Teaching & Workshops

Reinhardt Melz, Dan Gaynor and Justin Durrie at The Workshop - 2004

NEW!!!- jazz workshops w/randy porter and guests at heavywood studio. JULY 26TH, AUG 2ND, AUG 16TH, SEP 6TH, SEP 20TH, OCT 4TH.

yes, it's been a while since i've cleaned up the studio and invited y'all back for some stretching of both sides of the musical brain with some seriously focused workshops. so, finally, here it is... a whole series of them! i've been honored to have had some amazing 'alumni' participate, and know that once we get going the challenges of improvisation fire up those endorphins and stimulate some inspired jazz. many of you are busy with various summer activities and gigs, but please let me know if you can make any of these and i'll get to organizing the sessions. these workshops are a highlight of my year and i've been putting together old and new teaching techniques and ideas to help us reach a higher level of musicianship together.

 

as you may know, guest teachers of past workshops include:

madeline eastman vcls
ellio villafranca pno
alan jones drms
reinhardt melz drms
gary hobbs drms

i'm truly humbled by the talented participants that have signed up in the past, so though i won't mention names, suffice it to say that if you're advanced you will be in good company! singers note workshop-3. that one's for you!! o.k., now the details...

july 26: workshop 1-advanced improvisation. "the jazz gym". this is the classic workshop of the past, but with new ideas and techniques added which challenge us to play with a deeper level of satisfaction and confidence.

aug 2: workshop 2-intermediate improvisation. "solo, comp, swing". focusing on keeping the flow of the 3 primary elements of all music, melody, rhythm and harmony, while improvising. all instruments welcome.

aug 16: workshop 3-singers and accompanists. "the vox/keys connection." guitarists welcome, too. on the spot arranging and stylistic input to create a more sophisticated, inventive collaboration between singers and instrumentalists.

sept 6: workshop 4- "bebop!" it is no coincidence that success in this idiom, which is musically analogous to the baroque era, is often followed by high degree of ability in many others styles. do this and you can do anything! w/ todd strait and ed bennet

sept 20: workshop 5- beyond jazz ...."do what'chu wanna do." songs and ideas that may not be mainstream, but are sometimes closer to our heart and perhaps for some, more relevant.

oct 4: workshop 6-advanced improvisation revisited. "the jazz gym" round 2. one last crack at- the cadenza, text messaging, cannibalized phrasing, hemiola-philiac, air-piano, 5's & 7's, start/stop, harmonic GPS- and more.

all sessions are 4 hours, 9 am-1pm or 2 pm-6 pm and cost $80 each. anyone signing up for 4 or more pays only $70 each! more guests TBA.

Sign up now for the jazz workshops!

thanks for your time,

rp

 

BELOW IS THE OLD SCOOP....

NEXT WORKSHOP with Madeline Eastman on Thursday, January 24, 2008 7-10PM

JAZZ PIANO and VOICE -Making Music Together - Sign up below!

 

Reinhardt Melz, Dan Gaynor and Justin Durrie at The Workshop - 2004
Reinhardt Melz, Dan Gaynor and Justin Durrie at The Workshop - 2004

Get to the next level...

A jazz workshop for the serious student/professional

  • Focused instruction/ playing/ recording from 10 am to 2 pm at Heavywood Studios
  • Classes are comprised of 2 jazz groups working through concepts of jazz improvisation and performance with a concentrated day of musical growth

 

An in depth look at jazz music's most important elements:

RHYTHM

  • feeling and playing time with more freedom and control
  • studying musical tension and resolution (over the bar, polyrhythm, odd meters)

HARMONY

  • drilling the basics and implementing the more advanced and exotic
  • looking at harmonic leaders such as Bill Evans, Barry Harris, George Shearing, John Coltrane, Richie Bierach and others

MELODY

  • setting a higher standard for creating a new song within a song
  • getting beyond chord/scale theory and "playing what you hear"
  • exercises to balance various note durations with space
  • finding ways to tap the melodic wisdom of masters such as Charlie Parker and apply some general principles to all styles

NEXT WORKSHOP with Madeline Eastman on Thursday, January 24, 2008 7-10PM

JAZZ PIANO and VOICE -Making Music Together

 

Sign up now for the jazz workshop!