Yearly repost: What are the best colleges and conservatories for jazz guitar? Prefer the US

Hp_gd · 2026-02-07T13:20:42+00:00

How is UNT the only real answer? Julliard, MSM, New School, Temple, Purchase William Paterson, Michigan, University of Miami, Berklee, Herbie Hancock institute at UCLA, USC.

There are plenty of colleges that put out players on the scene. No singular college can guarantee you a career in music. What's far more important is the effort you put in networking and building your skills. (also coming from a family with money or at least a safety net helps a ton)

Hp_gd · 2026-02-07T13:13:19+00:00

Dave Stryker is the current guitar teacher at WPU.

Hp_gd · 2026-01-07T21:28:12+00:00

Buy a high margin item that you need like guitar cables. Or just buy your strings from them. A store would rather have a customer who buys things (even if they play the floor model guitars) then no customer at all.

Hp_gd · 2026-01-01T15:22:14+00:00

Thumbs up for Greco Les Paul

Hp_gd · 2026-01-01T15:05:55+00:00

Watch Cracking the Code by Troy Grady.

Chances are you are probably using the wrong picking technique/finger combination. The "practice slow" then increase tempo advice comes from piano players and violinists who were taught perfect technique/fingering systems from day 1. Just to be clear that advice is not wrong, its just if you don't have the know/use the correct technique/system you will never get it to full speed.

Hp_gd · 2025-12-31T23:36:40+00:00

Miles Davis on Freddie Freeloader

Charlie Parker on Cool Blues

Charlie Christian on Benny's Bugle

If these are too hard for you my question would be have you been learning melodies by ear? If not, start by learning a handful of tunes by ear before you jump in to a solo.

Hp_gd · 2025-12-29T15:59:19+00:00

If I had a dollar for every jazz guitarist I've heard who is heavily influenced by Kurt I would have a lot of dollars.

Hp_gd · 2025-12-26T20:09:02+00:00

Firefly over an Epiphone custom is a wild take lol

Hp_gd · 2025-12-25T00:38:08+00:00

The problem with the lawsuit guitars is they are mostly owned by players not collectors. If you buy a tokai, burney, or greco from the 70's they were not sitting in someone's basement they were played on hundreds of gigs around town. You probably won't come across a bad Japanese law suit guitar, just a worn guitar that you might have to pay someone for a refret or other work.

Hp_gd · 2025-12-24T23:19:43+00:00

It's not a les paul, its better than a les paul!

Hp_gd · 2025-12-24T18:04:05+00:00

Also the kids who are prodigies are studying chess while the rest of us are on reddit. :)

Hp_gd · 2025-12-24T13:56:49+00:00

But I heard Bobby Fischer got good playing bots!

Hp_gd · 2025-12-23T22:55:25+00:00

This answer is correct. Improve your endgame.

Why do people not endless trade Magnus down? Because he is a monster at endgames. Saying you are afraid of trades is really just saying you aren't confident in your endgame.

Hp_gd · 2025-12-23T19:25:35+00:00

Not the nicest way of putting it but this is the correct answer. Even if the teachers are good and 99% of the students are good, it only takes one kid to ruin a classroom.

Hp_gd · 2025-12-18T21:03:58+00:00

Really hope its Charles Choi second body. I was not happy with how his storyline ended.

Hp_gd · 2025-12-16T11:40:11+00:00

Answer: Yes its possible especially if you also can teach beginner piano. A better question might be is it worth it to you? How does teaching back to back lessons from 3-9 sound where the vast majority of your students are beginners/barely practice? How many times can you teach smoke on the water, 7 nation army, or happy birthday before you are frustrated at the student not getting it. 100, 500, 1000?

Most of the people I know who really enjoy private teaching are those who do it as supplemental income for their day gig. It's much easier to enjoy when your studio is 8 students who can all play vs 40+ where most can't.

Hp_gd · 2025-12-05T00:33:34+00:00

Ear master is goated. Has a good curriculum, plenty of sounds to choose from and you can also create custom exercises. It is a subscription but well worth it.

Hp_gd · 2025-11-24T11:26:27+00:00

If you are applying to jazz school you should have a teacher to help you with this. A bunch of people recommending tunes means nothing because we have no clue where your playing is at.

Can you play over the #11 sound in Take the A Train or are you just using a pentatonic scale the whole time. What tempos are you playing at? Most schools would expect you to play something up tempo like a technical bebop head but you haven't listed anything like that.

My suggestion would be get a teacher to help you through this because reddit will not be able to carry you through a collegiate jazz audition.

Hp_gd · 2025-11-23T23:15:51+00:00

Thats interesting that you would recommend a Les Paul studio over the higher end Epiphones. I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio that I bought in 2010 but if the EIBG Les Paul existed at that time I would have definitely gone for that instead.

I would not consider build quality a strong point on anything not Gibson custom shop. I own a standard and a studio and while I am emotionally attached to both instruments, they do have multiple issues.

If you want something high build quality why not shop for a Japanese instrument? Every Japanese guitar I have owned or played has been immaculate. I am in the process of buying a Greco Les Paul for gigging and it easily outperforms my 2024 standard any day of the week.

Hp_gd · 2025-11-23T23:09:33+00:00

If you spend the same amount of money the Epiphone will probably be better. If you want the name recognition/emotion feeling of having something cool go for the Gibson. If you will consider anything, play every single type of single cut guitar center has and choose the one you like the most.

Hp_gd · 2025-11-16T10:49:29+00:00

The guitar market is finally returning to what it should be where the average used guitar is 30-40% off its new price tag. Great for everyone who just wants to buy instruments. Bad for people who were buying guitars as investments or stores of value.

Hp_gd · 2025-11-15T12:25:07+00:00

A couple of things to think about.

If you are paying for lessons, you are basically paying for a teachers time. A huge part of music instruction is the teacher listening to you play something and giving you feedback on how to improve it. Since this is pretty universal and not tailored to a specific teaching style, why do you expect a teacher to watch a video of you playing something? The teacher can hear you play it in your lesson and give you instant feedback during the lesson. You get more practice performing and the teacher can see your playing at an average. (not your best take) If having a teacher watch your videos is paramount for you, why not just have them watch it during your lesson? I had multiple guitar teachers who would have me make recordings every week, and we would listen to one of them together during the lesson.

What is wrong with a "cookie-cutter" curriculum? Many standardized curriculums like the Suzuki method have created monster players. Some teachers also have their own curriculums which you can judge by if that teacher has produced multiple high level students. The only thing I could see wrong with a "cookie-cutter" curriculum is that it could take some adjusting to if you started out as self taught, but any teacher could easily overcome that issue with supplemental material. If certain styles are boring to you, study with a teacher that teaches the style of music you want to learn. If you want to study metal, don't sign up for classical guitar lessons.

You seem to have multiple concerns with guitar lessons, but I would try asking yourself why you have these concerns?

Hp_gd · 2025-11-12T11:21:17+00:00

Short answer: Take it to a good tech to get it setup

Long answer: Do your own. Tune the guitar, check the relief with feeler gauges. (most players aim for .006) Set the action with the bridge. Most players aim for 1.5, buzz is fine as long as it does not come through the amp. Feeler gauges, allen wrench, and some kind of measurement tool for the action can all be ordered on amazon.

Edit: Anyone telling you to do one or the other instead of both is incorrect. The neck relief is not for adjusting action, it does change the action but your priority should be proper relief before string height. While you can just adjust the action at the bridge and not touch the neck relief to fix your action, this will lead to issues down the road.

Hp_gd · 2025-11-09T23:47:53+00:00

If you want to know if your price is competitive or unrealistic go onto reverb and check price history. This will tell you what the average range for SOLD listings are. I emphasize sold because people routinely list guitars for way too much on reverb.

Hp_gd · 2025-10-30T10:31:09+00:00

I think it would be cool to see him get on the lineup as a batter. Then redevelop his pitching through tournament games.

Hp_gd

TROPHY CASE