Jazz students playing in bands at Jazz Workshop Australia: young guitarist and drummer, youth jazz combo, and adult band rehearsal.
Teenage jazz students from Jazz Workshop Australia performing with teachers at Government House, the Royal Easter Show and the Merimbula Jazz Festival.
Youth jazz students at camp and performing on tour in New York with Jazz Workshop Australia.
Young women and men learning jazz and performing with JWA

Exams

Jazz Workshop Australia offers a highly effective and creative alternative to traditional exam-focused rote learning — and for most students, that is the better path. Private lessons here are built around individualised programs designed around each student’s actual needs, goals, and level, rather than the requirements of a standardised syllabus. Our alumni are a good indication of where that approach leads.

That said, exams are available. Some of our teachers specialise in AMEB, ABRSM, or Trinity preparation and are happy to work toward graded exams. If that’s what you need, get in touch and we’ll match you with the right teacher.

Our approach

JWA’s teaching is structured and rigorous — there is a substantial body of knowledge and technique to develop, and lessons follow a clear, cumulative path. What distinguishes our approach is that this path is shaped around each individual student rather than a fixed external syllabus. The result is teaching that is genuinely responsive: to where a student is now, what they need next, and where they are heading.

For students focused on jazz, there is a further consideration: mainstream exam syllabuses don’t teach jazz in any meaningful way. We have written about why in more detail in Music exams and jazz.

Get in touch

To find out more about private lessons at JWA, or to ask about exam preparation, get in touch or find out about enrolment.