Behind The Note Podcast

NOTE: I mistakenly called this episode 62 throughout the episode. It is indeed episode 63. Jeff Schneider wants to share with you everything he knows about making music. His greatest fear is dying before uploading to the internet all of the things he’s learned over the past 20 years. Jeff hates the word talent. It downplays the power and necessity of hard work. It wasn’t until the summer after his freshman year in high school that Jeff showed any real promise or progress on the saxophone. It was in that summer that he started practicing eight hours a day, transposing Charlie Parker solos in all 12 keys. By the way, Charlie Parker practiced 15 hours a day. When he’s not making YouTube videos, Jeff teaches Skype lessons to people in time zones all over the world. It makes scheduling a welcomed challenge. He also composes music for film, television, and advertising with a client list that includes NASA, CNN, Google, Gatorade, Ferrari, and many more. Jeff is a DownBeat Magazine award winner and three-time recipient of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award. A graduate of New England Conservatory of Music (‘09), Jeff also holds a Master of Music degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging from UMASS Amherst (‘13). His teachers over the years include Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Will Vinson, John McNeil, Bob Moses, and the late, great Charlie Banacos.