Ben Sher Jazz Guitar Master Class
Hi everyone, this is Ben Sher here! I'm a faculty member at Berklee College of Music, and a recording artist with three cd's on BGI Records. I live in New York and play around town quite a bit, performing at Smoke, Small's, The Zinc Bar, and many of the other clubs in town. I'm really excited about presenting this 5 week jazz guitar workshop...I'll be running through about a year's worth of information! I'll be giving online demonstrations of the material and offering 'handouts' of the material so you'll know exactly what to practice. here's some of the subjects we'll be looking at:
1.) Modal Jazz. Modal jazz is a genre that's really varied stylistically. Many rock and fusion guitarists as varied as Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Carlos Santana. Steve Vai, and Duane Allman, as well as jazz artists like Grant Green, Pat Martino, and are using the modes in their compositions and improvisations. In the first lesson or two we'll work on some of the more common modes, examining how the modes relate to the chords, look at some scale and arpeggio fingerings, check out some ideas that will make your playing more 'jazzy" and work on some tunes where you'll be challenged to modulate from chord to chord.
2.) Bebop and Swing chords and accompaniment. In these classes we'll look at the fundamentals of jazz chord voicings and how to use them. We'll examine a few different styles including the traditional swing style of Django Reinhart and Freddy Greene, and continue on to the 'walking bass' style made popular by Joe Pass, and look at how to 'comp' in a small group setting. We'll also work on one of my favorite subjects: the bossa-nova guitar style.
3.) Jazz Soloing: We'll be diving right in, looking at some ideas for soloing on standards, and contemporary jazz compositions. We'll draw from many of the great jazz artists, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillispie, Clifford Brown, Wes Montgomery ; examining their phrasing and working on incorporating their ideas and developing our own. I'll also be going over what I think is important repetoire to learn and working on fingering ideas for some of the more complicated be-bop tunes like Donna-Lee, Joy Spring, Au Privave etc.
For a small taste of Ben Sher's musical style and teaching, check out this quick tutorial on the bembe rhythm.
1.) Modal Jazz. Modal jazz is a genre that's really varied stylistically. Many rock and fusion guitarists as varied as Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Carlos Santana. Steve Vai, and Duane Allman, as well as jazz artists like Grant Green, Pat Martino, and are using the modes in their compositions and improvisations. In the first lesson or two we'll work on some of the more common modes, examining how the modes relate to the chords, look at some scale and arpeggio fingerings, check out some ideas that will make your playing more 'jazzy" and work on some tunes where you'll be challenged to modulate from chord to chord.
2.) Bebop and Swing chords and accompaniment. In these classes we'll look at the fundamentals of jazz chord voicings and how to use them. We'll examine a few different styles including the traditional swing style of Django Reinhart and Freddy Greene, and continue on to the 'walking bass' style made popular by Joe Pass, and look at how to 'comp' in a small group setting. We'll also work on one of my favorite subjects: the bossa-nova guitar style.
3.) Jazz Soloing: We'll be diving right in, looking at some ideas for soloing on standards, and contemporary jazz compositions. We'll draw from many of the great jazz artists, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillispie, Clifford Brown, Wes Montgomery ; examining their phrasing and working on incorporating their ideas and developing our own. I'll also be going over what I think is important repetoire to learn and working on fingering ideas for some of the more complicated be-bop tunes like Donna-Lee, Joy Spring, Au Privave etc.
For a small taste of Ben Sher's musical style and teaching, check out this quick tutorial on the bembe rhythm.
WHEN
Classes will be held on Mondays July 7, 14, 21, 28, and August 4 from 3-4 pm EST.
WHERE
Attend online OR at Michiko Studios, at 149 W 46th St., New York, NY.
LEVEL
Advanced beginners to experienced students ages 14 and up.
HOW IT WORKS
These are live classes that are taught from Michiko Studios in midtown Manhattan. Students can attend in person OR over the Lessonface high performing video conference platform. Students who attend in person will all be considered active participants. Online participants have the option of actively participating or auditing. Active participants, or attendees, will have the opportunity to submit work for feedback, and ask questions and demonstrate to the class. Auditors will watch and listen online, but not ask questions or submit work for feedback. Students can connect to the online platform using a tablet or computer with reliable internet. To actively participate students also need a webcam. The live sessions are recorded so that all enrolled students and auditors can review the class sessions following the live class. Class recordings will be available for viewing within 48 hours of the live class.
CONTACT
If you have questions, please contact us by emailing [email protected] or by calling 1-800-211-7058.