Introduction

Hi there! My name's Rob Luft. I'm a guitar player from London, specializing in jazz music and its related genres, such as:

• World music
• High life from Africa
• Samba from Brazil
• Eastern European folk

I am working on playing different styles from across the globe.

Background

I'm the jazz tutor for this course, and I'm excited to share insights about:

• Jazz
• Scar
• Samba
• Bossa nova

I've been working professionally as a jazz musician on the London scene for nearly 10 years. I've had the pleasure of playing with artists like:

• Django Bates
• Gregory Porter
• Kerys Matthews

I grew up playing in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain. After that, I studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Baker Street. Upon graduating with several awards, I went on to win second prize in the Montreux Jazz Festival's Jazz guitar competition in 2016.

Since then, I've had performances all over the world, including six continents, and I've toured South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile) and Europe, performing my original music to fantastic sell-out audiences.

I'm fortunate to be signed to Edition Records, Britain's flagship independent jazz label, where I have one album released under my own name and I'm about to create my second.

Course Overview

The reason I'm here is not to focus solely on my background, but to tell you how the pieces we'll be covering will assist in your development as a professional guitarist.

Highlights of the Course

Here are some key elements we will explore together:

• Jazz Styles: We will look at various styles that fall under the jazz umbrella, including:

  • Jazz fusion
  • Samba
  • Bossa nova

• Techniques:

  • Advanced picking techniques
  • Alternate picking
  • Right hand techniques
  • Exotic scales
  • Fingerstyle technique

Getting Started

I want you to enjoy yourself as we work through these materials. My aim is for this course to inform and educate you, so you'll learn a lot along the way.

On that note, let's get going! Let's have some fun, get practicing, and before you know it, you'll be playing some jazz.