Stanley Jordan — The Founding Plug In

Why This Room

The ideas behind
the technique.

Stanley created an unmistakable musical language by following what he heard and finding a new way to bring it through his instrument. This Plug In takes you beyond the technique and into the ideas behind it — how he hears harmony, develops an idea, learns, practices, and improvises.

Guitarists will explore touch technique and two-hand independence. Pianists, bassists, drummers, vocalists, and other musicians will discover an approach to listening and learning that reaches far beyond any one instrument.

In this Plug In you'll have the opportunity to study directly with one of the most original virtuosos in the history of the instrument. You'll get to experience firsthand the practical approach Stanley has developed and used through the years, and you'll learn to apply that approach to achieving excellence on any instrument. You'll also get a crash course in Stanley's elegant philosophy, so you can take these ideas and skills beyond music and use them for life in general.

Bring your instrument. Bring your questions. Leave hearing more.

Stanley Jordan outdoors in a leather jacket, holding his guitar

What You'll Explore

Six sessions. Six things you leave with.

01

Find Your Voice

Hear what is already distinctive in your playing — and identify what you want to unlock.

02

Open Up Harmony

Meet the Jordan Chromatic System — a simple way to understand complex music — and use it to compose, arrange, and improvise.

03

Connect Ear and Hands

Explore touch technique, independence, and P4 tuning so you can play more of what you hear.

04

Inside the Music

Put the day's material to work. Watch Stanley play, explain his choices, and help you work through a musical passage of your own.

05

Rethink Practice

Learn Stanley's Integral Optimization method — a healthier, more effective approach to learning, progress, and perfection.

06

Carry It Forward

Play what you've developed, receive Stanley's guidance, and leave with a personal thirty-day plan.

The Weekend

Three days. Six sessions.
A new way to listen.

From Friday afternoon through Sunday — focused time with Stanley, meals around the table, and enough open space to play, talk, walk the grounds, and let the music settle in.

FridayNov 13 · Settle In

Arrive, meet the room, and begin.

2:00–4:00 PM — Arrival, check-in, instrument drop, and time to explore
5:00 PM — Welcome reception with Stanley
6:00 PM — Dinner in the gallery
7:30–11:00 PM — Session I · Find Your VoiceThe art of learning & finding your musical voice
Conversation and informal playing to close the evening

SaturdayNov 14 · Go Deeper

Harmony, technique, and the night session.

8:30–9:30 AM — Breakfast
10:00 AM–12:30 PM — Session II · Open Up HarmonyThe Jordan Chromatic System — the whole room together
12:30–1:30 PM — Lunch
2:00–5:00 PM — Session III · Connect Ear and HandsTouch technique & P4 tuning
Not a guitarist? Take the afternoon for the trails, or keep working with the Chromatic System.
5:00–6:30 PM — Time for the pond, the trails, or your instrument
6:30–7:30 PM — Dinner
8:00–11:00 PM — Session IV · Inside the MusicPerformance lab

SundayNov 15 · Carry It Home

The method, then the plan.

8:30–9:30 AM — Breakfast
9:30 AM–12:30 PM — Session V · Rethink PracticeOptimal learning & the whole musician
12:30–1:00 PM — Lunch
1:00–3:00 PM — Session VI · Carry It ForwardIntegration, coaching & the road forward
3:00 PM — The Plug In concludes

What You Leave With

Beyond the weekend itself.

Everyone will walk away with an enhanced ability to learn new things, to apply what they learn, and to stay motivated and in the creative zone while doing it. Specifically, everyone will walk away with a basic understanding of the Jordan Chromatic System, and guitarists will leave with enhanced skills in tapping and a working understanding of the P4 tuning. You also leave with Stanley's Integral Optimization learning method. It sounds complicated. It is not.

30

Day action plan

✓

Signed certificate

1

Materials binder

19

Players who get it

The Artist

Stanley Jordan.

Stanley Jordan is a world-class virtuoso and innovator on the guitar. He is widely regarded as the world's foremost exponent of the touch, or tapping guitar technique, which allows a guitarist to sound like two or three guitarists playing at the same time with no overdubs or electronic effects. He went viral on YouTube for playing Stairway to Heaven on two guitars at once, capturing the imagination of a whole generation of younger guitarists.

He's also a prolific concert artist who tours the world extensively, having performed in 70 countries on six continents. His album Magic Touch set a record as the longest-running number one jazz album in Billboard history at 51 weeks. He's made numerous TV appearances with major hosts such as Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Jimmy Fallon, and he had a cameo in the movie Blind Date with Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger.

But as if all this were not enough, Jordan is also a certified deep thinker and Princeton-educated polymath who has developed a unique system of music theory, and an integral approach that unites music, life and healing into a highly optimized but deeply practical approach. In recent years he has devoted increasing energy to composing and teaching.

He teaches the way he plays: warm, engaging, and plain-spoken. He gets to the heart of the matter and explains complex ideas simply, so no one needs a background in theory or philosophy to keep up.

Albums

Singles

This is a great introduction to Stanley's approach and philosophy, and it shows his warm and engaging teaching style, and his ability to get to the heart of the matter and explain complex concepts in a simple, understandable way. It includes some tasty playing as well. Watching this is a great preparation for the event because it will introduce you to some of Stanley's core principles that will be explored more deeply in the Plug In, and it will give you an opportunity to prepare any questions you might have.

More to watch

Find Stanley

stanleyjordan.com Integral Arts Academy YouTube Instagram Facebook

The Facts

Two ways to join the weekend.

Commuter

Commuter Admission

For players within driving distance

$1,495 per musician

All six sessions with Stanley
Every shared meal, Friday through Sunday
Full access to the gallery and grounds
Materials binder and certificate

Request your place

Onsite

Onsite Lodging

Stay on the property all weekend

$2,195 per musician

Everything in commuter admission
Lodging on the property, Friday and Saturday
Stay for the late sessions, with no drive home afterward
Limited places — these fill first

Request your place

Questions

The ones people actually ask.

No. This is a musicianship weekend, not a guitar clinic, and it is open to all instruments. Pianists, bassists, drummers, singers and songwriters are all welcome, and so is anyone who plays something else. The sessions on learning, harmony, improvisation and creative voice are built to translate across instruments. Guitarists will get the deepest dive on touch technique — but they are not the only people in the room.

Open to all musicians regardless of musical style or skill level. What matters is whether you're serious about advancing. If you're ready to make a quantum leap, this is your springboard.

Ages 13 and up. Players under 18 come with a parent or guardian.

Your primary instrument, wherever that's practical — we coordinate backline and technical needs in advance. Advance materials arrive by email before the weekend.

Once you're accepted, a nonrefundable reservation deposit equal to 35% of the total holds your place, with the balance due 60 days before the Plug In. See the complete policy.

Three days at Cross Mill built entirely around one artist, with a group small enough that you're never in an audience. Here's the full picture.

The ideas behindthe technique.