Assignment Date: March 17, 2020
Due Date: April 20, 2020
Sorry to not get to spend the whole school year together ... disappointing for sure.
Hoping to turn this obstacle into an "bopportunity".
I'm using this "enrichment lesson" to work on my Canvas Peer Review skills. I hope you'll use some of your extra non-class time to reach for new learning on your instrument.
This assignment is not worth points at this time but may be re-announced and include points in the future? Special focus for me is how to use Canvas to have peer reviews so as you prepare this lesson, consider your audience to be at least 3 other Jazz 1 members.
Although the future is a bit hazy lately, there will be jazz in the future. Jazz combo opportunities during Jazz Colony, the Edmonds Arts Festival this June and also during SeaJazz on Wednesdays and Sundays all summer. In order to play in combos we all need to learn some Jazz Standards and vocabulary.
This new assignment is yet another variation upon the "transcription assignment" from years past. However this assignment should be slightly easier. There will be no culminating performance - no "solo night" but hopefully you'll buy in (engage) and internalize some of this vocabulary and notice that it shows up in your solos in the future (as most of your practice will and should).
2020 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Charlie Parker. Bird melodies are in many cases themselves excellent jazz etudes.
Submit a URL video only, include some text on the screen during editing to let me know which tune it is and from what LP did it come. Who are the other players on the recording.
Some of you are familiar with the FB group called Jam of the Week ... one of the coolest things about FB which I realize many of you are not involved in. Take a look?
Playing a solo well at a recital is difficult and playing an actual transcription doesn't always make for an enjoyable night of listening for the audience. However playing transcriptions is one of the best ways to work on your nuance and finesse and internalize jazz vocabulary. Most highly accomplished improvisors agree that the best way to do this is all by ear. However you may not want to spend the break working that hard so you could also choose to do this from sheet music (but you'll need to do a bit of work to find pdfs on line or from your network).
Often people post youtube or Jam of the Week videos playing along with the original recording ... I recommend this. However you can also do it with no accompaniment or just a metronome or drum genius or a play along of your choosing.
Materials necessary: chromebook, mp3 player/ipod or phone with headphones, metronome, possibly some apps like iRealb and/or a tempo slow app, youtube, pencil, instrument and a quiet place to practice well. Might help to also have a sound system or blue tooth speaker to be able to play along with so the camera can pick up your sound and the playalong.
Not required but you may want to check out this new Bird transcription book by Michael VanBebber https://qpress.ca/author-composer/van-bebber-michael/
Purpose: to refine instrumental independence, develop solo vocabulary, increase knowledge of jazz repertoire, refine inflection and nuance, and gain additional opportunity performing alone. This project will require students to practice more and LISTEN to jazz.
This project may also help you to produce an asset for use when auditioning for camps, colleges, other groups, etc.
Guidelines for Picking tunes:
- There's a lot to learn from mastering the head to Bird tunes like Donna Lee, Confirmation, Dexterity, Relaxin' at Camarillo, Segment, Cheryl, and so on. And there are easier ones like Blue Bird for those who find the "boppier" ones forbidding (like bassists and trombonists).
- Choose a tune you like - AABA form, blues tunes are okay too must be by Charlie "Bird" Parker
- Choose a tunes that may be called at a jam session - try not to pick the most obscure things?
- Solo should be not too fast, not too busy, and not extreme in register
- Most of Bird's tunes are contrafacts, so those interested may want to write Bird-ish contrafacts.
Thanks to Mr. Greenblatt for helping develop this assignment during last year's brain storm session on solo night.
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