About

Hi, my name is Nick Homes, musician, saxophonist, educator and musical mentor.

Check my mission and goals here

I am not, and have never considered myself to be, a “genius” musician.

My journey into jazz rather has been one of struggle, discovery, and perseverance.

Over the last 45 years of playing and obsessively investigating the secrets of improvisation, I’ve devoted myself to building innovative systems of learning—for myself and for students—that make tangible improvement a reality.

My aim has always been to help musicians reach their goals with the highest probability of success and lowest level of stress.

One thing I’ve learned is that no two people are the same. What works brilliantly for one student may not suit another.We each bring individual talents, different amounts of time, and have uniquegoals for our music and practice sessions.

 Some students come from a classical background—they can read and play but don’t know where to begin with jazz.Others come from rock and want to deepen their knowledge of harmony and theory to add new colors to their playing. Others are drawn to improvisation in general, without necessarily wanting to focus on jazz.

And of course many love Jazz but do not know how and/or what to study to get them closerto what their favorite artists play and to artistic freedom of expression.

My learning journey

In 2005 I moved from the UK to Argentina, as I was looking to submerge myself in new sounds and experiences,and a new life after a personal bereavement.

It was difficult at 39 to learn a new language ,spanish from scratch.

At times I felt stupid, confused and that the task was too big.

(these feelings were also exacerbated when people criticised my efforts at speaking that had cost me so much hard work-so there was a degree of humiliation involved that challenging.

Little did I realise at the time , but this whole  learning experience AND moving to a new culture was perfect training for what I do today- which is teaching the language of Jazz to adults.

You see I don´t want anyone to feel the frustration I felt learning spanish.

Both Jazz and Spanish are languages that have much in common especially when it comes to learning as an adult:

a) Both languages are huge and can be overwhelming. b) both disciplines require a combination of aural and theoretical skills to master c) both require consistent effort + perseverance over time to achieve tangible results.

In English we ‘play’ an instrument. In Spanish, the verb is ‘tocar’ - to touch. I like the English version so much more ☺  as Music for me should always be playful and ejoyable even if the mood is serious.

The eventual target for me is thatImprovising should be as easy and as natural as speaking a language.