Distance learning with Bob Mover

I had a chat with Bob Mover yesterday. We talked about the huge debate that my Bob Mover-Cookoo's Nest post had stirred up, both on this blog and on the Sax on the Web forum. I just e-mailed him the many pages of heated comments about what he had said about the state of Jazz education. He did want me to stress that he didn't have anything against playing in odd time signatures, he just felt that young players should first learn to swing in 4/4 first.

Mover also said, referring to the types of tunes that students are focusing on, "Coltrane even got sick of playing Giant Steps, after exploring those type of changes for about two years he moved on, to just playing over one chord (laughs). Anyone can play a bunch of shit over Giant Steps changes. The true test of a good player is if they can play over The Song is You."

Mover told me that he had been having a blast with his nine month old baby girl. He has also just started teaching students via web cam and asked me to let my readers know that he was accepting students on the internet.

If you have a high-speed connection and a web cam you might consider taking some lessons with Mr.Mover. I would highly recommend Bob as a teacher. He charges $75 for a 90 minute lesson via web cam, even less than he charges for lessons in person.

I really think that this is the future of Jazz education. Of course web cams can't replace conservatories, but web cams could help isolated music students study with high level teachers like Bob. Maybe some day this might help create better Jazz scenes in places like Fargo, North Dakota.

Some of Bob Mover's distinguished students include: saxophonists Grant Stewart, Claire Daly, Josh Benko, Tommy Morimoto, Guitarist Joe Cohn, pianists Makoto Ozone and Dave Kikoski, and drummer Jeff `Tain` Watts. Bob's approach to learning Improvisation will lead the student to significant improvement, even with limited practice time.

Bob Mover's home page
Here is a link to some of Bob's MP3s and a nice transcribed blues solo

You can reach Bob for web cam lessons at:
Bobmover@bobmover.com
(917)593-6199