Guildhall Young Artists Online Unlocking Jazz

About Unlocking Jazz

This fun, interactive course will help you develop skills to play and improvise on some great jazz tunes (often referred to as standards). There will be lots of playing, active listening, live demonstrations, guest artists and opportunities to present your own efforts not just to the tutor, but to a supportive community of like-minded students.

Who is it for?

Anyone aged 11–8 interested in learning to play jazz. 

What can I expect? 

Each week you will be given tools to develop your understanding of the music and practical exercises to get you playing. 

By the end of the course you will: 

• Understand how chords are built and named
• Understand how progressions can be constructed from chords
• Be able spot these progressions in a tune
• Be developing improvisation using chord tones
• Be able to improvise with a major scale in a swing feel
• Have learnt some essential jazz repertoire on which to start developing your improvising

Course Outline

Term one
Learn how chords are built, and how they fit together to make the types of sequences that are commonly found in jazz standards so that you can create your own melodies.

Term two 
Develop ways of playing and improvising on these sequences and start to work on how to do this in common keys and learn how to swing! We will be listening to examples, and there will be weekly listening and learning tasks.

Term three
Learn some jazz repertoire by ear, listen in depth to some classic solos and begin putting what you have learnt into context, to start to build your own creative, improvised solos.

Please note that class content is subject to change.
 

About the Course Tutor

Jez Franks is a Jazz guitarist and educator. He led his own quartet Compassionate Dictatorship for many years, producing 3 albums of original material, and touring regularly. He has played, recorded and toured with a variety of leaders and ensembles including, most recently the band ‘Solstice’ (appearing on the albums ‘Alimentation’ and ‘Food for Thought). He currently teaches Jazz Guitar and Pedagogy at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and GYA Norwich and has taught and examined at most of the UK’s leading Conservatoires for over 30 years.

“…a staggering improvisational force” All about Jazz website

Do I need anything?

• An email address 
• A reliable internet connection 
• A computer/laptop/tablet with a microphone and a camera. Please note: attending on a phone is not recommended. 
• An instrument (and amplifier if appropriate)
• Your browser fully updated to be able to use the most recent version of Zoom (if using an Apple device we recommend installing an alternative browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla). 

The following items are recommended, but optional: 

• Headphones 
• Manuscript paper and a pencil 

Please ensure you are able to work in a well-lit and quiet environment so that your tutor is able to fully assess your work and performance.