Belair Instrumental Course, 2010

Dates

The course runs from Sunday 15th August to Friday 20th August, 2010. Participants arrive Sunday from 5.45pm. Departure on Friday around

3 pm.

Course Outline

The course welcomes all woodwind players (including saxophone, flute etc.), pianists, bass players (electric or double) and drummers with some jazz experience who want to develop and improve their improvisation, technical and ensemble playing skills . The faculty is:

• Robin Aspland - piano
• Gareth Lockrane - flute
• Jeremy Brown - bass
• Tristan Mailliot - drums

Tristan Mailliot is the course director, dealing with overall organisation as well as teaching drums and leading rhythm workshops.

Classes are a mixture of instrumental workshops and various ensemble classes focusing on different types of jazz repertoire (bebop, modal etc.) Everyone has the the opportunity to prepare pieces in trios and quartets for the evening concert. This is followed by a jam session.

The emphasis of the course is very practical, so be prepared for lots of playing! We encourage everyone to stretch their musical boundaries and have fun both on and off the bandstand.

The repetoire is a mixture of blues forms, jazz standards and more contemporary material ie. music by Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter etc.

Anita Wardell will be coaching a group of advanced vocalists during the same period and there will be opportunities for the piano trios to work with the vocalists.

Study topics

• Woodwind: Scales, modes, improvisation, repertoire.
• Piano: Chord/scale relationships, chord voicings and extensions, vocabulary, technique and ear training.
• Bass: Chord/scale relationships, developing walking bass lines, vocabulary and soloing.
• Drums: Straight eighths and triplet based time feels, rudiments and stickings, soloing and phrasing, brushwork, metric modulation, Latin time feels.

Schedule (typical day)

• 8.30am: The day starts with breakfast
• 9.45 to 11.15am: Instrument specific workshop.
• 11.20-1.00pm: Participants split into groups and work with tutors
• 1.00pm: Lunch.
• 2.00 to 3.20pm: Further group coaching exploring different repertoire or masterclasses.
• 3.30 to 4.30pm: Accompaniment class with vocalists.
• 4.30 to 7.30pm: Free time for recreation or rehearsals. Ensembles can use allocated rehearsal time to prepare for the evening concerts.
• 7.30pm: Everyone regroups for an aperitif before dinner.
• 9.30pm onwards: The evening concludes with a concert followed by a jam session lasting into the night. (Some jams have finished well after 3am!)