About George

          We all have different life experiences which make us unique and the method contained in this website is the result of my own.

         I started with lessons on the accordion (don’t laugh ... I was introduced to chord symbols at age seven). I later became interested in jazz and moved on to the piano, then on to the organ with my first rock and roll band. In high school I learned to play the French Horn, which became my major instrument at the Dana School of Music where I earned a music degree.

         I was a public school teacher for a few years in the Midwest before moving to Los Angeles, where I made a living doing club and studio work on piano and keyboards. While I was there, I had the good fortune of studying with Lyle Murphy. He has since passed away but his unique system of theory and composition lives on.

         After relocating to Northern California, I began teaching privately in my home studio and made connections with a few local band directors who had developed excellent middle and high school jazz programs. I had been experimenting with techniques of teaching improvisation and had some success with a number of their students. The more students they would refer, the more I was able to develop those concepts by keeping the things that worked and throwing out those that didn’t. After ten years, it evolved into a method which includes written jazz studies and technique building as well as studies in pop, blues, and jazz improvisation.

         I created this website to make George’s Path Through Improvisation available to those interested in joining a jazz ensemble, band directors who are building a jazz program, classical musicians who have always wanted to learn to improvise, former high school band members who would like to start playing again and private music teachers as well as jazz veterans who are interested in supplemental material.

         Although nothing can take the place of regular private lessons, I believe that this site provides the best possible teacher presence and support. To learn more, click on the play button below and listen to the Audio Overview. You can also check out our Lesson Samples and the Demo Lesson as well as the Software and Print Instruction guides. This should give you a very clear picture of why George’s Path is so successful.

                                  

A Teacher, Tunes and a Combo