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School’s over. How will you keep your jazz skills moving forward?

Another year of school has passed. You’ve learned a ton from your teachers and from your fellow students. And that kind of guidance is what moves your playing forward. But summer break is here and you won’t be in that same environment day to day. maybe forever if this was your last year (congrats on graduating!)

How will you continue to elevate your playing without the built-in deadlines and regular feedback that come with school?

Continue to perform with your friends and colleagues every chance you get. But what will your private practicing look like? The question becomes: how do you keep that kind of guidance active when you’re working on your own?

I’ve recently released a new platform called The Loft.

The Loft is built to extend that process so you’re not practicing in a vacuum between lessons or outside of school. It’s is a free feedback mechanism built specifically for improvising musicians of any instrument. Submit a recording of your improvisation within the platform, answer two questions about what you want to improve and how you’d like to sound, and I will give you my input.

That input will include some free resources like my written review, short videos from my interviews with great players and teachers that address something specific to your playing, and exercises from Music Savvy that you can integrate into your practicing. I’ll probably include a bit of inspiration to motivate you through your learning journey. I’ve got a lot of resources to choose from! 

For example, watch these two brief samples from the Music Savvy library about how two great players think about practicing: 

Ted Nash talks about how he practices

Ted Nash talks about how he practices

Hear Ted's thoughts on practicing and how that integrates into various aspects of his whole life.

Ron Carter on practicing advice to a student

Ron Carter on practicing advice to a student

Ron describes his meticulous practicing method and how he encouraged a student to do the same.

Once you submit your playing sample to The Loft, I will personally respond with specific feedback on what I hear, what to adjust, and what to work on next.

Your submission along with my response will be posted on the main page for The Loft. There, you can listen to other submissions and read my responses. In some cases, I record tracks to demonstrate things that I recommended as exercises or listening examples. You can also leave comments that constructively add to my input. I think your teachers will agree that helping others is a great way to clarify your own thinking about your playing.

If you’re a teacher, this gives your students a way to stay engaged with focused feedback when that structure isn’t there from you.

Why am I providing this, and for free?

First, hearing you and others helps me make better tools within Music Savvy. I hear the aspects in your playing that may be holding you back from your full potential. I aslo can read your own thoughts about what you want to improve. That’s gold for a content provider like me.

Second, I want to build a community around the topic of improving one’s improvisation. Hearing others and seeing what they struggle with helps you realize you are no alone in those specific things you want to improve.

And third, it allows me to reach more players who can benefit from the courses, books, and other resources offered by Music Savvy.

Submit a sample of your playing to The Loft. Not your best nor your worst, but something that reflects pretty much where you are right now.

I look forward to giving you some things that will elevate your practicing and playing this summer!

Start your free Music Savvy account or log in and then submit your playing and thoughts to the Loft.

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Picture of Michael Lake

Michael Lake

Trombonist, author, marketer, & tech guy

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