Past Events- BEGINNING JAZZ GUITAR WORKSHOP

Nick Shilling started it off with a beautiful chord melody tune and then gave a very understandable and interesting talk on chord voicings. His handout had good voicings and had the tune Autumn Leaves mapped out for the students to use. He ended his portion with a sweet chord melody tune.

Ken Luker was next and he had a great handout on scales and modes. He made a very difficult subject seem very comprehendible and he graciously fielded a number of questions which indicated to me that this was a hot topic on these guitarist’s minds. Ken has a very intellectual yet very entertaining and engaging style.

Dana Weary then pulled the two topics together playing 2-5-1 chords on his loop machine and playing lines over it. The students were so impressed I heard some of them ask where they could get a loop machine like that. Dana’s handout was well prepared and had numerous useful examples for the students to work through. I especially liked that he thoughtfully included some of Sid Jacobs stuff!

Mike Frederick finished it off with and hour on minor 2-5-1s and Turnarounds. Mike is a gifted guitarist and now we know his true calling is as a music educator. He engaged the audience and pulled everyone in attendance up another level in their playing and understanding of music theory. His handout had ideas from beginning to advanced that we all can use to work through. I love the idea of using the Coltrane changes as a turnaround or even superimposing them over a tune. Mike played a moving rendition of Darn that Dream on solo guitar.

Everyone left with enough handouts and exercises that if they worked through all the ideas they would be well on the way to being a completely new player of our chosen instrument the guitar.

We then had a number of duets and even a singer from the audience sit in for the duet set. There was a fairly good crowd in Ella’s for the entire performance.

Thank you to all the instructors for making this possible. Thank you to Charles for letting us use the Ella’s room. Thank you to Nick Schauer for leading a class in the small group section. Thank you to everyone who played in the duet section. I appreciate so much Mike Frederick playing when he had to be in CDA for a gig at 7pm, and Nick Schauer playing when he had a gig that night at 8pm. Similarly Nick Shilling for coming back early after teaching and then playing in a duet before his three hour gig that night at Ella’s. Thank you to Nick Herman for rushing back from a wedding gig so he could help out with the duets. Thank you so much to Ken Luker for coming in and giving everything to the group when he had just got off a 26 hour flight from Mongolia. I so appreciated Ken who single handedly kept the duet section going, playing duets with a number of players, singing, playing solo, accompanying a singer from the audience (who was quite good BTW). Thank you also to Gary, Charles and Dana for playing in duets. I know I have missed someone I should thank but thank you to everyone!!

Thank you to all who supported our cause by attending and promoting the event! Everyone who put up a poster or told a friend should realize that their actions are directly responsible for the success of our workshop.

AND TO ALL THOSE THAT MISSED THE SEMINAR…TOO BAD FOR YOU…THIS ENDED UP BEING A DAY THAT MOVED OUR GUITAR PLAYING TO THE NEXT LEVEL.  J

The Workshop Schedule on July 22

“THE BEGINNING JAZZ GUITAR WORKSHOP”
 
Saturday July 22, 2006, 1pm-5pm, SPOKANE CENTERSTAGE
 
Agenda:
 
12pm                   “Greeting and Introduction”                                   Tim Nodland
 
12:15-12:45       “Essential Jazz Chords”                                          Nick Shilling
 
12:45-1:15         “Understanding Scales and Modes”                    Ken Luker
 
1:15-1:45            “The Major ii, V7, I, Progression”                          Dana Weary
 
1:45-2:00            (15 minute Break)
 
2:00-2:30            “The minor ii, V7, I, Progression”                          Mike Frederick
 
2:30- 3:00           “Playing over Turnarounds”                                  Mike Frederick
 
3:00-4:00              Break into small groups with guitars and jam on ii, V7, I’s
 
A great opportunity for the guitarist new to jazz and those who wish to review basic jazz music theory for guitar. Guitarists of all styles and level of experience welcome to attend FREE! The format for this workshop is lecture by the speakers until 4pm. At 4pm bring out your guitars for the small group jam sessions.
 
An outstanding faculty of experienced jazz guitarists sharing their knowledge of jazz guitar, FREE!