“Some people don’t play very well, but they own a lot of equipment. Some people don’t play very well but they understand all the music theory. That’s the difference: Marc’s focus is on performing, and that's the key part.”
- Steve Visio
Steve's Journey
Stephen has been playing guitar since his teenage years, starting to jam with his brother to songs by Jim Hendrix, SRV, and other rock and roll. He decided not to pursue a musical career, and guitar remained just a hobby after he married and had kids. Steve also played a bit of bass in an amateur jazz group for a while, meeting professional musicians and proficient jazzers.
With a strong background in rock, blues and pop, Steve later developed an interest in jazz. He found the JazzGuitarLessons.net website through an online search and recognized the quality of the free lessons and videos. He wanted to go through the Charlie Parker Omnibook and learn from The Real Book. Unfortunately despite receiving good pointers from fellow jazzers, he still didn’t get anywhere in jazz on his own. Steve also noticed he heard musical phrases in his mind, but could not materialize them on the instrument. So his starting points in jazz were: no habits, no structure and constant ups-and-downs in his musical self-esteem.
Since starting working with Marc, Steve made peace with the amount of effort required to master jazz and became less neurotic.
He developed a plan with his coaches, maintained steady practice habits, and can now deliberately and systematically improve his jazz guitar skills on a daily basis. Even after wrestling with jazz and all the elements required to become a decent improviser, Steve put his trust in the process, and in Marc to guide him through it. And he got to the point of “believing Marc can make me a better musician”.
The group dynamic within Jazz Guitar Accelerator helped Steve tremendously on this journey as well. Watching the other guys in the group lessons struggle with some materials reinforced his commitment and discipline. Managing expectations was also a key part of the entire process for Steve, to avoid “scope creep”. He was able to keep an eye on the prize, but trust the process and put less pressure on himself.
Nowadays Steve has a good time learning new things and enjoys playing jazz comping, bebop tunes, scale drills, some theory and playing decent improvisation on a daily basis. Coaches on the Jazz Guitar Accelerator have been delighted to witness Steve’s transformation firsthand, and hope to watch him grow musically even more.
Timeframe
10+ Months (ongoing coaching with Marc)
Transformation
- Steve saved a significant amount of years (been trying to play his whole life), acquired the skills, and changed his mindset around playing jazz.
- Steve now understands that talent is made through practice. This alone significantly improved his confidence and skills in playing jazz.
- Practicing and learning in a group environment yielded better results than a private teacher for Steve.
BEFORE
Directionless.
Didn’t know how to get started in jazz, and didn’t know what to do next.
No structure, no habits for improving jazz skills.
Soloed all pentatonics.
Stuck on playing only the things I already knew how to play.
Couldn’t play the phrases I heared in my head on the guitar.
Musical self-esteem was a rollercoaster.
Neurotic with my music/performance/practice.
AFTER
Confidence! Realized jazz is not “either you have it or you don’t”.
Eliminate delusions: appreciating the amount of time it takes to master jazz.
Understanding the process: “The Art of Studying” jazz guitar.
Has a vision of what it's like to play daily to have impactful practice sessions.
Built habits and structure for musical practice.
Musical self-esteem: deliberate. Inputs and choices DO affect the outcomes.
More relaxed (neurotic), enjoys playing the music, and keeps the growth going!
Within a few months, I was no longer asking ‘just tell me what I need to do to improvise jazz!’ and realized it's teeny-tiny daily improvements that just continue to accumulate. The net effect is that my whole skill level is improving.
_
Steve Visio
