Julian Lage has announced his first ever guitar masterclass. The jazz guitar maestro has assembled a faculty, booked out the Wilson Center in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for 19 to 23 August, and has extended the invite to players looking to take a deep dive into the instrument.
Lage will be joined by folk and bluegrass guitar phenom Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers, progressive fusion and jazz ace Tim Miller, his longstanding collaborator and bass player Jorge Roeder, the songwriter/producer Margaret Glaspy (who is Lage’s wife), and the esteemed drummer, percussionist and teacher Rudy Royston (Bill Frisell/David Gilmore).
Coming from Lage, expect this to be a little different to your typical masterclass. This is the same Julian Lage who had some time to kill in Switzerland and thought he would devote a week to practising. He bought a medical stethoscope and attached it to his Telecaster so he could hear everything.
Article continues below“I had to play really quiet because stethoscopes are designed to pick up your heartbeat through your muscles, tissue, blood and everything,” he said, speaking to MusicRadar in 2021. “But I wanted to hear what that under a microscope thing was like and it was so revealing. I could only handle it for about a day and then thought, ‘This is abusive!’”
This coming masterclass was inspired by some of the teaching Lage has received in guitar. He is a Berklee grad, and studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
“It has long been my dream to present a guitar masterclass in the spirit of the lineage of teachers and teachings I feel so fortunate to have grown up with,” says Lage. “At their core, these traditions are based on the idea of taking things slowly, incrementally, over as long a period of time as needed, but always with a sense of urgency – focusing and cultivating skill sets that ground us in order to liberate us as artists and storytellers.”
That skill set goes beyond chord vocabulary and learning a few licks, though Lage, no doubt, will have some of those to share. Lage might be known as a jazz player but the masterclass welcomes players of all stripes, and it will be a collaborative learning experience, with lectures complemented by small, intimate performances and various group sessions.
“Through deep listening, learning, sharing, and playing, we are able to experience a sense of connection and place within this wonderful community of artists,” says Lage.
Players can get passes to the masterclass only, a package which includes commemorative merch plus daily lunch and dinner, or the with hotel and transport included. This comprises four-nights at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel, breakfast, lunch and dinner, $100 Uber credit and transfers between the hotel and venue.
By the end of it, you might not just be a better player, you may well have learned how to give your practice sessions more direction. Lage, who has taught at the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, The New School New York, says he is not going to just teach you how play guitar, but more importantly, how to learn guitar.
“At the end of the day, we are really self-taught,” he says. “We want to dive deeply into the ways we can cultivate creative practice and support you.”
Lage is currently touring Europe in support of his latest Blue Note studio album, Scenes From Above. He continues his US/Canada tour in October. See here for dates and ticket details, and head over to Julian Lage for more details on the masterclass.
