Abram Miller
About
Hello, and thank you for checking out my profile! I'm a jazz tenor saxophonist, composer and band leader currently based out of Des Moines, Iowa. I studied both composition and jazz at the University of Northern Iowa under the direction of Mr. Chrs Merz, Dr. Washut, and classical saxophone from Dr. Bradfield. More recently, I have been studying with Adam Larson, the world renown tenor saxophonist and composer Adam Larson.
I have played with the Ryan Garmoe Quintet, the Copper Smoke Trials, Jay and the Decades, and Pink Neighbor. I have recorded as a soloist for the Copper Smoke Trials, Azeem Ward, SwEEzy, and more recently have recorded my own EP, which will be released in early December, 2020
Teaching Style
My goal is to foster curiosity and musical exploration of each of my students. I focus on three main concepts while teaching: overall technique, jazz theory and the jazz language. During lessons, I put emphasis on making sure the student understands why they’re learning a new technique, the theory behind it, and how to incorporate it into a jazz solo.
Curriculum
I will break up lessons into four segments; Tone, Technique, language and repertoire. I found it the most effective to teach music theory with a more holistic approach, and we will learn more about the theory of what we do in each segment. Each week I will also have listening assignments. The best way to understand and internalize style and improvisational techniques is to study the jazz masters of the past and present.
Required materials: Notebook and pencil, metronome (an app works fine, I recommend either TE Tuner or Time Guru), Spotify/Apple Music/Youtube
Not required but helpful materials: IrealB Pro, The Amazing Slow Downer, Spotify Premium, TE Tuner