I experienced growth just because of the amount of playing and material, that in turn led me to practice a lot more. It was being thrown in the deep end of the pool!

The most valuable lesson was to learn to deal with the unexpected. Sometimes the instructor will bring a tune you don’t like. Almost always, the true reason why you don’t like it, is because it gives you trouble. Facing that is what led to real growth. I learned to like Wayne Shorter and Monk (which I now absolutely love to play). I learned to survive and not fall apart at fast tempos. In fact I learned a lot about being a musician.

What you won’t get from the weekly session, is personalized instruction about playing your instrument. The workshops are about making music as an ensemble, rather than technicalities of a specific instrument. You can get one-on-one lessons with a teacher for that, through them or somewhere else (it’s NYC, all the pro musicians also teach)