Paul Musso is an Associate Professor and Area Head of Music Performance in the Music and Entertainment Industry Studies Department at the University of Colorado Denver. Paul has been with CU Denver for twenty eight years. He was director of the CU Denver jazz and commercial guitar program for fifteen years and has taught over twenty music courses including: Fretboard Harmony, Fretboard Melody, Commercial Guitar Styles, Applied Guitar, Jazz Theory, Jazz Guitar History, Songwriting, Improvisation and Acoustic Guitar Ensemble.
Musso has won awards for his college teaching and service as well as Citysearch Denver’s Best Guitarist of 2000. His most recent publication, "Introduction to Music: an Interactive Approach", was released in early 2012. He is the author of several Mel Bay publications for jazz guitar: "Graded Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Solos", "Improvising With Mini-Arpeggios", and "Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Chord Soloing". Paul is a co-author of Mel Bay's Master Anthology of Jazz Guitar Solos" (2000), where Paul shares the bill with guitar greats Johnny Smith, John Abercrombie, Buckey Pizzarelli, George Van Eps, Andy Summers and many others.
Paul is a freelance guitarist and has performed in several diverse jazz, Latin, Gypsy, pop and classical ensembles including: the Colorado Symphony, the Boulder Festival Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra. Paul has performed in venues throughout Europe, Mexico and the United States including the Roulette in Brooklyn, Ronnie Scoot’s in London, the Tijuana Cultural Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Westcliff Jazz Festival.
Guitar
Theory
Improv
University of Colorado Boulder
DMA - not completed;
Jazz Administration and Pedagogy
University of Denver
MM; Performance
University of Colorado Denver
BSM; Music Business
University of Colorado at Denver Faculty Assembly Service Award (2013)
Non-Tenure Track Faculty of the Year Award, University of Colorado at Denver College of Arts and Media (2006)
Denver's Best Guitarist 2000 Citysearch.com, (2000)