This photo of Dan Balmer helping a student encapsulates the love of Centrum Jazz PT
Randy Halberstadt - improv session
Teach your student melodies by ear. "My Ideal". Require them to sing it!
When learning melodic phrases chunk and combine slowly! Especially the first time you're learning it.
Have your students pick out melodies by ear! Rat in a maze metaphor.
Improvise with chord tones!!
Stay in the box. Slowly!
2-5 repeat
Experiment with major scales
Then work on repetition games worksheet!
Repetition is the opposite of boring.
Good example is Joe morello on take 5
Swing! Legato rules
Don't end lines on a downbeat
Upbeat accentuation is more important than triplets
High notes sometimes act as accents when playing very fast - not like Itzak Pearlman
Jon Hamar - Bass basics
Educators in attendance: David Fowler and Emily
We’ll start with the fundamentals ….
The role of the bass in music:
- Underlying harmonic structure
- To keep time and help the band stay together
There are many potential pitfalls:
- Wrong size of bass for the player
- Poorly set up instrument
Steps for success:
- Stand on the right
- 45 degree angle
- Bottom of peg box at eye level
- Back corner of the bass touches the belly
- Hold feet in an athletic stance with toes apart and feet under shoulders
Jennifer Leighton plays left handed.
John Pattatuci is left handed but plays right handed.
Right Hand Basics:
- anchor thumb on the side of the finger board
- pull to the next string and stop/rest on the next string but when on the bottom string try not to let your thumb leave the fingerboard
Left Hand Basics:
(It took me 4-5 years of private lessons to get both hands on the right track)
- Thumb in the back of the neck
- Keep forearm straight and the thumb rounded (circular thumb)
- Play with first, second and fourth fingers so theres a half note between 1 and 2 and a half step between 2 and 4
- Always add fingers so the weaker pinky gets support
Then beginning bassists came up for lessons .. Emily and Vecinda got some great advice.
John and Gerald Clayton duet during Faculty Presents session
Trumpet Masterclass - Wednesday
Jay Thomas, Terrell Stafford, Sean Jones
Mouthpiece buzzing - complete resonance - if you get the mouthpiece to completely buzz then you’ll get the horn to completely resonance.
Resonate like a duck … the one outside my window this morning at 5 AM.
Miles Davis understood tone so well that he didn’t have to play too much to leave a big impact.
Jay T said yeah like Coltrane on “I want to talk about you” or “say it over and over again”
Terrell said to sing everything before you play. Sing, air, buzz, play.
One student says I appreciate hearing a new method where I don’t need more books.
Sean J said, “I’m kind of a geek … I like books” One of my students really benefits from Brandt and Top Tones but not Charlier.
The nature of good practice requires some serious honesty. Brenda Womack said when you’re into good practice habits you’re like a storm chaser … work on something nobody else wants to tackle.
Sean learned “What’s New” in Db by accident.
Jay T “My Ideal” - Kenny Dorham (Key of D)
How to play fast -
TS - Clark Terry said to play fast like you Carnival of Venice
Low volume when playing fast
Work on all your exercises more ….
Slow is the mother of fast
How do I get more feeling in my solos?
Study other solos that have much feeling.
Darn that Dream - Art Farmer
You’re My Everything - Freddie Hubbard
Fux - audition the bass line
Jerry Bergonzi - look into his approach on how to practice
His way of talking about scales and intervals which is helpful.
Jay T gave an example of breaking a pentatonic scale into new exercises.
Sean Jones with Dena DeRose trio - Joe LaBarbara and Chuck Deardorf
Smulyan - Blues Class
Taryn on Drums, Daniel on bass, Igor on piano
F blues with substitutions
F | Eb7 | Db 7 | B7 |
Bb7 | Bb m 7 Eb7 | A-7 D7 | Abm7 Eb7 |
Gm7 | C7 | F7 | % |
Bird Blues (Chi Chi)
F Maj 7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7 | Cm7 F7 |
Bb7 | Bb m 7 Eb7 | A-7 D7 | Abm7 Eb7 |
Gm7 | C7 | F7 Dm7 | Gm7 C7 |
Cannonball ? - with Sergio Mendez??
F Maj 7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7 | Cm7 F7 |
Bb7 | Bb m 7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 | Abm7 Eb7 |
Gbmaj7 | Gm7 C7 | F7 Dm7 | Gm7 C7 |
First four bars is like Weaver of Dream, Another You, Confirmation
Some Other Blues - Coltrane
F7 | Eb7 | F7 | F7 |
Bb 7 | Eb7 | Ab 7 | Db 7 |
C7 | Bb 7 | F7 | F7 |
West Coast Blues ?
Another Type - No name??
Ebm7 Ab7 | Dm7 G7 | C#m7 F# 7 | Cm7 F7 |
Bm7 E7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | A m7 D7 | Abm7 Db7 |
Gm7 | C7 | F7 | Em7 A7 |
Smulyan’s option
Ebm7 Ab7 | Dm7 G7 | C#m7 F# 7 | Cm7 F7 |
Bm7 E7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | A m7 D7 | Abm7 Db7 |
Gm7 C7 | F# m7 B7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Em7 A7 ||
Tritone option - ascending
Bm7 E 7 | Cm7 F7 | C#m7 F# 7 | Dm7 G7 |
Ebm7 Ab7 | Em7 A7 | Fm7 Bb7 | F#m7 B7 |
Gm7 C | Abm7 Db7 | Am 7 D7 | Bbm7 D7 ||
2-5s up in 4ths is also cool beginning on 2
Look up Coltrane plays the Blues and Locomotion from Blue Trane
Bittersweet?
West Coast Blues - Louis Armstrong
Matt Wilson - drums
The number one hangup is the physical setup and posture.
But first lets talk about necessary materials.
Power toms may have caused the weird tilt affect. Keep your drums flat - parallel to the floor.
Catholic school story about Ferraris all over the drums and there was tape on it too. Tape covered a license plate that said “hot sex”.
Consider these brands … Yamaha, Pearl, Remo and avoid the Gretch Catalina because the hardware is poor, tom mount will break and the snares don’t sound too good etc. DW makes great stuff especially
I recommend a 20 inch bass drum. 14 “ snare … 12 “ tom then 13 (if necessary), 14 floor tom.
Buy extra 14” snare heads.
I don’t like the single 10” tom.
Get good hardware .. easily adjustable throne.
Charlie Persip “Best thing you can buy is a good seat”.
I don’t recommend the bicycle seat. I only sit on the front.
Make the drummer responsible for their own washers and felts.
Fiberskin Diplomat is what Jeff uses.
Ambassadors are great… Evans are great.
You can temper the tone with a felt strip or
Make the students make choices. Buy T rods for the bass drum so kids can tune it. Carry a wash cloth which can be placed between the bottom of the pedal and the drum.
14 x 20
or 14 x 18 so you can feel the font head
Felt beater … not big furry thing.
Don t use a suspended bass drum. Beater should hit near the edge not right in the center.
3 cymbals are plenty - 20 with 2 rivets
Matt likes an “airy” sound. Hi-hats should be flexible. Pick out three cymbals - two tops sounds nice … add a heavier bottom to produce more “chick”.
Zildjan new beats hi-hats.
Check the sound with sticks. Maple are lighter … hickory are denser.
Plastic brushes!!! Fat Cat
Vic Firth in the right hand, regal in the left (wire brushes)
medieval torture museum of ruined brushes
Use the word big not loud.
Avoid charts with slashes … learn the song! Know the form! Slashes are not very informative … play them the recording.
Thigpen said that the drummer is the only person who has a throne.
School of rock - Jack Black is the son in law of Charlie Haden. He plays them a video of Blakey and Buddy Rich.
Art Taylor!!
Put the drummer in the middle of the bone section with a ride cymbal …
Use a couple of charts that are very simple so they can play them from memory and it opens their ears!
Use some of the community resources to enrich all of the musician’s experiences … invite in some bluegrass or country artists.
When setting up your hi-hat, don’t over tighten the nuts on the top cymbal. Also make sure there’s ample room between the cymbals.
Dizzy carried his own China boy with him for his drummers to play.
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