You may have noticed the new name, new look, same URL address. Here's what's happening. Starting August 1, everything I've built since 2012 consolidates into this one place. No more separate programs, tiers, memberships or courses living on different platforms. One academy. And you're already in it :) What this means for you: 🔓 *The full classroom is now open* All 30-something courses. Every standard, every deep dive, the complete archives. Unlocked for everyone in here. Go look. It's all there. 📅 *Live calls, every week (continued)* Saturday 9 AM ET with me: our regular office hours, Q&A, jam, whatever-session. Plus Wednesday workshops with Coach, on rotating topics. 8 live calls a month. 🎯 *One clear path* Start (or re-start) with the Pinnacle philosophy, build the Foundations, then stack repertoire and vocabulary, tune by tune. The mountain is big - we chip away at it together. *What does NOT change*: Your access, your rate, your community. If you have any questions about your membership or billing, just email [email protected] and we'll take care of you personally. This is the Skool I always wanted to run. Simple, upfront, everything included, nothing held back. See you Saturday at 9. Bring your guitar, your questions ...and your game face! 🎸 — Marc PS one more thing, and it's a fun one. 🎁 The Academy now has an affiliate program: if you know someone who'd love it here -- a guitar buddy, a bandmate, that friend who keeps saying they want to learn jazz, then share your affiliate link. When they join, you earn 40% recurring commission for as long as they're a member. Do the math: refer a few friends, and your own membership might wind up costing you nothing :) Spread the word -- the room only gets better with more players in it.

Hey everyone, hope you’re doing well. Lately, I’ve been sharing some thoughts on how to build your own phrasing using pre-existing material — lines, phrases, and licks you’ve learned from other players — and how to transform those ideas into something that feels truly your own. I thought it might be helpful to show how this process actually looks in practice, at least how I’ve been approaching it in my daily sessions. So I decided to record two segments from my study session today. I literally just hit record and practiced, capturing the full time blocks exactly as they happened. This is part of what I call the Idiomatic Cell Approach, a framework I use to assimilate and internalize external material until it becomes part of my natural vocabulary. In this case, I’m working with a line from Pat Martino’s Linear Expressions book, but the same process can be applied to simpler material too — for example, the 3-note lines we use to approach the thirds of the chords that we worked on in lesson 4 with the Bullseye Method. - The first video shows a 5-minute assimilation block, where I work through each idiomatic cell individually and then combine them. - The second video is a 5-minute call-and-response block, where I use those cells as **Conversation Starters** for short improvisations. You don’t need to watch the full blocks, but I thought it could be useful to show what this process looks like in real time. I hope it gives you some ideas for developing your own vocabulary with whatever material you’re working on. As always, feedback is welcome — I’d love to hear what you think.

Ok guys, this is one of my favorite standards, so I’m taking my time exploring its skinny chord melody and doing some ‘noodling with purpose’ on the improv. The tempo is pretty challenging, and I’m planning to experiment with more chord voicings, but at least the structure is in place. Sharing it here in the spirit of ‘finished, not perfect’—even if it’s not finished yet, lol!

This is the July Challenge on the Fellowship. I haven't posted in a while, my tendonitis is almost gone. At least i get to practice a bit more, almost normal. Now this one was way harder than expected! I guess the weird form and the 'poppish' feel of the song was why i love the song but also why it was hard. I ended up just going by ear and not playing the changes which is why i'm not totally happy about it. On the other hand i think it turned out pretty well and i kinda sang the melody while playing to keep a link to the song. https://youtu.be/dYTf9iBKIEE?si=oB6JZxd9MFPSt_Lq

https://youtu.be/WkmXqE-DEl8?si=FzTd1c88bOHqCUig Haven’t posted in a while… I’ve spent a lot of time practising and performing with a female vocalist lately, so now it’s time for a change: rhythm change. This is roughly my take on Anthropology at Marc’s tempo—120 bpm. I’m using iReal Pro for the backing track. The sound quality isn’t ideal; I’m playing through a Positive Grid amp here. Looking forward to hearing your feedback!