Due to high demand we are looking at adding a spring edition of DOTI. My camp on the Isle of Wight focused around learning and playing Gypsy Jazz. If you are interested and potentially free April 24th-27th please let me know in the form below. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeM-G-h97Wrn5vmiDCvF0qWXpiBntkqd9DcSY2XzIc6bP_uxQ/viewform?usp=header Matt

Tell the group in 1-3 words, what your current goal is for your playing. mine: learn more tunes

My present mission is to try to incorporate some of what I'm learning here into my improvising, much easier said than done! To that end I've been practicing some 4 bar lines, just over 1 chord. This example has elements of a bebop scale pattern, arpeggio and an enclosure. All comments and advice gratefully accepted.

About to get on a plane for a family Christmas in Poland! No session tonight for our Christmas Break but there’s the first part of my new Etude on Coquette up in the Études course (classroom), for anyone who wants to get some practise in over the holiday period. Also today is the last day of $100 for my Jazz Violin Starter Pack. Combined with the free bowing course in there it’s the perfect setup for becoming a jazz violinist. Get hold of it for the next 12 hours at this low price. Merry Christmas!

Did you know that the first semblance of bebop played on the violin might not have been Jean-Luc Ponty, as a lot of people think? Has anyone ever heard of Harry Lookofsky? He was a classical violinist who led the orchestra on loads of L.A. string sessions, including many of the famous “jazz musician with strings” recordings you might have heard. But he also loved jazz, and in 1959 he recorded a great album called Stringsville. The album has lots of really hip arrangements of well-known jazz tunes and some completely wild solos played by Harry. The interesting thing is that he didn’t improvise. He got his jazz musician friends, including Hank Jones and Bob Brookmeyer, to help him write the solos and work on the arrangements. The lines are full of bebop language and he swings really hard, but he didn’t improvise a note. What do you think?