Melody that keeps moving
Work with motifs, contour, repetition, contrast and space so a line has a shape you can follow. The goal is not to fill every measure. It is to let an idea develop, answer itself and remain connected to the tune.
Private study
Jazz Improvisation Lessons with Michael Jefry Stevens
Individual study for musicians who want to hear more clearly, shape stronger ideas and find a more personal way through the music.
Start with the sound
Make the next phrase feel like yours.
Jazz improvisation lessons are most useful when they move beyond collecting patterns and bring you closer to the music you actually want to make. You may know the harmony but lose the thread of a solo. You may hear an idea clearly but not yet find it under your fingers. You may have years of technique and repertoire, yet want more freedom, surprise and direction when the music opens up. Those are musical questions, and they deserve musical answers.
Michael Jefry Stevens brings more than four decades of performing, composing and teaching to individual study. He works with the real material in front of you: a tune, a recording, a phrase that will not settle, an upcoming performance or a piece of your own writing. From there, the lesson finds a practical next step that helps your ear, hands and imagination begin working together more naturally.
What we can work on
Improvisation has craft, but it should never sound like a formula.
Time you can trust
Explore pulse, phrasing, rhythmic placement and the relationship between your line and the band. A more settled sense of time gives you room to take risks without losing the centre of the music.
Harmony you can hear in motion
Connect chord movement to sound rather than treating it as a list of names. Learn to hear where a progression is going, find notes that clarify or complicate it, and make harmonic choices with more confidence.
Repertoire, listening and your own music
Standards, blues, recordings, transcriptions and original pieces can all become useful material. The work may lead toward a solo, an accompaniment approach, a composition or a clearer understanding of a player you admire.
For every instrument
The lesson begins where your playing is now.
Improvisation is not only a piano subject. Michael teaches musicians across instruments, and the work respects the physical and musical reality of each one. A horn player may be working on breath, phrase length and the way a line arrives at a harmony. A guitarist may want to connect shapes on the instrument to a more audible melodic intention. A vocalist may be looking for a freer relationship to form and rhythm. The details change, but the question is shared: how do you make a choice that sounds necessary in the moment?
There is no single sequence that serves every musician. A beginning improviser may need a dependable way to stay close to melody and pulse. A classical player may be learning to move beyond the page without abandoning care and detail. An experienced musician may want to interrupt familiar habits, listen more widely and give a solo greater shape. Michael meets each student at that point, then helps turn a broad ambition into work that can be practised patiently.
That might mean limiting the notes in a chorus, singing a line before playing it, learning a melody deeply, studying a few bars from a recording, changing the rhythm while keeping the harmony, or finding several endings for the same phrase. Small, specific tasks reveal what is really happening. Over time, they build the confidence to listen, respond and make decisions without reaching for a script.
The work also has room for uncertainty. Not every promising idea needs to be resolved immediately, and not every moment needs to prove itself with speed or complexity. Learning to leave space, stay with a sound and hear what the other musicians offer can change a solo as much as adding new material. That patience helps improvisation become less about demonstrating what you know and more about making something alive with the people and music around you.
How study develops
Listen, test, return.
Bring a real question
Begin with a tune, a solo, a recording, a composition or a musical obstacle that has your attention. The point is to work from living music, not an abstract checklist.
Find a clear piece of work
Turn that question into material you can take to the practice room. It may be a melodic exercise, a rhythmic approach, a listening assignment, a voicing idea or a short passage to explore in more than one way.
Use it in context
Bring the idea back to a form, an ensemble situation or your own music. The measure of progress is whether it becomes expressive and available when you play, not whether it works only in isolation.
Return with what happened
Lessons are normally held every other week, leaving time to practise, listen and notice what changes. The next meeting starts with that evidence, including the places where the music resisted.
In a student’s words
“Making you feel special is what Michael is all about: he really hears you, supports you musically where you’re at, and takes you to the next place.”
Amy Kohn, composer, vocalist and pianist
Lesson formats
Study in person or from wherever you are.
Lessons are available in person, on Zoom and on FaceTime. Live online study still allows the essentials: you can play, listen closely, ask questions and work through a passage in real time. A piano or keyboard is useful for many harmonic questions, but it is not a requirement for musicians on other instruments. The first conversation begins with the music and tools you already have.
Michael also offers focused jazz piano lessons and online jazz piano lessons for pianists. Schools and universities seeking clinics, masterclasses or residencies can learn more on the Teaching page.
Questions about private study
Frequently asked questions
Who are jazz improvisation lessons for?
Michael works with musicians at many stages, including players beginning to improvise, classical musicians who want a freer relationship with time and harmony, and experienced players looking for more clarity and range in their solos.
Do I need to be a pianist?
No. Michael teaches improvisation for all instruments. The lesson starts with your sound, repertoire and musical questions, then finds practical material that belongs to the way you play.
What might we work on?
A lesson can include melody, rhythm, harmonic movement, repertoire, listening, transcription, composition, arranging or the practical challenges of an upcoming performance. The work stays connected to music you genuinely want to play.
Are lessons available online?
Yes. Lessons are available on Zoom and FaceTime as well as in person. Live online study makes it possible to play, listen, ask questions and work through music together in real time.
How often are lessons held?
Lessons are normally held every other week. That gives you time to practise, listen, test the material in your playing and return with useful questions.
Start the conversation
Follow the idea you are beginning to hear.
Tell Michael what you are playing, listening to or trying to understand. A short conversation is enough to see whether individual study is the right next step.