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Bachelor’s of Music
Jazz Composition and Arranging
Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA, Class
of 1981
Former Faculty member Berklee, 1982–84
(teaching Jazz Harmony, Theory and Arranging, Ear Training, and Listening
and Analysis) |
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Jazz Harmony Course
I accept twelve students for a 16 week (4 month) long Jazz Harmony course.
Why pay thousands of dollars to a “famous Boston jazz college” when you
can do it for a fraction of the cost here in the Bay Area? This is the
same material that I taught in Boston (there’s a good chance that had you
attended the same years I taught that I would have been your instructor!),
but I’ve chosen to emphasize certain points more than the “factory
assembly line” in Boston does.
Are you a student thinking about attending the “famous Boston jazz
college?” Here’s a way to test in at a much higher level by showing your
knowledge of the material in the way they would like to see it. Save
thousands by entering at a second or third year level of classes while
clearing the way to take all of the wonderful electives offered. Learn the
basics from me and have more semesters open to take advanced courses and
special elective classes.
Are you a singer or songwriter who wants to “get” how the system of
Western harmony works? Do want to be able to talk to professional
musicians in their own language? Learn in a rational, logical manner the
“way it works,” take the mystery out of the language of chord symbols and
Roman numeral shorthand. I am a firm believer in the “building block”
approach: every concept rests on the concept previously learned. By the
end of the class you’ll have all the tools necessary to take standard jazz
harmony (that is, the harmony of standard Western tunes, from Cole Porter
and George Gershwin to Billy Joel and George Benson) as far as you want to
take it.
The point is to teach you how to think and analyze the music, not just
memorize. It’s the old “Give a man (or woman, this is the PC Bay Area!) a
fish and feed him/her for a day, teach a person to fish and feed them for
a lifetime” concept.
I’ve gotten a lifetime of fulfillment from my studies of harmony and
theory (it was how I was able to switch from being a drummer to making my
living as a pianist), let me share that with you.
Class I meets on Tuesdays from 6 – 7:30 (up to twelve students)
Class II meets on Wednesdays from 6 – 7:30 (up to twelve students)
Cost of the class is
This can be paid per week, split in fourths, split in halves or paid in
total.
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Chart Writing Course
*A prerequisite for the “Chart Writing Course” will be to demonstrate a
knowledge of the material in the “Jazz Harmony Course”. This can be
demonstrated by taking and passing the final exam of the “Jazz Harmony
Course.”
Of all of the many components needed to make a successful, cost efficient
show come together (remember we’re talking about a show involving trained,
reading musicians, not a stereotypical “garage band”) among the most
important components are clear, organized charts for the musicians to
read. I accept twelve students for a sixteen week (4 month) Chart Writing
Course.
I travel all over the United States, from New York to Chicago to New
Orleans to Los Angeles (and points in between!) putting charts in front of
musicians I’ve just met in the afternoon for the show that night. One
rehearsal, get it right if not the first, then the second time through.
This would be impossible without clear and concise charts!
Every singer in the world has experienced the h*ll of putting charts in
front of musicians and having the arrangement completely fall apart,
either because of the “road map,” or badly written rhythms, incorrectly
written chord changes, or maybe just bad penmanship! Not too mention the
bellyaching, griping, and whining of the musicians!
This course is designed to teach the student how to write a chart that
will give the musicians what they need to make the chart sound like what
the arranger wants to hear, without “overloading” the musicians with
unnecessary information that will actually get in the way of the
successful performance of the piece (this is one of the basic tenets of
chart writing: know what to put in to get what you want, and what to leave
out so it doesn’t get screwed up!) The prerequisite knowledge of harmony
is important so that all of us in the class are speaking the same
“language,” we can’t stop to explain a harmonic concept when we’re trying
to get on with the very practical business of getting three or five or
fifty humans to act in a precisely coordinated way – just try to get ten
people to sit down at the precisely same time, or clap their hands exactly
together so it sounds like one hand clapping! Now multiply that times one
hundred and you get the complexity of trying to get a group of humans to
make music together without a million rehearsals.
I’ve emphasized that last part because this is the ultimate practicality
of charts – little or no rehearsals. You have to pay musicians to
rehearse! If you’re trying to teach a group your show without charts, it
could take months or generous musicians taking home a CD of your music and
learning it on their own time (and probably making their own “charts” or
“cheat sheets” to remember them). With good charts and reasonably educated
musicians you can go on a gig cold, having never even met the musicians
before and give a great performance. We do it all of the time.
As we say at the end of every gig, “Well, we fooled ‘em again!” and got
the check.
Class I meets on Tuesdays from 8 – 9:30 (up to twelve students)
Class II meets on Wednesdays from 8 – 9:30 (up to twelve students)
Cost of the class is: coming soon
This can be paid per week, split in fourths, split in halves or paid in
total.
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