Unfolding The Jazz Program Level 1
Found in: Jazz Clues
Sheri R., California
“…. (Do) we learn every jazz piece first as a solo with the JC1, then go back to the beginning of the book and learn every piece with JC2, and then again start at the beginning of the book and learn ensemble playing for each piece, or can they learn, say maybe the first three as solos with JC1 and JC2, and then as they go forward learning more solos with JC 1 and 2, and at the same time we can start introducing how to make the first solos into ensemble pieces”
Neil Moore
Here is a systematic approach for learning every jazz piece that the student encounters. This could remain consistent for their entire learning experience:
I recommend processing the Clues thoroughly and in order, but this does not mean learning each and every one of the pieces, individually and in order.
With Jazz Clue 1, process it until it is thoughtless, but just concentrate on the first two or three pieces. That would be plenty.
With Jazz Clue 2, process it until thoughtless, but this time, because its application is far more dynamic and far-reaching, learn more of the pieces from the Touch of Jazz Book, eventually all of them.
With regard to Dropping In, don’t venture into this arena until the student is proficient at JC 1 and 2, and they have 3 to 5 pieces that are played to a high degree of comfort.
Moving forward, any and all jazz pieces (using Touch of Jazz, or things such as a Real Book of a Fake Book), will be learned with JC2 as the primary goal and foundation. Those same pieces would then be re-interpreted and learned as ensemble pieces, where the Dropping In process would be applied and mastered.
Ultimately, the student would now end up with two renditions of each piece. A solo arrangement (with JC2 as the basis), and an ensemble performance (with the concepts of Dropping In as the basis).
Kind regards,
Neil Moore