Private Sessions With Robert Conti.
Get that extra edge only a player can deliver.

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!

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.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to do a 2-hour online lesson with Robert Conti. Robert’s approach to teaching jazz guitar is to get you playing and that’s exactly what we did in our lesson. Just like his books and DVDs, there is a lot of information packed into a very small space. This can be deceiving, in my opinion, because it’s going to take time and effort on my part to learn and internalize the material. There aren’t any shortcuts.

The two hours went by quickly, and I look very much forward to doing more lessons with him. I also received a video of our lesson that day. As a  teacher, Robert Conti was personable, patient, knowledgeable, and encouraging. As a side note, I really enjoyed his stories and look forward to hearing more in the future.

Hands down, that was  the best guitar lesson I have ever had. In 5 minutes he explained how chords connect with melody through a scale. I am blown away. Also a little nervous about learning to read the lead line, but I will trust the process. Amazing. I will be booking more lessons once I get the first three progressions down. I only wish I’d started with Robert two years ago instead of wading through all sorts of online videos and lessons that did not have a structure and did not make the connections Robert does. To use a sports analogy, if I were a quarterback, it’s as if Tom Brady were now my personal coach. I am grateful that the internet allows me to have access to Robert. Did I say wow? Please pass on my thanks to Robert.

I have loved and played jazz guitar for many years soloing, and playing with various jazz groups. I have also realized for a long time that I had reached a ceiling in my ability to solo as effectively as I wanted, with melodic lines outlining altered chords at fast, bebop tempos.

After listening to Bob’s amazing solo’s, I dived into his many learning materials, really fun stuff. However, it is when I decided to up my commitment to learning bebop and I started taking private online lessons with Bob that things started to click. After just three lessons now I have a new way to approach soloing, and how to tie together great lines throughout the tune.

I am very confident that Bob’s effective and supportive teaching style has enough push and challenge to get me to those next levels. As Bob told me, “The journey is even more fun than the destination.” He’s right, and I am jazzed about that journey.

I just wanted to give a shout out to Robert Conti. I started taking lessons with Robert about 2 years ago and picked up a few tricks. I decided to get serious back in February and made a weekly appointment for a 2 hour lesson. It is the best musical investment that I have ever made. The progress has been amazing and his teaching style fits with the way I need to learn.

Robert teaches a no modes/no scales method…and he hates that I use the word “method”. Make no mistake though the guy knows his music theory. Not only does it sound good to your ear but he can explain at a Ph.D. level why it sounds good.

Do yourself a favor and take a lesson from the guy. I guarantee you will walk away with something new. Every week I have met with him save a few times when I was traveling and I walk away exhausted and energized.

He has completely changed my playing…for the good. He’s a rare combination of being a stellar player who can teach.

One of the things that stands out for me from the 1-to-1 is the rapport I experienced with Robert during the online session. I’d watched him on DVD for many hours by this point so knew of his engaging and direct style but when we ‘met’ online it was like I’d known him for years.

He was interested, interesting and spent a lot of time with me making sure I understood what he was showing me. He had loads of examples and stories to back up the points he was demonstrating and, without being full of himself or showing any conceit, demonstrated just how full of knowledge, skill and wisdom he is.

He’s also a funny and sharp-witted man who, if I ever had the opportunity of meeting with him in person, I’d love to spend time talking about all sorts of random subjects with him – I’ll bet he has opinions on all sorts of things!

The courses I’ve bought from Robert have all been excellent. Without a doubt they’re the most informative and practical learning tools for guitar I’ve ever purchased and have made an enormous difference to my playing, my enjoyment and understanding. I use them even when I don’t have a guitar – I have the videos loaded on to my iPad with the scanned text in another window and watch them whenever I’m travelling or have time to spare. I just watch and learn and get big benefits without even playing. And, of course, I’m a big fan of Robert’s way of engaging – I like a confident, committed style that’s buzzing with enthusiasm and a love for the subject matter.

You may have gathered that I’m a big fan – absolutely true – but I’m not a fan boy. I coach people in sports and business on the mental side of high performance (www.rossmackenzie.net) and my appreciation of Robert’s skills and style are based on my professional as well as my personal experience of him. He’s a top man.

Robert was open and friendly in person like he is on the learning videos. I was given time to ask questions, and Robert cleared up my confusion on several points.  He also added to my request for  information. He showed how to apply certain lines to progressions in different keys and pointed out the “tweaks” necessary to make the lines work. 

My first attempt at learning jazz was when I was 71. Prior to that, I could not read music, knew only some basic triad chords, never studied theory, and knew only a few scales. In other words, when I began my journey with Robert’s learning products, I was a beginner. I wish that I could have started having one on one lessons regularly right from the beginning. The time spent with Robert was beneficial, and I plan to schedule other sessions.

Best regards, 
Elliott Seymour – Plano, Texas

Robert has exceeded my expectations. I understand the level he is trying to teach, and the honesty with which he teaches, distinguishes him from other teachers.

His ability and determination to give the student something new, something to practice, and a clear way to “get there.”

Robert Conti is a genius of Jazz guitar just like Wes Montgomery – both developed their own unique voice and approach. Robert plays up to 300 beats per minute on his many records and has a tremendous fluid technique. Robert Conti approach is fresh, simple and effective to get anyone to play blues and jazz lines straight away.

I was extremely happy with been able to have the opportunity of a one to one session with Robert Conti. It was just like being in a bar chatting about aspects of playing. Robert is very approachable and is open to discuss all aspects pf playing. I studied the material and had questions. The ideas demonstrated and discussed just connected effortlessly.

The discussion was very fruitful with new ideas was also given by Robert which was very appreciated. It was such a great session that Robert and I agreed to connect again with specific questions about the DVD called Big City Blues Vol 1.

Warm regards,
Paul Bogiatto – Berkeley, California

When I think of Mr. Conti, the first word that comes in mind is: GENEROSITY! He never watches the time, and never makes you feel time is running, and you never can feel he’s boring himself and just gives you private lesson to earn money. To the contrary, he takes with you all the time you need (for me he takes one hour more because he understood I’m very interested with music and motivated to work hard on his material).

He speaks to you as if you were his own son, you are immediately so confident with him, although you can be somehow nervous at the beginning haha! He really wants you to become the best player you can be!

He gives all the material you need, can answer to any question that comes in your mind, and highly motivates you to work hard. He will give immediately new ideas that you can incorporate to your playing instantly.

Believe me, I’m a professional player, and my playing is getting on a new level with Bob’s approach! I just can tell this material is fantastic and I will work all his DVDs (AND I LIKE THAT HE MAKES NEW ADVANCED DVD SERIES !!!)

So, work on his material, prepare a few questions and HAVE A PRIVATE LESSON WITH BOB YOU WON’T REGRET IT! May these few words be helpful for passionate jazz guitarist, and let’s share with everyone what we learn with Bob, because transmission of this wonderful art is highly important! THANKS AGAIN MR. ROBERT CONTI !!!

I must say that Bob is exceeding my expectations. He is an outstanding musician and educator. I feel like he has really taken the time to understand my current skill level and put together a plan that optimizes practice time.

Bob knows how to set learning goals and motivate his students to achieve them. I’ve never been so optimistic about my jazz-guitar-playing future!

Looking forward to the next lesson!