.
