MW: Speaking of that counterpoint based, multi-voiced, playing, there was another great teacher out in LA who played this way, Ted Greene. Did you ever spend time working with Ted or did you ever get a chance to hear him play?

JS: I didn’t study with him, but I met him twice. A lot of LA pros used to take lessons with him and there was a line-up of guys wanting to study with him. I was hanging out with John Pisano one time and he was getting ready to go in for a lesson with Ted, so I asked him to call Ted and see if he didn’t mind me coming in to be a fly on the wall. Ted said OK and so I sat there and watched it.

It was mostly just Ted working on a standard from many different angles, though very inside, not a lot of tension and release. He had so many wonderful variations on just triads and voice movement involving sympathetic harmonics, and playing way up the neck, it was a very entertaining hour.

The other time he did a clinic at USC and I went to that and talked to him a bit. He was very nice, very unassuming, and I thought it would be fun to take a lesson with him. Since Ted had a full schedule, he wouldn't take new students. The only way you could get in was if an existing student couldn’t make it and you knew this and could take their place.

Since I didn’t live in LA, I could never quite work out the timing to take advantage of one of these lessons. Ted was a very unassuming guy, and that one solo record that he did in his twenties, which was just released on CD, still holds up very well I think.

Most of the guys I know, Jimmy and Ted included, that I really respect are pretty humble, still working with students, still very involved in pushing their limitations, trying to get better. Very aware of what they’d like to do better on the guitar. I know very few guys who I respect that think they play really great. They’re all just trying to push up against their limitations and trying to get better.

MW: You teach a lot of masterclasses at high schools, colleges and other venues along the west coast.  I noticed on your website you are doing more than five of these clinics in the next two weeks, including one at the Jazz School in Berklee. Do you prepare differently for a masterclass or clinic compared to how you would prepare for a private lesson with a student? Do you let the students in the room, and their level of experience, dictate what you talk about? Or do you have planned lesson material that you like to bring to these types of clinics?

JS: In the big cities like New York or LA, the level of playing can be higher; in general students range in ability from advanced beginner to intermediate. I'm always happy when a student comes up who can really play, and I've heard some wonderful high school and college guitarists over the years.

I’ve got about thirty pages of handouts from different articles I’ve written over the years for different magazines that I bring with me to give to the students. I’ve been writing for almost fifteen years for various magazines so I keep copies of those articles available to hand out to everybody at these clinics.

I have a lot of potential topics for discussion. I demonstrate applications of the melodic and harmonic minor over different chord qualities, triad substitutions, open string and close interval voicings, chord melody concepts, and ways to visualize and internalize harmony on the neck. If I'm speaking to a group of younger players, I begin with the four note arpeggios over chord changes as a template for outlining basic harmony over a set of changes.

I like to let the room dictate where I go with any topic I’m teaching. If I notice that everyone is interested, and I feel I can push them to more advanced topics, I’ll do that. If I feel I’m losing them, you can tell right away when this happens, I try to keep them engaged. I get people up to play if they’re interested, and then comment on that. I also talk about more general topics such as how to interact on the bandstand. Sometimes people will ask questions about the business of music so I’ll spend some time talking about promotion and how to make it as a freelance musician.

MW: Do you have a preference between the group classes and private lessons, or do you find that you enjoy them both?

JS: I enjoy the variety of teaching in different settings. Sometimes I’ll teach complete beginners, people with little experience but who have a desire to learn. My job there is to communicate clearly, and keep things simple. Like taking a simple arpeggio up and down the neck and making it sound melodic over a set of changes. That can be just as rewarding if I see them get it, to see them be enthusiastic about it and wanting to practice. We can then move on to more advanced theory, like playing the harmonic minor a major third above a major chord to create a Lydian #9 sound (the 6th mode of the harmonic minor). It’s all relative, and it’s all about making music.