You're about to discover a realistic shortcut to learning jazz created by a Jazz Education Hall of Fame inductee, which helped him become a become a gigging pro at age 16 (with hardly any knowledge of theory), and how you can use the same shortcut to become a confident jazz guitarist in months instead of years...
without all of the jazz theory overwhelm.
It will take you 5 minutes to read this page, and only 1 minute to make a decision.
I’m going to describe what JazzGuitarStudio.com is, what it’s about, and then you can decide if you want to join.
JazzGuitarStudio.com is for guitarists who want to play jazz, but are frustrated and sick of the academic, theoretical approach that has become the standard in jazz education.
If you're anything like me, you love Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, and so many others...
These are the greats that defined the sound of jazz guitar.
Interestingly, none of these great musicians had much formal training, other than maybe a few lessons. They learned mostly by listening to records and playing by ear. They certainly weren't spending their practice time studying jazz theory text books.
I've been playing music for over 40 years, playing guitar for over 35, and teaching guitar for over 30...
I've gone to college for music and studied with some well-known guitarists. If you'll excuse the humble-brag, most people consider me to be a pretty good guitar player. But I always struggled to play jazz until I had an epiphany emanating from my discovery of a little book called Shortcut to Jazz, by Bunky Green.
Bunky Green is an alto sax player, recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz improvisors and educators ever. He has 14 albums to his name and was inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame for Jazz Education in 2003.
From the Preface of his book: "The purpose of this book is to put into capsulized form the learning process involved in jazz improvisation. In essence to create a realistic SHORT-CUT..."
"The inspiration... came from tracing my own jazz learning experience. I discovered that I learned to play through the imitative (or practical) method... as opposed to the theoretical (or speculative) method. For example, at the age of 16, I could play every recorded Charlie Parker solo note-for-note and I performed professionally with his recordings as my main resource area, knowing hardly any theory."
Shortcut to Jazz is a "theory follows practice" book. Musicians who have played "by ear" will recognize the licks and phrases as familiar sounds that are standard in the jazz vocabulary.
The booked changed my entire perspective on learning to play jazz...
It made me realize that jazz is truly a language, and it has to be learned like any language.
When we're toddlers, we listen to our parents, siblings, and other people around us speak. We attempt to imitate the sounds of the words they use as we associate the words to there meanings. Eventually we use the words and phrases that we've learned to improvise conversations to express our own thoughts and feelings.
It's just like improvising jazz.
So I adapted the principles of Shortcut to Jazz to better meet the needs of guitarists, and created the JazzGuitarStudio.com curriculum.
Beginner to Advanced
Challenge Level
New Step-by- step Lessons
Every Week
Complete Curriculum
For Less $ than a Private Lesson
You’ll Learn…
Simple but essential music theory, as laid out in Bunky Green's book
It basically boils down to knowing your major scales, building 7th chords on each scale degree, and numbering them I△ ii-7 iii-7 IV△ V7 iv-7 and vii∅.
Authentic Jazz vocabulary that you can use to improvise right away
We'll internalize the lines and phrases of the greats so they become a natural part of your jazz language.
The most important chord progressions in jazz and how to comp them
As guitarists, we spend most of our time comping for other soloists. I'll teach you a dynamic approach to chord playing that will make comping just as fun and creative as soloing.
How to apply your new skills to actual tunes so you can sit in on any jam session
Jazz is a collaborative art. You need to play with other musicians, and I'll help you develop the skills to do it.
Three phases of learning to play jazz
Phase 1: Imitate
Learn the language by repeating what the greats played. Learn and collect lines, phrases, solos, and chord phrases. Improvisation is the reorganization of language you already know.
Phase 2: Assimilate
To assimilate is to take into the mind and thoroughly understand. Internalize the language and work with it until it is inherent in your playing.
Phase 3: Innovate
Leverage the language you've acquired and mastered as a launching pad for your own unique and original musical voice. Just as writers tell their own stories with a common language, we can do the same as jazz guitarists.
Doug Blackall
Jazz Pianist, Organist, and Educator
John Kunes is a fantastic musician. In my experience playing with John, his innate musical talent is ever present in his guitar virtuosity and his true love for music.
Bill Lally
Freelance Musician
Having worked with hundreds of guitarists in my 30-plus years as a musician, John always impresses me with his musicianship, precision, emotion, and superb understanding of music theory. Without a doubt the best guitarist I know.
Are You Ready to Play some jazz?
Take the first step toward becoming a confident jazz guitar player with the JazzGuitarStudio.com step by step curriculum.
Access your first lesson immediately...
$7/month
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
I'm so confident in this approach to learning jazz guitar, I'm taking all of the risk and offering a rolling 30 day money-back guarantee. If you're ever unhappy with your JazzGuitarStudio.com membership, just let me know and I'll refund any payment you've made in the last 30 days!
About the Instructor
John Kunes has performed on stages in Chicago and Boston and just about everywhere in between. He has studied music at Monroe Community College, Bowling Green State University, DePaul University, and Eastman School of Music. He studied guitar with jazz virtuoso Jimmy Bruno. As a music educator for over 30 years, John's passion is helping students discover their unlimited potential as musicians.