About me
I’m Adam Smale. I’m a performer, composer, recording artist, educator, and a Youtuber.
Quick Facts
I have been playing professionally for over 40 years now. I have vast experience in both performing and teaching. I want to bring all of that experience and knowledge to these courses to save you the time and money that it took me in all my years of study and stage experience. I also have a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance. So let me pass on all my knowledge of how to play great jazz to you. Many of my courses will revolve around jazz improvisation, but we will get into other topics to make you a much more rounded musician — no matter if you want to get to a professional level, or just gain some jazz skills to impress your jam buddies, your partner, or yourself.
Youtube subscribers
Book (New approach to scales)
private lessons taught
teaching
performing since
My timeline
sep
1974
Began Playing Guitar
My dad bought me my first guitar when I was seven. A Suzuki classical. I still have it. I started taking lessons with it every Saturday until I was 14.
Jul
1979
Started Gigging
I joined the Musician’s Union and started doing gigs. It was country and some bluegrass music for the the first 5 years. But then I got into other things like rock and blues-based rock. Then Eddie Van Halen wowed me for a few years and he introduced me (not in person) to Alan Holdsworth. A deep calling to want to learn the science of music was set from then on.
sep
1987
shipped off to college
I wanted to learn jazz. At the time, I thought Holdsworth was jazz. While at college, I discovered Charlie Parker, Coltrane, like all college students do, and got a good taste of both bebop and fusion. Jazz won out in the end. I spent the next 20 years in Toronto playing all kinds of music, including jazz.
Aug 2007
Moved to the US to Get a master’s
I moved from Canada to Michigan to enter into a Master’s Jazz program. It was a great time. Did a lot of gigs while I was there, also a lot of teaching, both at the university and privately. Even played in a pit band for a musical theater production.
jul 2009
Moved to new york city
I moved to Brooklyn, NY, and tried to gig as much as I could while teaching privately. In this time I wrote and published a book, put out two CDs, got signed to a record label, got married, lived in Manhattan, did some tours, got divorced, moved back to Brooklyn, all the while doing gigs and teaching. That is until I couldn’t perform for three months while recovering from shoulder surgery at the very start of 2020. Then the world shut down.
mar 2020
went all in on youTube
Even though I started posting videos on my channel starting the summer of 2019, when the lock-down occurred, I got really serious about my channel and started posting more aggressively. I worked hard to make better and better videos and eventually started offering PDF lesson downloads that went deeper to provide extra value to my audience.
MAY 2025
the birth of jazz Mastery Academy
My intention was to some day create a course website where I could give people who play any instrument super high quality information on how to play and improvise jazz authentically. I wanted to bridge the gap between yesteryear’s mentorship (which has all but disappeared) and today’s expensive approach of spending tens of thousands of dollars studying jazz in institutions of higher learning. I’m now combining my real-world experience with just enough necessary theoretical information to get you — the person who always wanted to learn jazz but didn’t know how to get started — to be able to play and converse in the language of jazz. My goal is to unveil jazz’s seemingly hidden secrets so you can reach your highest potential.
+ coaching packages available
Personal Coaching (via Zoom) to Help You Attain Jazz Mastery Easier and Faster
It’s like going to college, but for way less money
No matter where you are in your journey, let me help get you there faster without you having to take out a second mortgage to obtain the knowledge to play great.