Intro to Jazz Ensemble
–
About Intro to Jazz Ensemble
Develop your intuitive musicality and ensemble playing with award-winning jazz pianist Nikki Yeoh’s hands-on approach to playing jazz in a group.
What is the course about?
This course is suitable for individual musicians who want to learn how to play jazz in an ensemble. All instruments are welcome – including a space for a vocalist! Aimed at Learners and Improvers, Nikki Yeoh will equip you with the basics of playing jazz in groups. You'll learn some basic jazz techniques, ensemble skills and start to incorporate basic jazz improvisations including soloing. There will be lots of musical exploration, so bring an open mind.
What will you learn?
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Listen to, understand, and play jazz on a deeper level
- Use basic jazz techniques in group playing
- Play simple jazz improvisations with confidence
- Demonstrate core jazz ensemble skills – listening, interacting and blending as well as standing up for solos
How will the course be taught?
The course will be a combination of large group sessions and rehearsals with opportunities for smaller group practice depending on the final course line up. There will also be time dedicated to guided listening activities to help develop your overall jazz musicianship. There will be some score reading, but get ready to try playing by ear, even if you've never done this before. In the afternoon, you can opt to spend a session on individual practice or self-guided rehearsals with your peers.
Who is the course for?
This course is for Learners and Improvers. You don't need to be have any experience playing jazz, but you will need to be comfortable playing across the range of your instrument. Some level of note-reading ability would be helpful to you, but it's not essential for taking part. Please note that due to logistics some instruments are limited by number.
Will music be provided and do you need to prepare or bring anything?
You won't need to learn any specific music in advance, but should have a basic understanding of the blues scale. You'll need good knowledge of the full range of your instrument (including fingerings for wind, brass, and string instruments).
Let us know if you play any other instruments and to what standard. We might invite you to play on both!
Please also bring:
Pickups if you have them
Mutes for brass players
Reeds for reed instrument players
