About

Marc Sabatella moved about while growing up, spending time in Connecticut, Florida, and California. He has been based in Colorado since graduating from college with degrees in math and computer science in the 1980’s.

Even before becoming a full-time musician, Marc rose to prominence internationally as the author of A Jazz Improvisation Primer – one of the very first music education resources to appear online in the early days of the web. After leaving his job in the computer industry to pursue music full time, Marc became well-known to Denver audiences as the house pianist for many years at the legendary jazz club El Chapultepec, as a frequent headliner at other major venues such as Dazzle, and as a co-leader or sideman with local standouts like Hugh Ragin, Fred Hess, and Keith Oxman.

Always exploring new endeavors, Marc also studied art during this time. He was just starting to make a name for himself as a modern impressionist painter when he elected to devote himself more fully to music education. Marc earned a Masters in composition from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver and subsequently joined the faculty. He taught piano, jazz improvisation, and music theory there and at Regis University for over a decade.

While teaching beginning music theory courses, Marc had the opportunity to work with a couple of students who were blind, and he discovered that there was little support for accessibility in traditional music software and educational systems. He turned to his computer science training and became one of the developers and chief ambassadors for MuseScore, which has now become the world’s most popular music notation app. Along the way, he led efforts to make it the most accessible software of its kind for blind and visually-impaired musicians.

Since 2017 (well before COVID forced others to dabble in online teaching), Marc has been combining his technical, musical, and educational skills to bring world-class training in MuseScore and music creation in general to a worldwide audience. His educational site Outside Shore Music is a thriving community of musicians who come to Marc for expert (and fully accessible) instruction in subjects like music theory, harmony, counterpoint, and improvisation, as well as the use of MuseScore. Coming full circle from his initial foray into this field with the Jazz Improvisation Primer, Marc continues to be a pioneer in the world online music education.

Marc currently lives Pueblo, Colorado, where he is very active in the music and art communities. He teaches at both CSU Pueblo and at Pueblo Community College, and he serves as one of the chairs of the Creative Consortium of Pueblo and on the board of directors of the Pueblo Arts Alliance.