Go from faking through changes to confidently soloing on Fly Me to the Moon, Bye Bye Blackbird, and Night and Day — in 13 weeks.
A step-by-step path, weekly live classes, masters teaching alongside me at every step — and feedback on your playing, or your money back.
Three changes to CGA this fall, all five guest artists, the Season Pass, and the guarantee — announced live at the Aug 20 workshop. Everything below is the same thing in writing.
You don't need more lessons. You need to never wonder what to practice.
You've watched the videos. You've collected the licks. And when you sit down with your guitar, you still spend the first twenty minutes deciding what to work on — and the next twenty second-guessing it.
That's not a talent problem. It's a path problem. The players who improve fastest aren't practicing more — they're practicing in a sequence where every week builds on the last.
That's what this season is.
Every week has one job.
Each of the three tunes moves through the same four-week arc. You always know exactly where you are and exactly what this week is for:
Tune Launch
Melody, changes, and the harmony map. You can play the tune by Friday.
Bebop Breakthrough
The generative patterns that make the changes feel playable, not survivable.
Vocab Application
Real phrases lifted from the masters' solos on this exact tune.
Solo Construction
The capstone: assemble the tools into your own complete, developing solo.
Then we do it again on the next tune — and each pass gets easier, because the system is compounding. By the end of week one, you can play Fly Me to the Moon top to bottom.
What happened last time we did this.
I think I learned more in the first 4 weeks than I had in 4 decades of playing. It really is like a Rosetta Stone for unlocking the language of jazz.
— Matt Drummond, CGA memberMy terrifying moments were when I had to solo with a group. A few months in, we learned tunes, practiced them, posted videos — I soloed over Cantaloupe Island, listened back, and went: "I can do this."
— Rich M., CGA memberI was on the verge of giving up jazz guitar completely. What's so fantastic is the structured way it builds step by step — actual master vocabulary from real master solos. This is what was missing from everything else I tried.
— Julian Gurr, CGA memberI was the biggest impediment to improving my playing — going from video to video looking for the easy trick. In the 5 months I've been using Chase's lessons, I can barely recognize the old me.
— Derrick M., CGA memberAfter a year I can say this has completely transformed my guitar playing. Starting small and building up from essential vocabulary and essential jazz patterns — it's really been an effective way to gain mastery.
— Benoît F., CGA memberMy worst moment was a band leader telling me I needed to go back to school to learn how to play. A year into CGA, I've learned so much — now I can continue a line from my own creativity.
— Pierre D., CGA member“I learned more in four weeks than in four decades of playing.”
Matt — playing for 40 years, stuck cycling YouTube and jazz books — on what changed. (100 seconds)
"Chase Maddox…an amazing instructor who has paid great homage to Mr. Benson's talent and unique playing style."
— George Benson
From George Benson's verified Facebook page, November 8, 2024 — yes, that George Benson.
You don't walk the path alone.
Post a clip or a question, any week of the season, and you'll hear back from me within 24 hours. I watch every video members post on the weekly action items — and when you're stuck, you get direct, personalized feedback on exactly what to fix.
Thirteen weeks of a path, with a coach watching you walk it the whole way.
Masters, slotted exactly where the path calls for them.
These aren't random guest spots. Each session lands at the precise week the curriculum needs it — soloing masterclasses in soloing week, comping masterclasses before each capstone.
Ted Ludwig
One masterclass per tune, teaching soloing on the exact standard you're working that block. Back by overwhelming demand.
Corey Christiansen
Caps every block — his self-comping session lands the day before you build your solo. If you caught Corey last year, you know.
Tom Ollendorff
The UK-based solo guitar virtuoso — one of the most exciting voices in jazz guitar today — opens the trilogy.
Bobby Broom
The legendary Chicago voice — sideman to Sonny Rollins, bandleader, and master of the blues.
Henry Johnson
Straight from the organ trio school — he toured with the legendary Jack McDuff — closing the trilogy where blues becomes jazz.
Guest artists are confirmed, but touring musicians’ schedules can shift. If a guest has to reschedule, their session moves to a new date or I bring in a master of the same caliber — you never lose a session.
13 weeks, mapped before we start.
No mystery, no filler. This is the calendar. Weekly classes are for every CGA member. Guest masterclasses are Premium. The gold sessions belong to Season Pass holders. Every session below — weekly classes and artist masterclasses alike — is recorded and posted the same day, so you never lose a week you can't attend live.
Block One — Fly Me to the Moon
SEP 11 – OCT 14Block Two — Bye Bye Blackbird
OCT 15 – NOV 6Block Three — Night and Day
NOV 9 – DEC 11Season Finale
DEC 17Everything the pass includes.
There are really only two paths here: stay as you are on Standard at $59/mo, or upgrade to a one-year Premium Season Pass at $699 with everything below. That's the whole decision.
The full 13-week season · every weekly live class · Ted Ludwig ×3 and Corey Christiansen ×3 · the 50+ session Artist Masterclass Vault · feedback on your clips
The Jazz Blues Sessions (Tom Ollendorff · Bobby Broom · Henry Johnson) · the 9 Jazz Master Breakdowns · the Tune Phrase Packs · the Season Guarantee
Already a Premium member on an older rate? You keep everything your plan has always included, at your rate, for as long as you stay. The Season Pass series is an optional add-on that sits on the current $699 Premium Annual rate — so if you're on any legacy Premium plan (monthly or annual) below $699/year, you'd need to upgrade to that current rate to get the Fall Season Pass benefits. It's never a change to your existing plan.
12 Months of CGA Premium (Not Just the Fall)
The full fall season live, every guest masterclass as it happens, and a response from me within 24 hours whenever you post — all of it, for a year, at ~$58/month instead of $79.
Also included: Tune Phrase Packs for all three standards (the complete curated vocabulary from my 400+ master-phrase analysis) — and your whole 2027: the January New Year Reset, the full Spring Semester, and anything we run next summer. One decision covers the year.
The Artist Masterclass Vault — 50+ Sessions
The complete archive: 11 masterclass courses from world-class artists — Dan Wilson's Deep Dives, Barry Harris method with Tim Fitzgerald, Rodney Jones, Barry Greene, Chico Pinheiro's Brazilian guitar series, and more. Yours the moment you join, before the season even starts.
The Blues Sessions — Tom Ollendorff · Bobby Broom · Henry Johnson
A three-part jazz blues mini-program with three world-class players, none of whom have ever taught at CGA before. I'm literally paying more than the sticker in guest fees to bring them to you.
Masterclass Breakdowns — 9 Sessions
After every Fall Series masterclass, Season Pass holders join me for a 30-minute session where I translate the artist's concepts into the CGA system and this week's practice steps. All nine recorded into your private library.
The Solo Blueprint Session
All 10 Solo Blueprint Sessions were claimed in under 48 hours — a private 30-minute session with me for the first 10 Season Pass buyers, mapping their season week by week and applying my Landmark Method to their playing. That bonus is gone. The Season Pass itself — the full stack above and the guarantee below — stays open through Sunday, September 13.
One payment · 12 months of Premium · every bonus above
That's "buy 9 months, get 3 free" — and this is the best deal we'll run on CGA Premium all year.
Standard members: you're paying $59/mo right now. The Season Pass locks Premium at about $58/mo for a year.
Enrollment closes Sunday, September 13 at midnight — our first masterclass with Tom Ollendorff is Monday the 14th. We keep the group closed after that so everyone can move together.
🎸 Fri Sept 11 — Season Kickoff Hang (all members) · 🎸 Mon Sept 14 — Masterclass #1: Tom Ollendorff (Pass exclusive)
Renews at $699 after 12 months — cancel anytime before renewal in Skool with two clicks.
The Season Pass is a 12-month CGA Premium Annual membership billed as one payment of $699 today. You keep your locked $699 rate for as long as you stay, even if the public price goes up.
“My terrifying moments were when I had to solo. Now: I can do this.”
Rich — two years in, from dreading solos in a group to soloing on Cantaloupe Island and liking what he hears. (90 seconds)
Show up, do the work — or it's free.
If you show up and do the work this season and you're not clearly more confident soloing these standards by December 17, email me and I'll refund your entire $699.
I can make that promise because the path works when you walk it. The only players this doesn't work for are the ones who never start — and the guarantee is designed so you start.
"Doing the work" means: attend at least 9 of the 13 weekly Jam Essentials classes live and submit at least 9 weekly clips by December 17. That's roughly 70% — you don't have to be perfect, you just have to show up most weeks.
And if life blows up and you can't hit those numbers — you still keep your full year of access. You just won't qualify for the refund.
"I thought if it doesn't work out I can leave — but I'm here a year later, and I plan on staying."
— Rich M., CGA member
“Other courses left me stuck in the same old pentatonic shapes.”
Lee — had tried the other programs — on working through his first ever standard within days of joining. (Under 2 minutes)
Everything else you'd ask me.
Are the classes and masterclasses recorded?
Yes — all of them. Every weekly Jam Essentials class, every Ted Ludwig and Corey Christiansen masterclass, every Jazz Blues Session, and every Breakdown is recorded and posted to the community the same day. Watch on your schedule, rewatch as often as you like — recordings stay in your library for as long as you're a member. (The only thing that needs live attendance is the Season Guarantee — see below.)
I'm a Standard member. Why is this for me?
You're paying $59/month now. The Season Pass is one payment of $699 — which works out to about $58/month across the year. So it's Premium, for slightly less than what Standard already costs you month to month — the difference is you pay for the year up front, and you add the weekly feedback, every masterclass, the full library, and the entire bonus stack.
I'm already a Premium monthly member.
You save $249 over the year versus monthly — and the Blues Sessions, the Breakdowns, and the Phrase Packs only exist on the Season Pass. If you're staying more than 9 months (you know if you are), this is simply the better deal.
I'm a Premium Annual member on an older rate ($590 or a legacy plan). Do I get the Blues Sessions?
You keep everything Premium has ever promised at your rate, for as long as you stay: the whole 13-week season, every weekly class, Ted's and Corey's masterclasses, and the Vault. Your rate never goes up. The Jazz Blues Sessions, the Breakdowns, and the Phrase Packs are the Season Pass series — they sit on the current $699 rate (that's how the guest fees get paid without raising anyone's existing price), so they're an optional add-on, not part of the older rate. If you want them, switch to Premium Annual at $699 inside Skool and it credits your remaining months and charges the difference. If you'd rather stay where you are, that's a great choice too.
What exactly counts as "doing the work" for the guarantee?
Attend at least 9 of the 13 weekly Jam Essentials classes live and submit at least 9 weekly clips by December 17. If you've done that and you're not clearly more confident soloing these standards, email me and I'll refund your $699 in full. (Live attendance is the requirement because it's the one thing I can verify — and honestly, it's also what works.) And if you already know you can't make ~70% of the live classes, treat the guarantee as a nice extra rather than the reason to buy — you still get the full year, all the replays, and every bonus.
What if I can't always make the live classes?
Every session is recorded and posted the same day, and plenty of members do great work on replays plus the weekly clip. If you miss a week, catch up on the replay and post your clip late — I still review it. One honest note: the Season Guarantee requires live attendance (it's the only participation I can verify), so if your schedule rules out Thursdays entirely, you'd be buying the pass for the path, the feedback, and the bonuses — which is still most of its value — rather than for the guarantee.
How much time does this take per week?
Plan on the weekly class (about 75 minutes) plus 3–5 focused practice sessions. If you can do that, you'll keep up fine — the weekly job is designed to fit a real life, not a conservatory schedule.
Is this too advanced / not advanced enough for me?
Most members are 50+ hobby players who've been "winging it" for years — not conservatory kids. The weekly arc is designed in layers: melody and harmony first, patterns second, vocabulary third, then your own solo. Newer players go deep on the early layers; experienced players push the later ones. The weekly clip feedback is how I meet you exactly where you are.
What happens after the fall season?
Your pass rolls straight into the January New Year Reset and the full Spring Semester (new tunes, new guests — announcements coming). Summers at CGA are intentionally lighter — and whatever we run, your pass covers it. It's 12 months of CGA, not 13 weeks.
Is this a subscription? What happens after the 12 months?
Yes — the Season Pass is CGA Premium Annual: one payment of $699 covers 12 full months, and it renews automatically each year at your locked $699 rate (even if the public price goes up, yours doesn’t). You can cancel anytime before your renewal date in your Skool account settings and keep access through the end of your paid year.
What if I miss the September 13 deadline?
Annual stays available at the regular $799 — but without the Blues Sessions, the Breakdowns, the Phrase Packs, or the Season Guarantee. This exact offer won't run again this year.
Hear it from the band.
“More in four weeks than in four decades.”
— Matt Drummond, CGA member
“I was on the verge of giving up jazz guitar completely.”
— Julian Gurr, CGA member
“Five years in another online program — then I switched.”
— Mike Miller, CGA member
“It changed my entire approach to the instrument.”
— Robert Blake, CGA member
“The best decision I’ve made in terms of learning guitar.”
— Rich Malloy, CGA member
“Years of playing, but I never reached my goal — until now.”
— Max J, CGA member
“I had a musical blind spot. A year later, it’s gone.”
— Fred K., CGA member
“A band leader told me to go back to school. Now I create my own lines.”
— Pierre Denizard, CGA member
Keep paying monthly and keep wondering if you'll stick with it… or pay once and spend the next 13 weeks actually sounding like a jazz guitarist.
Three standards. A path with one job each week. Masters at every step. And a guarantee that means the risk is on me, not you.
Enrollment closes Sunday, Sept 13 at midnight · The best deal we'll run on CGA Premium all year
