Private lessons
I offer private lessons remotely (using Skype or Zoom). To set up a lesson, please contact me by clicking here.
Youtube
You can find free instructional videos, performance videos, and music videos on my YouTube channel. While you're there, please be sure to subscribe and click on the bell icon so you'll be notified when I post new videos.
mike's Master classes
I have over forty video lessons available on Mike's Master Classes. All lessons include written materials, and most include MP3 backing tracks to use while practicing concepts. Subjects range from Jazz Guitar Harmony, a five-part series which covers the basics of harmony as it applies to jazz guitar, to the popular Modern Jazz Guitar series, which presents ways to get the "modern" sound that has become prevalent among today's foremost jazz guitarists. Many other subjects are available as well, and all are presented in a well-organized, clearly-explained manner with plenty of real-world examples. Please click on my available lessons below to watch the promo videos and learn more about what each class includes:
Diatonic Triads Complete part 1: Traditional Triads
Diatonic Triads Complete part 2: Suspended Triads
Diatonic Triads Complete part 3: 7th no 5th
Diatonic Triads Complete part 4: 7th no 3rd
Diatonic Triads Complete part 5: Clusters
Spring is Here: Exploring the Harmony of Bill Evans
Comping the Blues part 1: Comping Rhythms
Comping the Blues part 2: Voicings
Body and Soul: Putting Chords to Work
The Art of Bass and Chords for Jazz Guitar
Walking Chords for Jazz Guitar
Walking Bass and Chords Bass-ics
Bossa Nova Bass-ics
Jazz Guitar Finger-Style Technique
Open String Concepts for Chords and Single-Note Lines
Melodic Minor Complete part 1: Theory
Melodic Minor Complete part 2: Practical Application
The Diminished Scale: A Modern Jazz Guitar Approach part 1
The Diminished Scale: A Modern Jazz Guitar Approach part 2
The Diminished Scale: A Modern Jazz Guitar Approach part 3
Rhythm Changes: A Modern Jazz Guitar Approach part 1
Rhythm Changes: A Modern Jazz Guitar Approach part 2
The Blues: A Modern Jazz Guitar Approach part 1
The Blues: A Modern Jazz Guitar Approach part 2
Modern Jazz Improvisation part 1
Modern Jazz Improvisation part 2
Advanced Jazz Guitar Harmony: Drop 2&4, Drop 2&3
Advanced Jazz Guitar Harmony: 4-part-4ths
Modern Jazz Guitar part 1: Origins
Modern Jazz Guitar part 2: Melody
Modern Jazz Guitar part 3: Harmony
Modern Jazz Guitar part 4: Rhythm 1
Modern Jazz Guitar part 5: Rhythm 2
Jazz Guitar Harmony part 1
Jazz Guitar Harmony part 2
Jazz Guitar Harmony part 3
Jazz Guitar Harmony part 4
Jazz Guitar Harmony part 5
TrueFire
Mike's Master Classes also has a channel available on the guitar education website TrueFire. The MMC channel contains excerpts of full-length classes from many of the MMC teachers, as well as unique content in the form of mini-lessons and performance videos. Below are two examples of my mini-lessons that are available for free on the channel (even for non-subscribers):
Unchain Yourself from the Root
In addition to the two above free mini-lessons, I also have a few more short lessons available on TrueFire that are only accessible to subscribers (and which aren't available anywhere else). They include: Jim Hall Voicings part 2, Single-String Playing, Locking in with the 8th-Note Triplets, and Getting Started with Solo Guitar.
free transcriptions/lessons
"They Can't Take That Away From Me"
This is a transcription I did of Ted Greene's arrangement from his Solo Guitar album. I attempted to get his performance as accurately notated as I could, and I included performance notes to help with getting some of the special techniques and nuances. I made a recording of myself performing the transcription, so please click on the video below to listen. I did take a few liberties by adding an extra low bass note here or there and changed a few of the chord voicings, but I tried to stay true to the spirit of the original performance. Download the PDF of the transcription here.
Wes Montgomery's single-note solo on "Satin Doll"
Download the PDF of my transcription here.
Hank Mobley's solo on "Dig Dis"
These are the first three choruses of Hank Mobley's solo on the Bb blues "Dig Dis" from his classic album Soul Station.
Download the PDF of my transcription here.
Charlie Christian's solo on "Wholly Cats"
Charlie Christian's solo on the tune Wholly Cats from an unreleased session with Lester Young
Download the PDF of my transcription here.
Listen to the recording on YouTube here.
Gilad Hekselman's solo on "Moanin'" (from Ari Hoenig's Lines of Oppression)
Gilad Hekselman takes a great solo on the Bobby Timmons tune "Moanin'" demonstrating creative use of rhythm and notes choices.
Download the PDF of my transcription here.
"Goodrick for Dummies"
Mick Goodrick has long been a hero and role model to me, and I've spent quite a bit of time working with his voice-leading material presented in the three volumes called Mr. Goodchord's Almanac of Guitar Voice-Leading for the Year 2001 and Beyond. I would go so far as to say that the material in these books changed my whole conception of music and the guitar. In the process of working with these concepts, I was slowly but surely able to wean myself from actually needing the books open on my music stand. As I was making that transition, I wrote a few notes that served as reminders for the different voice-leading cycles and chord types. I jokingly dubbed the result "Goodrick for Dummies." In the years since, I have shared my notes with interested students and fellow guitarists. One such guitarist, David Stern, was nice enough to clean up my document to make a more presentable version in 2015, and I updated it in June of 2023. While this version is still very much in shorthand form and may not mean much to anyone who doesn't already have at least a little experience with the material from the above-mentioned books, I am offering it here to anyone who is interested in hopes that it will be helpful.
“Goodrick for Dummies”