Charlie Apicella

Teaching Topics and Philosophy

Topics:
jazz guitar, beginner guitar private and group instruction. Jazz guitar comping and rhythm guitar styles. Big band guitar. Bossa nova, blues, soul-jazz comping styles. Jazz improvisation, beginners and intermediate. Chord-melody arrangements. Reading music, writing music. Music theory.

Philosophy:
My teaching method has two ideas at it’s core: “Music is Easy,” and “Go to the Source.”
I am a patient teacher. I have helped absolute beginners of all ages up to semi-professionals to feel comfortable with the instrument and to unlock their love of music. They learn that music is easy. My method can be described as “go to the source” and I use jazz records as my main curriculum. My focus is on being able to sit down and play something on the guitar, a complete song, whenever the mood strikes. I learned to play because I was motivated by my love of performing music. This has taught me that The Music is the most important element in studying any instrument, and I have earned to enjoy the challenge of daily practice. I strive to show students that the motivation to learn music comes from within and from the element of self exploration that music study offers.

Biography

Charlie Apicella was voted onto the 84th annual DownBeat Readers Poll for Guitar and nominated in the 2019 Hot House NYC Readers Jazz Awards in three categories: Guitar, Group (Charlie Apicella & Iron City), and Jazz Artist of the Year. He has performed concerts and recorded with jazz legends Dave Holland, Sonny Fortune, and John Blake, Jr. as well as contemporary masters Joe Magnarelli, Vic Juris, Dave Stryker, and Don Braden. In 2014 he was invited by Pat Martino to study improvisation, composition, and Pat’s unique method for learning the mechanics of the guitar. Charlie began his music training in 1999 at the University of Massachusetts studying composition and improvisation with Yusef Lateef and music history with Archie Shepp.

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Charlie Apicella is an Eastman Guitars Featured Artist a Guild Guitars Sponsored Artist and a ZT Amplifiers Official Artist.

He has published two DownBeat Woodshed masterclass lessons and a lesson for Just Jazz Guitar magazine.

Discography:

“Classic Guitar” 2020, ZOHO Records

“Groove Machine” 2019, Origin/ OA2 Records

“One Night Only: a tribute to Jack McDuff” 2018, CArlo Music

“Payin’ The Cost To Be The Boss: a tribute to BB King” 2016

“Big Boss” 2014, ZOHO Records

“The Business” 2011, CArlo Music

“Sparks” 2010, CArlo Music

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