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Conti Guitars

First released in 2009, the Conti archtop jazz guitar was an instant success with its ultra comfortable, playable neck. 11 years later, we’re proud to continue with the second generation of Conti Guitars. If you’re seeking a great looking, great playing archtop with all the features you could never find in a single guitar, then look no further. The Conti Guitar is your answer.

Source Code Series

If you approach the Conti products like driving a car, then the Source Code Series would be the engine. They are the “how to, nuts & bolts” behind Robert’s mind blowing technique, endless jazz guitar improv lines, effortless comping and beautiful full sounding chord melody arrangements. With the first titles released in the year 2000, the Source Code Book and DVD series will take you wherever you want to go with your playing, as evidenced by endless student commentaries and videos.

“The Source Code DVD Series is unquestionably the most cost-effective jazz guitar curriculum on the planet!”

-Mike Irish, Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan Tech. University

Live Zoom Lessons

Are you an Intermediate to advanced level player? Get that extra edge that only a face to face lesson with one of the world’s leading jazz guitar performer/educators can provide – a live private webcam lesson with Robert Conti will elevate your playing to levels you never dreamed possible – and that’s not an exaggeration, read letters of praise from a few of Conti’s students.

Ticket To Improv Series

Ready to make the transition from rock or blues to jazz? Haven’t gotten anywhere with all the modes and scales you learned?

Ready to start playing melodic lines that get you excited and motivated? The Ticket To Improv DVD series will have you playing jazz from day one. Don’t believe it? Watch some of the videos in the Players Gallery to see numerous examples of short term results you can expect once you separate yourself from the modes/scales approach.

Advanced Improv Series

Got plenty of chops and technique but don’t know what to play?Looking for hip burning lines to make your own? In each volume, Robert plays an advanced improvised solo and then teaches you that solo measure by measure, note by note. You’ll rapidly begin to increase your jazz vocabulary as Conti walks you through the solos. No guesswork here as Conti provides full notation and tab. Three series available with five volumes in each series:

The Smoking Lineman (Bebop)
Big City Blues (Blues)
Sound of Rio (Bossa Nova)

Play Pro Chord Melody Today

New to chord melody? Start playing pro level Robert Conti arrangements today. In each volume, Robert teaches his professionally arranged chord melody arrangement of a popular standard, to you, chord by chord, on video – it simply can’t be made any easier.

Just Jazz Guitar Magazine Chord Melody Arrangements

Through the duration of the magazine, Robert’s arrangements quickly became a favorite feature for subscribers. During past years, we have received ongoing requests to make the JJG arrangements available. We’re now able to present Twenty One Chord Melody Arrangements With Supporting Videos, in the Streaming Video Format.

Signature Chord Melody Arrangements

If you simply want a collection of the most in-demand standards, all arranged with Conti’s signature chord diagram display (just play the chord grids and you’re performing chord melody of the highest quality), then the Signature Chord Melody Arrangements are exactly what you’re looking for. Numerous guitarists utilize these arrangements in their paid performances.

Note: These are instant download, printable PDF files. No audio or video is included. If you prefer video, we suggest the Play Pro Chord Melody Today DVD series.

Recordings

If it’s straight ahead burnin’ jazz without the fluff that you’re craving, the Conti recordings will have you on the edge of your seat. We’re proud to present the raw talent and skill that Robert Conti brings to the table. The skill represented in these recordings is what sets Conti apart from the army of amateurs that pervades the internet today.

Currently Available:

The Jazz Quintet (1981)
Comin’ On Strong! (1990)
To The Brink! (2004)

Conti Preferred Gauge Strings

You can’t do much playing without a good set of strings. After 50+ years of performance and trial of just about every guitar string in existence, Robert has developed these custom gauge strings and never strays from them, no matter the gig.

This IS the guitar of one’s dreams…

First, the punch line: After a month I’ve concluded that this guitar is not a substitute, surrogate, or compromise for that more expensive jazz box that one longs for and cannot afford. This IS the guitar of one’s dreams.

I’ll be as brief as I can. I have many guitars. But no real jazz guitars. I don’t play much jazz, but sometimes want to go there, and somehow my .strandberg* just isn’t right. I try to stay away from retail stores because there is ALWAYS something that catches my eye. But, I needed a set of strings and since I was near a store, I stopped by. As usual, I looked at used wall. There was nothing interesting. Walk away. Quickly. But… what’s that? Needing a ladder to get to it, there was a red wine archtop high on the wall. Conti? What’s a Conti? I’d never heard of them. I suspected that it was some Asian product, à la Cort (Nothing wrong with Cort. I believe they made my .strandberg*.) I found someone to get it down and I played for three minutes. I was meeting someone for lunch in fifteen minutes so I had no time to play much. I put it back.

It was two weeks before I was back in that neighborhood. In that time I did some research and if you are reading this, you’ve done the same and I won’t bore you with the details of Robert Conti’s business model to bypass the middleman. None of his guitars would be sold in stores. No distributors. Instead, he sells direct to player. He asks his prospects to trust that the guitar he gives them will make them exceptionally happy. That’s a big ask. You can’t play one to see if you like it.

Armed with this information and with more time set aside I went back to the store. While every other Conti customer needed to muster faith to buy, I had the luxury of actually playing one. The model is Equity, discontinued after the first production contract ended. The guitar played well and seemed well taken care of, 99% brand new. There were very few scratches, no dings. I copied the serial number and went home.

I went back to the Conti website but could find no serial number reference, nor a support page, but I could chat online with Steve. I asked about the serial number, and he told me the guitar was built in 2013. He also said that from what he knew of the previous owner, it should have been well taken care of. Wow. Steve told me the guitar was solid wood, not laminate. He asked me about the price and told me it was a very good deal. So, I went back the next day and bought it.

The next day I cleaned it and changed strings. It was clean but needed a little detailing. The cleaning process brought me closer to the instrument (LOL the truss rod cover on the headstock still had it’s original protective plastic covering). At every turn I was surprised and impressed by the build.

I love this guitar and I consider myself lucky to have it.

I think it is the best

I think you are the only one that explains the magic of chord melody! I admire Conti's method, I think it is the best, a hands on approach and at the same time it teaches the way professionals play. Like we Brazilians say, he doesn't only give the fish, he teaches to fish! I love jazz standards and I hope I will study a lot with Conti's help!! Thank you very much! It's a pleasure for me to recommend a very good teacher and Conti is one!!!

Will re-energize my daily practice routine.

Robert is an entertaining and competent instructor with a wide range of past real-playing experience of the bandstand. Mike provided tech support and sent ZOOM setup instructions before the lesson to avoid wasting time on video-audio snags.

Robert took a few minutes at the start of the ZOOM lesson to review my personal history, music experience, and to assess my technical skills. He came well prepared for my lesson (3 handout documents) with a focus on improvisation, as requested. He “tuned” this first lesson to my level of interest and playing ability.

His approach to improvisation is direct, different, and perhaps unique. He presents a down-to-earth focus on fingering the fretboard rather than using a theoretical approach of pairing various scales/modes to each chord in a progression, one at a time.

Robert demonstrated the wide application of major scale riffs to a surprisingly wide range of chords built from the major scale. This simplification avoid overthinking (my bad habit) which creates lock-up, anxiety, and lag when suddenly called upon to solo on the jazz bandstand. He played these riffs over backing tracks “live” that he called out to Mike who played the audio files on-demand. Both Robert and Mike were attentive to my music lesson. Robert concluded the lesson with additional tips and a clear assignment and challenge to be completed before a future lesson.

To conclude, the “hands-on” Conti method avoids over-complicating the improvisation process and it will re-energize my daily practice routine.

Video Comments

See attached video for Lee's comments

A brilliant approach

The Precision Techniques has helped me hone my technique tremendously and like every Robert Conti Book with CD it is extremely practical and gets you running in the real world playing while mastering the theory as you go so it is extremely efficient and all-encompassing and frankly, better than the dozens of books and classes that I’ve tried. It is a brilliant approach.

Robert's teaching approach stands out

It was a pleasure to spend the two hours with Robert and I must also thank you for the technical assistance and making sure everything went smoothly - I know it’s a team effort on your end.

As for my comments on the lesson : Robert gave me plenty to think about and I’ll be putting the ideas into practice in the woodshed. It was particularly enlightening to hear how he approaches improvisation over certain chord changes and this is something I look forward to picking his brains about in future sessions too on other standards. Roberts teaching approach is something that stands out - he has a way of making you feel comfortable and engaged whilst also being very to the point. I particularly appreciated that he didn’t waste precious time just having me play things over and over as from experience a lot of ‘teachers’ seem to do that instead using the time to impart as much advise and information they can on the student - often a means to get more money out of students and not give too much away in terms of valuable information. As Robert said - he’s not here to teach someone how to play, he’s there to show you what to play and why etc. this is exactly what I need. He had me play the lines to get them under my fingers and ensure I understood the concepts and knew that I am to take them away to practice in my own time. This allowed Robert to use all the time available to feed me more and more ideas and pearls of wisdom.

I will most certainly be booking another lesson after I’ve got some more practice in as there are many more things I’d like to ask Robert and certainly a lot for me to learn!

Best and most efficient way to learn jazz guitar

So much easier for me to practice and learn all of the valuable information Robert has shared on these videos! This is without question the best and most efficient way to learn jazz guitar and I plan on ordering more around Thanksgiving! I totally stand behind Mr. Conti's teaching methods 100 percent as they really work! He truly understands what he is talking about and knows how to teach it to others in the most comprehensive and applicable ways possible! It also helps that he is one of the best Jazz guitarists I have ever heard!

Don't know where to start? Visit our "Where To Start" page

Conti Guitars

Source Code Series

Live Zoom Lessons

Ticket To Improv Series

Advanced Improv Series

Play Pro Chord Melody Today

Just Jazz Guitar Magazine Chord Melody Arrangements

Signature Chord Melody Arrangements

Recordings

Conti Preferred Gauge Strings

More Pages To Explore

Get Updates From Conti

Now available

up to 30% off

limited group of studio & prototype entradas

black friday sale Details

Worldwide Students Speak

Don't know where to start? Visit our "Where To Start" page

More Pages To Explore

Get Updates From Conti

Now available

up to 30% off

limited group of studio & prototype entradas

black friday sale Details