Looking to hear one thing you have practised a lot that has helped you make large leaps in your playing. I’ll go first... Forcing myself to play a certain amount of phrases within a certain amount of bars. For example, taking an 8 bar section of the form and saying: "I have to play three improvised phrases within this section." What’s yours?

Try this technique yourself. It can work for anyone who has been playing for a little while at least. 1. Recorded yourself playing over a tune. 2. Try to learn what you played 3. See how you can make it better. (This could just be technical stuff or even note choice or phrasing) This is great for someone who has been working in jazz for a while and wants to solidify the things that they are already playing.

Welcome to Learning Jazz Violin. This is a place of support and community for people who are, well… learning jazz violin. Please introduce yourself to the rest of the group by posting in the community discussion board. I’m Matt Holborn, a jazz violinist based in London UK. A lot of what I do is within the Django and Stéphane style, but I’m also passionate about straight ahead, swinging jazz, and different forms of folk music. I also play in musical comedian Bill Bailey’s live band. In this community you will find: • A free discussion board for posting about anything jazz violin related • 2 free courses in the Classroom section (Bowing, and Learning Honeysuckle Rose) There are also lots of different paid courses (which you can currently access by signing up to a paid tier). Each of them is designed not only to give you information but to help you get into the mindset of a jazz violinist. I teach by ear with videos, technical exercises based on jazz language, and assignments based on opening up your violin playing with harmony and improvisation. I don’t have a one-size-fits-all method because that just isn’t how jazz works for me. My teaching is about showing you how many jazz musicians think, and how you can use that to shape your own musical voice in jazz. I hope you enjoy using this space with us! Matt