About FreeJazzLessons.com
The FreeJazzLessons Team
FreeJazzLessons.com was developed by Chicago based jazz & blues piano professional, Steve Nixon.
Steve created FreeJazzLessons.com because he believes in sharing his knowledge, expertise, & passion for blues & jazz piano playing.
After launching in 2011, the site quickly became the largest jazz piano education website in the world. Each month the site receives over 70,000 visitors from jazz students all over the world.
About Steve Nixon:
Steve Nixon is a world touring jazz and blues pianist & the proud founder of Freejazzlessons.com.
His performance credits include such greats as:
- Four time Grammy Award Winner Buddy Guy
- Two Time Grammy Award Winner Koko Taylor
- Blues Music Hall of Fame Member and Grammy Nominee Lonnie Brooks
- Grammy Nominated Shemekia Copeland
- Jaimoe Johanson (Member of The Allman Brothers & Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame Member)
He has also amazed audiences while sharing the stage with musical giants such as B.B. King, Wyclef Jean, Taj Mahal, Bernard Allison, and John Lee Hooker Jr.
Steve has performed with Ronnie Baker Brooks, Kenny Neal, Floyd Taylor, Jellybean Johnson (Morris Day and the Time & Janet Jackson), Cyrille Neville, Frieda Lee, Coco Montoya, and the international touring Chicago Children's Choir.
Nixon is also an accomplished keyboard session musician and has worked at RaxTrax, Chicago Recording Company, Super Buddha Studios, Moonlight Label, and Piper Toonz.
Steve has toured the world, and is a graduate of Berklee College of Music.
Our Mission: Empowering Your Musical Journey
At FreeJazzLessons.com, our mission is simple: To provide world-class jazz education to every aspiring musician, regardless of their location or background. We believe that jazz is not just a genre of music- it is a language of freedom, expression, and connection. Since our founding, we have been dedicated to demystifying the complexities of jazz and giving students the tools they need to find their own unique voice at the keys.
Find out why Free Jazz Lessons founder, Steve Nixon,
is SO PASSIONATE About Helping YOU Succeed With Your Music:
Our Educational Philosophy
We don’t believe in "noodle-around" learning. Our methodology is built on a foundation of Structured Freedom.
- The Language Approach: We teach jazz the same way you learn a spoken language- through immersion, vocabulary (licks and patterns), and eventually, fluent conversation (improvisation).
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Theory in Practice: We move beyond dry textbooks. Every theoretical concept we teach is immediately applied to real-world songs and standards, ensuring you understand the why as well as the how.
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Efficiency for the Modern Musician: We know your time is valuable. Our lessons focus on "high-leverage" techniques- the 20% of practice that yields 80% of the results in your playing.
Our Long-Term Vision
As we look to the future, FreeJazzLessons.com remains committed to being the "North Star" for jazz education. We are constantly innovating by integrating new technologies, expanding our faculty, and developing new ways to make the art of improvisation accessible to the next generation of jazz greats.
Whether you are sitting down at the piano for the first time or looking to master advanced bebop reharmonization, we are honored to be a part of your musical story.
Our Faculty
All our instructors are world touring pros, Platinum selling artists, piano competition winners, or have toured with Grammy Award winners. They bring their wealth of experience from the stage & share every detail with you.
Steve
Tim
Ben
David
Bruce
Mark
FreeJazzLessons is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. However, our teachers and support team are located around the world. We have experts in all aspects of jazz and blues, including improvisation, jazz standards, beginner to advanced tutorials, scales, licks, chords and chord progressions, harmony, theory, composition, and so much more! Our team has created many free tutorials on our blog and YouTube channel and paid books and courses to help students finally master their musical goals.
We hope that FreeJazzLessons.com will fill some of the gap created by decreased music department budgets across the United States, and we want to bring the love of blues and jazz back to America and the rest of the world.
Thanks for stopping by! We’re happy to have you here!
If you need to contact us, please email info@freejazzlessons.com or submit the form on our contact page here.
Here's What Other Musicians Have Had To Say About Freejazzlessons.com
"Real players are always looking to learn, and I've learned a ton from Steve Nixon!"
-Mike Finnigan (keyboardist for Bonnie Raitt, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Etta James, & Tower Of Power)
"Steve, the jazz scales book is incredibly useful. I've tried to find a collection like this on this but it just doesn't exist. Till now I should say! Thanks for creating this and keep up the good work." "
Tony S. - Villa Park, IL
"Steve is truly unique in his style. He is devoted to helping each student's creativity."
- Shemekia Copeland (Grammy Nominated Blues Vocalist)