Ministry Minded Guitarist / Educator

Justus
Morales

Master's degree in Jazz Guitar Performance.
Studied under one of Frank Sinatra's guitarists.
20+ years of performing, teaching, ministry, and touring.

M.A. Jazz Guitar 20+ Years Teaching Nashville, TN
Justus Morales, jazz guitarist and guitar coach
20+ years in music
"Justus can do things with the guitar few others can." Dennis Agajanian
"These systems have already made it way easier for me to create chord melodies and solo." MLGA Student
"This is the first time ever that I've played something and thought it sounded cool!" MLGA Student
"I surprise myself — I could actually read it and know what notes are what." MLGA Student
"I can already see how these systems will allow me to see changes with more clarity." MLGA Student
"Justus can do things with the guitar few others can." Dennis Agajanian
"These systems have already made it way easier for me to create chord melodies and solo." MLGA Student
"This is the first time ever that I've played something and thought it sounded cool!" MLGA Student
"I surprise myself — I could actually read it and know what notes are what." MLGA Student
"I can already see how these systems will allow me to see changes with more clarity." MLGA Student
Master's in Jazz Guitar
Graduate degree in Jazz Guitar Performance
Studied Under Sinatra's Guitarist
Mentored by Frank Sinatra's personal guitarist
20+ Years of Ministry & Teaching
Performing, teaching, ministry, and touring professionally
Systems-Based Approach
Built on jazz mastery distilled from the world's best

The Story

A Calling, a Mentor, and a System That Changed Everything

Growing Up in the Church

Justus grew up in Las Vegas as a pastor's kid, inside a church community that shaped everything about how he sees music and people. The guitar found him early, and the love for it never left. But for a long time, he had no idea how a kid from Las Vegas was going to make a life as a professional guitar player.

He just knew God was calling him to it.

So he held onto that, kept playing, kept showing up, and trusted that the door would open.

Justus Morales early years

The Door God Opened

It did. God brought Joe Lano into Justus's life. Joe had spent his career playing guitar for Frank Sinatra and Lena Horne. A grumpy, brilliant New Yorker who had been at the top of the jazz world for decades, and who had no patience for the way most people learned to play.

Joe didn't teach more songs. He taught how music actually works.

"Eight hours a day of practice and I still felt stuck. Joe showed me the system, and in four months I cleared what years of grinding couldn't touch."

Theory became a roadmap. Chord families stopped being random shapes and became eight patterns across twelve keys. The fretboard shrank. And Justus understood for the first time that he hadn't been lacking talent or effort. He'd been lacking the right sequence.

Justus Morales jazz ensemble

Phoenix: Dream City Church

Before Nashville, God planted Justus in Phoenix, Arizona, at Dream City Church. This is where everything clicked spiritually and musically. He fell in love with gospel music, worked closely with Adam Ranney, and found himself on stage playing for preachers like Joyce Meyer, Jentezen Franklin, and John Hannah.

Phoenix shaped the minister in him. The stage wasn't about performing. It was about serving the room, serving the message, and making sure the music pointed to something bigger than the player.

Justus Morales rehearsal

Nashville

After moving to Nashville, Tennessee, Justus's career expanded into the heart of Christian music. He has had the privilege of guitar teaching and playing for artists such as Chris Tomlin, Matthew West, Anne Wilson, The Belonging Co Worship, Jordan Houghton, Adam Ranney, Baylee Lynn, and countless others, bringing the same love for people and excellence in craft to every room he steps into.

Through it all, the heart has stayed the same: love people well, play with excellence, and give others the tools to do the same.

Matthew West Tour — My Story Your Glory Justus Morales performing live Justus Morales on stage Justus Morales performing with band Justus Morales on stage Justus Morales performing

Timeline

LV
Las Vegas: Church & Guitar
Grew up in Las Vegas in the church. Fell in love with the guitar. Sensed God's calling toward music, even without a clear path.
MA
Master's Degree in Jazz Guitar
Pursued a graduate degree in Jazz Guitar Performance. Practicing up to eight hours a day, and still searching for the missing piece.
JL
Joe Lano, Sinatra's Guitarist
God opened the door to study under Joe Lano, Frank Sinatra's personal guitarist. The system clicked. Four months cleared what years of practice couldn't.
AZ
Phoenix: Dream City Church
Fell in love with gospel music at Dream City Church. Worked with Adam Ranney and played for Joyce Meyer, Jentezen Franklin, John Hannah, and countless preachers.
TN
Nashville: Ministry & Music
Relocated to Nashville. Built relationships with Chris Tomlin, Matthew West, Anne Wilson, and many others. Founded MLGA to pass the system on.

Teaching Philosophy

Why the Right System Beats More Practice Time

Sequence, Not Hours
The reason most guitarists stay stuck isn't lack of practice. It's practicing the wrong things in the wrong order. The three-tier path (theory, chord families, scales) isn't optional. It's the architecture.
Community Accelerates Everything
Justus has watched students in group settings outpace students in 1:1 settings consistently. The questions other players ask are questions you didn't know you needed answered.
Real Feedback Changes the Loop
YouTube can't see where you're stuck. An algorithm can't ask a follow-up question. Direct access to your instructor, six days a week, is a different category of learning entirely.

Students

Who Justus Works With

Jazz & blues guitarists, worship leaders, touring professionals, hobbyists, and self-taught players who are ready to stop guessing.

Justus Morales teaching guitar online
Jeremy
Worship Leader, Arizona
30+ years playing, entirely self-taught. Never had a single lesson. Was locked into pentatonic patterns with no way out. After working with Justus, started improvising and adding real melodic lines to his playing.
AJ
Professional Touring Guitarist
Could already play, but couldn't explain what he was doing or expand beyond it. Came to MLGA to understand jazz harmony. Now adds real flair to his live performances.
Grant
Professional Surf Rock Player
Had technique but no theory behind it. Once he understood the system, soloing clicked, not as a set of licks to memorize, but as a language he could actually speak.
John
Guitar YouTuber
Already creating content about guitar, but struggled to improvise freely or build chord melodies from scratch. Now does both using the system.

These systems have already made it way easier for me to create chord melodies and solo.

This is the first time ever that I've played something and thought it sounded cool!

I surprise myself... I could actually read it and know what notes are what. I wouldn't have known any of that without you pushing me.

I'm just getting started and I can already see how these systems will allow me to see changes with more clarity.

A Heart for the Church

Equipping Guitar Players to Play Excellently for God

There are guitar players sitting in churches every Sunday who love God, love worship, and love the instrument, but feel like the music they're playing is holding them back. Simple chord patterns. The same shapes every week. A gap between where they are and where they sense they could be.

Justus knows that gap well. And his heart is to close it.

The church deserves excellence. Not perfection. Not performance for its own sake. But players who have genuinely mastered the fretboard showing up with confidence, creativity, and the ability to serve the song rather than just survive it.

That's what the system produces. Worship leaders who can finally improvise. Church guitarists who understand the harmony behind what they're playing. Players who step into any key, any chord, and feel at home on the neck because they've built the roadmap from the ground up.

Justus doesn't just teach guitar. He equips people to serve with everything God put in them.

Justus Morales in ministry
Ministry

Commitment to Growth

Justus Takes His Craft Seriously Because God Deserves Our Best

If you're going to stand on a stage and play for God, you should play well. That's not pride. That's stewardship.

Justus has never seen excellence and humility as opposites. He pursued a Master's degree in Jazz Guitar Performance, studied privately under Joe Lano (one of Frank Sinatra's personal guitarists), and has spent more than two decades going deeper into the craft, not because he wanted credentials, but because he believed God was worth the work.

That conviction shapes everything he teaches. When a worship guitarist finally understands the fretboard, when they stop guessing and start leading, when they walk into Sunday morning with confidence instead of anxiety, that's not just skill development. That's someone showing up more fully for what they've been called to do.

God deserves our best. Justus built his life around that idea, and he's spent 20 years helping others do the same.