In this course Chris goes a little deeper into the early stages of Jazz improvisation. Don’t worry if you haven’t tried jazz before – we will still go back to the basics and bring everyone with us…
STANDARD: IMPROVERS
Resident: £402 Non-Resident: £292 (25% off for under 27s) Code: 24/290
Booking for Members opens at 11am on Tuesday 14 May 2024
Non-Member and online booking opens at 11am Tuesday 4 June 2024
For details on how to become a Member to take advantage of early booking, see here.
What is the course about?
This is a follow up to the absolute beginners course, but we will still have time to include anyone who has never played jazz before. The plan will be to explore some well-known jazz “standards”, look at the chord structures and learn how to choose which notes and scales will sound good in our improvised solos. We will also think about structuring our solos, giving them a deeper musicality, focussing on melodic and rhythmic development.
What will we cover?
We will start to plan a list of tunes that participants can make “their own” and confidently improvise on. As well as learning several jazz tunes, we will be looking at the underlying harmonic structures and learning how to interpret these chords and play musically over them.
What will we accomplish? By the end of this course you will be able to…
Play several jazz standards and feel confident to have a try at improvising on them.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
Playing level around at least grade 4/5 on your instrument.
How will the course be taught, and will any preparation be required?
Mainly in a group but individuals will want to try the various techniques independently.
Will music be provided in advance of the course?
No. Music will be provided on the course by the tutor.
Is there anything I need to bring?
Just your instrument
What previous participants said about Chris’s other Jazz courses…
“Chris is the right man for the job. A good mix of skills for handling people who have different levels of musical knowledge and want to learn about improvising. I appreciated the fact he was happy to build in requests for help on particular topics (e.g. jazz voicing on the keyboard, saxophone techniques).”
“Brilliant course - Chris was fantastic, really understood how to introduce jazz and improvisation in manageable steps, enthusiastic and fun.”
“A really fun experience that makes first steps into jazz playing easy and rewarding.”
“A fantastic opportunity to pin point and overcome gaps in our individual experience and knowledge and then have a go at improvising across different styles of jazz in a really supportive environment.”