Psychology
How you can play so much better right now
There is a fascinating process that I constantly see played out. Instantly, it can elevate the ability of players. They are amazed
Quick and easy mastery of jazz?
I woke up this morning to an email from an online jazz instructor claiming, in essence, that 1. large amounts of practice
The compound results from better habits
I’ve written about habits and even dedicated a lesson to the topic within my Improvisation Savvy course, but it is the compounding effects of habitual behavior that I want to explore with you.
Some lessons from a Super Bowl halftime of old
As proof that I’ve been on this planet longer than a couple of decades, watching the relentless hype before and then half-way through the Super Bowl last night left me reminiscing.
I don’t respond well to it, but I understand that
Just tell me the buttons to push
My recently turned 18-year old son is a passionate photographer. He’s got himself a little business where people pay him for senior photos, family portraits, sport team pictures, and other personal moments.
Thoughts for a prosperous New Year
“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubein
Happy New Year to you!
The four stages of competence
Mastering a skill involves an integration of awareness and competence. Being aware of your current level of competence is necessary for improving any skill from riding a bike to brain surgery, including of course, jazz improvisation.

Michael Lake
Jazz/latin trombone, author, multimedia artist, marketer
The new book by Richie Beirach and me
Throughout the past year, Richie and I have been writing a book on jazz education. It is called Teaching and Learning Jazz: From tradition to
How you can play so much better right now
There is a fascinating process that I constantly see played out. Instantly, it can elevate the ability of players. They are amazed and delighted that
The finishing fetish
Before a rehearsal tonight, I was speaking with a couple of friends/bandmates about some of my improvisation methods They’ve been following a few of my lessons and