Jazz 101 is now in session.
Beginner-Intermediate
If you've developed some basic lead and rhythm skills, this intensive intro to jazz guitar is right up your alley.
3 weeks
Quentin will guide you through 5 sections of step-by-step instruction with interactive TAB and assignments.
Build a jazz foundation
You'll leave this class with the ability to comfortably play jazz chords and start soloing over chord changes.
Take the next step
Once you've built a jazz foundation, keep progressing with more Master Classes and guided practice plans.
Join Quentin as he breaks down a college-level approach to essential jazz guitar techniques, chords, and concepts.
In this five-part Master Class, Quentin Angus will break down essential jazz techniques and concepts as taught in leading music programs around the world. The skills you'll learn in this class are easily transferable to other styles of guitar playing like neo-soul, funk, rock, and more.
Playing the Melody
To kick off the class, we'll start with the basics of how to play the melody in jazz.
Then, you'll learn how to spice up your melody by harmonizing it, adding chords between it, and incorporating a walking bassline.
Comping is the art of playing chords underneath a melody or solo.
In Part II, you’ll learn jazz chord theory, chord shapes, and practice tips for comping to provide effective support through rhythm playing.
Improvising
Jazz soloing is no small feat, but don't worry, Quentin breaks it down in a straightforward manner!
In this section, you'll start with the basics of "playing the changes" and slowly build to more advanced concepts like soloing with guide tones and arpeggios.
As you start your journey into jazz soloing, you'll need some basic vocabulary to get you going. For quick inspiration, Quentin provides a whopping 40 jazz licks to add to your vocabulary. Each lick includes a breakdown lesson and interactive TAB.
Finally, we'll wrap up the class with six original tunes from Quentin that put everything you've learned into action.
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Part I. Playing the Melody
We'll kick off the class with the fundamentals of jazz melodies.
Part I. covers all things melody – we’ll start with the basics of how to play the melody in jazz. Then, you’ll learn how to complement the melody by harmonizing it with basic and advanced jazz chord shapes.
After an extremely fun exercise on walking bass lines, Quentin wraps up with how to add chords between the melody. Each lesson builds on the one before it. You'll start off with a simple example and quickly work your way into a full solo jazz guitar arrangement in the style of iconic jazz guitarists like Joe Pass.
Where there's a melody, there's a need for harmony! Next up is jazz rhythm playing.
Comping is the art of playing chords while someone is playing the melody or soloing. In this section, you'll learn jazz chord theory, chord shapes, practice tips, and finish by learning some great examples using jazz standards.
Part III. Improvising
Take your first steps into the advanced world of jazz improvisation.
Improvising isn't just magically making up music on the spot. It involves piecing together scales, licks, and everything you’ve ever listened to, in the moment.
Practicing the fundamentals is a great way to learn how to solo or improvise. There’s a lot of material to cover in this section, but don’t worry! Quentin starts with the basics (like the minor pentatonic scale and playing the changes) and slowly builds to more advanced concepts (like soloing with guide tones and arpeggios.)
Parts IV. & V.
Wrap up the Master Class with applying what you learned in creative musical ways.
Part IV. Essential Jazz Licks
In this section, you'll learn 40 ready-to-jam jazz licks by Quentin.
For each lick, Quentin will play it at-tempo and then break it down. You'll discover different flavors and levels of difficulty, ranging from beginner jazz licks to jazz-blues and advanced modern jazz.
Part V. SongSquad
Cap off the class by learning six original compositions (called SongSquads) written by Quentin. These tunes will put everything you'll have learned into a musical context.
If you want to dive deeper into jazz guitar, we recommend you taking the Jazz Learning Pathway.
Hear from REAL students
Your Instructor
Dr. Quentin Angus
Dr. Quentin Angus is one of Pickup Music's most popular instructors. His lessons have helped hundreds of students demystify their fretboards with practical theory and navigate the complex world of jazz guitar.
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Recommended
Annual Plan
All-inclusive access to every course.
$149.99
/yr billed annually
You save $30 per year.
1,426 people started a free trial in the last 30 days.
Annual plan includes:
See what a Pickup Music membership is all about.
14-day free trial
Guided learning
Know exactly what to practice at every step of your guitar journey.
Progress tracking
Monitor your guitar gains.
New releases every week
Never run out of lessons to work on.
Interactive TAB
Follow along with every note.
Multiple HD angles
Get an up close and personal learning experience.
Supportive community
Get into the holiday spirit with step-by-step guitar lessons covering your favorite songs.
Members-only forum
Unlimited personalized learning support from our team of pro guitarists.
SAVE 17%
Unlimited access for less than 1/2 the price of one private guitar lesson per month.
Monthly Plan
All-access to online guitar lessons to level up your playing.
$14.99
/mo
1,426 people started a free trial in the last 30 days.
Monthly plan includes:
See what a Pickup Music membership is all about.
14-day free trial
Guided learning
Know exactly what to practice at every step of your guitar journey.
Progress tracking
Monitor your guitar gains.
New releases every week
Never run out of lessons to work on.
Interactive TAB
Follow along with every note.
Multiple HD angles
Get an up close and personal learning experience.
Supportive community
Workshop your playing, get feedback, and perform live in our online practice groups.
Members-only forum
Unlimited personalized learning support from our team of pro guitarists.
SAVE 17%
All-inclusive access to every course.
If your questions aren’t answered below, please chat with us.
Is Pickup Music right for me?
Do you feel like your guitar playing has hit a plateau?
Are you stuck in a guitar rut where you're just playing the same old chords and licks?
Are you looking for fretboard freedom?
At Pickup Music, we specialize in:
How do we do it?
Finally, we give you support and feedback through an exclusive members community and live practice group sessions with other members. This focused approach to learning guitar will help you bust through the beginner basics, break out of the intermediate plateau, and level up your playing.
This guided learning approach is the fastest way to make real progress on the guitar.
What makes Pickup Music better than other guitar lesson sites?
We're glad you asked! So many things:
What's included in my Pickup Music membership?
Everything! You’ll have unlimited access to every lesson on Pickup Music from every instructor. That means every Bootcamp, Master Class, SongSquad, Licks Package, 5-Minute Lesson... we could go on, but you get the idea. It's an all-inclusive membership for one affordable price.
How long are the lessons? How long will it take me to complete them?
Pickup Music's lesson plans are designed to suit the amount of time you have available to practice.
Only got a few minutes? Try our 5-Minute Lessons to quickly add a new skill to your toolbox.
Got half an hour? Try one of our Essential Lick Packages or SongSquads to expand your vocabulary in different genres.
Got a couple of days? Try a Master Class with one of our world-renowned artists. Each class is broken up into short, digestible modules focused on one topic. We encourage you to complete the exercises for each lesson video before moving on to the next one because the lessons typically build on each other.
Ready to really commit to a multi-week program? Try one of our Bootcamps. Over 6 weeks, these detailed courses will take you on a day-by-day journey to master each level in the genre. Bootcamps include daily practice exercises so you know exactly what to focus on. These courses are the best way to make lasting progress.
Whichever approach you choose, we recommend building the exercises you learn into your daily practice schedule. The best way to improve as a guitarist is through a consistent practice routine rather than sporadic, longer sessions. Learning guitar is a day-by-day, life-long journey!
I'm brand new to guitar. Is Pickup Music the right choice for me?
Absolutely! We make learning the guitar made fun & simple – the way it should be.
Too many people get frustrated with guitar because they develop bad habits and poor technique. Avoid these costly and time-consuming mistakes by taking Pickup Music's structured and step-by-step approach to learning guitar.
You'll start with Pickup Music's introductory program Guitar for Complete Beginners. Over three weeks, we break down everything from simple chords and melodies to rhythm and lead playing. By the end of the program, you'll be able to play any simple pop or rock song (and even write your own).
Most importantly, we make sure you don't get stuck in the beginner's plateau - a common pitfall for guitarists who are just starting out. You'll keep making progress through Pickup Music's guided Bootcamps. These programs are designed to quickly take you from a beginner player to an intermediate one who feels comfortable across the whole fretboard.
What the difference between the annual and monthly plan?
The only difference is that the annual plan saves you $30 a year.
Both options come with a free 14-day trial. That means, we won't charge your card for the first 14 days - you can cancel anytime before then.
With an annual membership, we bill you once a year up-front, and you save 17% as a result. We'll send you reminders before we bill you each year so that you don't accidentally forget about it.
With the monthly membership, you pay month to month. It's a subscription, so we bill you each month until you cancel.
Cancelling your plan at any point is very easy to do online - no tricks, emails, or phone calls required. Just click a button on your account page.
Is a Pickup Music membership worth the money?
When you first start learning guitar, it's okay to bounce around with random free lessons on YouTube and searching for TABs online.
That approach is going to make you an OKAY guitar player, but it's not going to help you take that leap to becoming a serious guitarist - a player who can:
To become a serious guitarist, you need a clear learning pathway to get to the next level. You need to free your mind and unlock your fret board - you can do this with Pickup Music's expert step-by-step instruction. Having this clear learning pathway is key to making real progress on the guitar.
What about the price? Is it worth it?
Private lessons will cost you about $50 per lesson or $2,600 a year. Going to a music academy will cost you about $40,000 a year.
A Pickup Music membership costs just $150 for the whole year. That works out to 41 cents a day!
Signing up for a Pickup Music membership also means that you can stop wasting your time and effort trying to guess what you should practice next. Our guided programs eliminate the guess work so you know exactly what you need to focus on each day and week to make lasting progress with guitar. This will increase your efficiency and speed up your progress.
Is it easy to cancel?
Absolutely! You can cancel at any time (although we'd be sad to see you go). Cancelling is easy, no tricks. Just go to your account page and click a button.
You won't be charged anything if you cancel during your 14-day free trial.
If you cancel after your 14-day trial, you won't be billed again at your next billing cycle. Your membership will remain active until it expires on the day it was originally set to renew.
Once your membership expires, you will no longer have access to the classes you were enrolled in during your time as a member, but you can easily restart your membership at any time. Just log in to your account and renew a monthly or annual membership to pick up where you left off.
Can I buy lessons individually?
We don’t sell lessons individually. But the good news is you get access to every single lesson on Pickup Music through the one membership. If you’re only interested in one lesson, you could purchase a monthly membership and cancel when you’ve finished it – we have a hunch you’ll want to stick around though :)
Can I cancel my membership at any time?
Yes! All you have to do is click a button on your account page. No tricks, no emails, no calls. It's a straightforward process.
You won't be billed again at your next billing cycle. Your membership will remain active and you'll continue to have access to the site until your membership expires on the day it was originally set to renew.
You can easily restart your membership at any time. Just log in to your account and renew a monthly or annual membership to pick up where you left off.
Note: Once your membership expires, we'll save your progress on your Dashboard if you decide to rejoin at a later date.
How does the 14-day free trial work? What is your refund policy?
Your credit card won't be charged for the first 14 days
When you first sign up to a Pickup Music membership, your credit card will not be charged for 14 days. That means that if you decide to cancel within 14 days of signing up, you won't pay anything.
If you decide to cancel after that, you won't be charged at your next billing cycle
That means: if you’re a monthly member, you won’t be charged for the next month. If you’re an annual member, you won’t be charged for the next year.
We don’t offer refunds for payments that have already gone through. But if you choose to cancel, you will retain full access to the membership until it expires on the day it was originally set to renew.
Will I be automatically charged each month / year?
The membership is a subscription. After the 14-day free trial, you'll be automatically charged monthly or annually (depending on which plan you choose). We send you reminders before your annual subscription renews so you don't accidentally forget about it. You can easily cancel by turning off auto-renew at any time in your account page.
How do I restart my membership?
It’s easy to rejoin Pickup Music and we’d be thrilled to have you back! We even saved all of your lessons for you while you were gone on your Dashboard.
To restart your membership, simply head to this page, select the plan of your choice, and sign up with the email address you used to sign up the first time around.
Start your 14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.