Nick Granville on Practice, Improvisation, and Finding Your Own Musical Voice
Nick Granville is a New Zealand guitarist, composer, and educator known for his versatile playing style and deep roots in jazz and contemporary music. Based in Wellington, he has built a strong reputation as both a performer and a teacher, blending blues-influenced guitar with jazz harmony and modern improvisation. Over his career, he has become one of New Zealand’s most respected session musicians and guitar educators.
Granville holds a Master’s degree in jazz performance with first-class honors from the University of Auckland. He has performed and recorded with a wide range of internationally recognized artists, including jazz and fusion musicians such as Mike Stern, Kurt Elling, and Dave Weckl. In addition to live performance, he has contributed to recordings, theater productions, television, and orchestral projects, making him a highly in-demand player in many different musical settings.
As a bandleader, he has released multiple albums under his own name and has toured extensively throughout New Zealand and internationally. His work often appears in jazz festivals and professional concert settings, where he is known for melodic improvisation and strong technical control. Alongside performing, he has taught at institutions such as the New Zealand School of Music and runs workshops and masterclasses for developing musicians.
Granville also maintains a strong online presence through his website, where he shares information about his music, performances, and teaching. He is also very active on YouTube, where he posts guitar performances, educational content, and insights into his playing approach. His online work has helped him reach a global audience of guitarists interested in jazz, fusion, and professional-level musicianship.
➡️ We connected with Nick, and he concisely shared a grounded, experience-driven approach to mastering the guitar, emphasizing focused practice, strong rhythm, and developing a personal strategy over trying to learn everything at once. He also reflects on improvisation, teaching, gear, and how sharing ideas through his YouTube channel has become an important part of his musical journey.
🎸 Q & A
What does your typical guitar practice routine look like?
It's different all the time, but when I'm home I do a technique routine daily (which involves picking exercises, legato etc) and I play along to recordings a lot. I practice scales and arpeggios and do some reading. But mostly I work on improvisation.
With so much information available to guitarists today, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. What practice approaches have consistently given you the biggest musical returns?
I've found the best approach is to focus on a single thing for a while and try to get as good at that as possible. Then move onto the next topic. Trying to do too many things at once doesn't work too well for me.
What musical concept or idea has influenced your playing the most?
A strong focus on rhythm and feel - and I don't just mean rhythm guitar, but how you place any note musically.
Your playing navigates complex harmony while still sounding melodic and relaxed. What approaches helped you become comfortable improvising over chord changes without sounding overly “theoretical”?
Change running and learning from others solos etc. Then taking this stuff and making it my own.... and do it enough and things embed in your playing.
You’ve taught at several universities and workshops. What are the most common things you see guitarists struggle with when learning jazz?
I've found for most people they don't have a strategy to practice. They often do what others think works, and it doesn't work for them. Then they get frustrated and it doesn't work. When we work out a way for them to practice that actually works for them, they progress quickly. and realizing that rhythm and learning tunes is so important. Far more important than how fast someone can play. etc.
Your YouTube channel has become a great resource for guitarists exploring jazz improvisation and harmony. What motivated you to start creating video content, and how has the process of teaching ideas online influenced your own playing or thinking about music?
Thank you! I like doing YouTube. I don't do it to try to be famous or for any kind of numbers milestone or anything like that. For me, it's about reaching people and helping people. I remember reading that YouTube had become the 2nd most used search engine after google so I needed to be involved in that more. I do find it frustrating at times, but I like it too.
What gear (guitar/amp/pedals) are you using lately—and why?
Been playing mostly my Strat and my Ibanez AR520. but TBH I change all the time. I like having options and going with what inspires.
Amps wise, it's my Victoria Bassman or a '73 Fender Bandmaster that I'm using the most, or the Fractal AM4 or Fm3 when I go direct (which is quite a bit).
⚡ Lightning Round
One album every guitarist should listen to?
Robben Ford: Talk To Your Daughter
Desert island guitar and amp?
1959 - Gibson 335 and 1960-62 Brown panel Twin + PEDALS!
What guitarist should everyone know about?
Chris Cain! A master blues guitarist and deserving of more recognition. and a great human!
News & Notes 🗞️
- Eastman Guitars announced 3 updated SB models: A SB56 in Vintage Satin Gold, which comes loaded with a set of Tonerider V90 P-90s, a SB59 in Vintage Satin Burgundy Red, and and a SB59 in Vintage Satin Goldburst - both powered by Tonerider humbucker pickups.
- Eastman Guitars also announced a new T58 Gold model. It features a Truetone Gloss Gold finish, a spruce laminate top, maple laminate back/sides, and an ebony fingerboard. It has a Göldo 3-point vario bridge, a Bigsby B70, and a set of Tonerider Vtron pickups.
- Gibson announced a Jake Kiszka SG Standard in Faded Vintage Cherry. The signature model of the Greta Van Fleet guitarist replicates his '61 SG.
- Fender introduced a Custom Shop Limited Edition Brian Fallon '59 Telecaster Custom. It Features a '63 Telecaster bridge with RSD brass saddles, adouble bound 2-piece lightweight alder body and a '60s-style oval "C" rift sawn maple neck with slab 3A rosewood fingerboard.
- Martin Guitar released a new special edition 00L Biosphere® IV acoustic guitar.
- Retailer Casino Guitars posted a new vid discussing the lack of good options in the $1000 guitar tier.
- 📺 Julian Lage shared a couple live videos from his recent performance at the Big Ears Music Festival. Check out his quartet's takes on Ocala and Something More.
- 📺 Watch Al Di Meola, Steve Lukather, and John Scofield join forces for a great performance of Miles Davis' "All Blues" at George Benson's Breezin With the Stars Guitar Camp. YouTube
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