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Art of Guitar Studio

Art of Guitar Studio

Art of Guitar Studio

Jarabi (Passion)

Jarabi (Passion)

Here's my performance-ready version of this amazing endless melody of a piece.  I've been enjoying Derek Grippers arrangements of Kora music for classical guitar for years, and finally got a chance to try some of them out. Someone once said (I forgot who) that it's...

read more
Learning Repertoire: Jarabi Runthrough

Learning Repertoire: Jarabi Runthrough

This is a follow-up to last week's video on "finishing" learning a challenging piece of music. In this video I run through Jarabi, the arrangement by South African guitarist and composer Derek Gripper of Toumani Diabate's amazing Kora version. I have the piece...

read more
How Do You “Finish” Learning a Piece of Music?

How Do You “Finish” Learning a Piece of Music?

Once you can play something well enough that it's fun to run through, the temptation is to stop practicing it and just play it over and over. Here is one method I use to keep myself focused on mastering repertoire up until the time it's actually ready to perform....

read more
Announcing a New Online Course

Announcing a New Online Course

This 6-part interactive pilot course is designed to help you break through limitations and master the best, fastest, and most musical ways to learn the pieces you most want to play. By joining the course and doing the work seriously, you will be getting two-plus months of carefully designed coursework on the most powerful ways I’ve found to transform your playing…

read more
Jarabi (Passion)

Jarabi (Passion)

Here's my performance-ready version of this amazing endless melody of a piece.  I've been enjoying Derek Grippers arrangements of Kora music for classical guitar for years, and finally got a chance to try some of them out. Someone once said (I forgot who) that it's...

read more
Learning Repertoire: Jarabi Runthrough

Learning Repertoire: Jarabi Runthrough

This is a follow-up to last week's video on "finishing" learning a challenging piece of music. In this video I run through Jarabi, the arrangement by South African guitarist and composer Derek Gripper of Toumani Diabate's amazing Kora version. I have the piece...

read more
How Do You “Finish” Learning a Piece of Music?

How Do You “Finish” Learning a Piece of Music?

Once you can play something well enough that it's fun to run through, the temptation is to stop practicing it and just play it over and over. Here is one method I use to keep myself focused on mastering repertoire up until the time it's actually ready to perform....

read more
Announcing a New Online Course

Announcing a New Online Course

This 6-part interactive pilot course is designed to help you break through limitations and master the best, fastest, and most musical ways to learn the pieces you most want to play. By joining the course and doing the work seriously, you will be getting two-plus months of carefully designed coursework on the most powerful ways I’ve found to transform your playing…

read more

Other Projects

Archipelago for Guitar

Archipelago for Guitar

CD with original artwork available for streaming and purchase at Bandcamp: Music is everywhere these days, but listening to it is getting harder. Classical music– and all serious “listening” music—-hails from a time before app-driven dopamine hits ruled our...

William Tell Overture for Solo Guitar

William Tell Overture for Solo Guitar

This is my arrangement of the full finale (the famous part) of the William Tell Overture for solo classical guitar. Mauro Giuliani, the accomplished 19th century guitarist-composer wrote a number of “Rossinianes,” virtuosic potpourris into which he threw many of the...

Archipelago for Guitar

Archipelago for Guitar

Not too long ago, I had the idea to weave a storyline into the performance of a series of guitar pieces. Each piece I wrote seemed to have its own musical ecosystem, so  I called them "islands." Narrating a tale while tuning the guitar between "islands" would draw the...

Bookmark Shop

Bookmark Shop

The many benefits of bookmarks for all your books: Bookmarks are Beautiful. Bookmarks are Fun. Bookmarks are Elegant. Bookmarks inspire you to read more good books and keep your place in them with pleasure, for years at a time. Bookmarks never run out of batteries....

Milonga for Solo Guitar

Milonga for Solo Guitar

This is a live performance of Milonga, the first “island” in my Archipelago for Guitar, performed at the “Piano Lunch” concert at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church, New York, NY.

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik for Solo Guitar

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik for Solo Guitar

All 4 movements of Serenade No. 13 for Strings, K. 525, transcribed for the advanced classical guitar, from G Major into D Major. If you're a bit burned out on Sor and Giuliani and their ilk, it's a lot of fun to play a great composer such as Mozart on the guitar. A...

Five Preludes

Five Preludes

Prelude 1: Lullaby from a Paper Boat / Prelude 2: With Variation / Prelude 3: Brookrolick / Prelude 4: Like a Passacaglia / Prelude 5: Moto Perpetuo

Fingerprint: Guitar Solos

Fingerprint: Guitar Solos

CD available for streaming and purchase at Bandcamp:  Fingerprint is a musical tour of the world through the strings of Jay Kauffman’s guitar. It is a refreshingly original collection of music inspired by folk and popular idioms from around the globe. It features some...

I’m Jay Kauffman, a guitarist, teacher, composer, and illustrator. My training is in classical guitar, and I studied performance at the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Juilliard School of Music. I recently moved to Tucson, Arizona, and am seeking to fill my teaching studio both locally and online. I love teaching guitar, all ages and levels. I teach all popular guitar styles (not jazz.) I also teach children and teens.

    My highest goal in teaching is to create and hold a space of inspiration, support and challenge in service of your ongoing improvement.

    All Images and Artwork ©Jay Kauffman

    Unless otherwise noted. Please inquire about purchase or use.

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