Jim Ferguson

James Edwin Ferguson (born December 23, 1948) is an American guitarist, composer, music educator, author, and music journalist/editor. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Jim Ferguson began his early music education playing the trombone at age 7, and then after eight years of study, switched to the guitar at age 15. He moved to California and began his music career in the 1970s, performing, teaching, and devoting serious study to the guitar. He has since performed in the U.S. and abroad, is featured on solo guitar CDs showcasing his original compositions for classical guitar, and has had numerous compositions published in both anthologies alongside the works of other notable contemporary composers and in publications dedicated solely to his works. Jim Ferguson is the author of seven highly acclaimed jazz guitar instructional books, including his best-selling first instructional book All Blues For Jazz Guitar, and is well known for his work as an award-winning and Grammy-nominated music journalist and editor, where he has generated groundbreaking and unique instructional articles for guitar players, has been influential in advancing how the guitar is played, and has spread his expert knowledge of jazz and classical guitar to the wide audience of Guitar Player Magazine and other music publications. He holds B.S. and M.F.A. degrees and has taught guitar and music courses at California universities for over 25 years, has conducted guitar and music workshops in the U.S. and abroad, and has taught guitar privately for over 40 years. A biography of Jim Ferguson is featured in Maurice J. Summerfield's The Jazz Guitar—Its Evolution, Players and Personalities since 1900.