Brian Lynch Jazz Trumpet Studio Syllabus Fall 2015

JAZZ TRUMPET STUDIO SYLLABUS FALL 2015  Version 1.1
Prof. BRIAN LYNCH

Studio Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/brianlynchfrosttrumpetstudio
Studio Web Site: http://brianlynchjazztrumpetstudio.com

Download the hard copy of this syllabus:

JTP Syllabus 2015-16

Hi All,

Welcome to my trumpet studio for the 2015-16 academic year at the Frost School Of Music. This year’s syllabus retains most of the aspects of last year’s syllabus while making changes that reflect the continuing evolution and refinement of my teaching concepts and practice.

Along with outlining my studio policies and requirements below, I’d also like to give you a glimpse of my teaching philosophy and the general areas that I feel important to cover in the course of my jazz trumpet instruction. The topics below address basic issues of playing the horn and improvisational fluency that apply to all students interested in a serious engagement with the jazz trumpet idiom, in my view. As such, I will expect all of my students to apply themselves to this material.

STUDIO STRUCTURE – LESSONS, GROUP LESSONS AND MASTER CLASSES

My studio uses a hybrid group/individual lesson structure, and our activity as a studio will consist of these aspects:

  1. Individual lessons
  2. Group lessons/”shedding sessions”, where core requirements in technique and applied jazz technique along with other aspects of playing will be addressed in small groups of compatible level. We will also work on repertoire as well as general musicianship issues such as rhythmic comprehension, reading, and so forth as applied to the trumpet.
  3.  Studio classes (Mondays 7-8 PM, Volpe 107) will have playing sessions where studio members will perform for each other with accompaniment, and be critiqued by myself and visiting artists.

There will also be master classes and seminars on different topics, especially pertaining to style, historical perspectives on jazz trumpet and related fields. We will also cover special topics such as recording techniques.

Lesson tallies are broken down as follows:

For 2 credit students:

• 11 one hour private lessons

• 12 weeks of group lessons (1 hour each). counting as 3 lessons (12 divided by 4 in each group)

For 1 credit students:

• 4 one hour private lessons, or 8 one hour “practice partner” lessons (see below)

• 12 weeks of group lessons, as described above

As an alternative, 1 credit students may elect to take 7 one hour lessons without the group lesson component. I do strongly recommend that 1 credit students elect to take the group lesson; you will get far more contact and content by doing so!

Special Note for Studio Members With Other Instructors:

Members of the Jazz Trumpet Studio who are taking private instruction with other teachers in the studio will have the option of taking a group lesson each week and 11 individual lessons with their instructor of record; or 14 individual lessons with the instructor of record without the group lesson. Again, I recommend the group lesson option in this case.

Group lessons will be organized partially according to level, based on evaluation at the beginning of each semester, but also subject to scheduling. These groups will meet every week of the semester; when I’m away touring they will be coached by a teaching assistant.
Studio class will be held every Monday after MSJ Monday Community meeting, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM (except for the Mondays when Community sessions go to extra length). These classes are not extra or voluntary, but an integral part of the curriculum, and attendance will count towards your grade.

“Practice Partners” and Practice Partner Lessons:

I would like to encourage my students to find a partner to practice with, at least twice a week. I’ve found that “shedding” together with someone really makes a practice session more meaningful and memorable. Partner practice doesn’t take the place of individual practice, but makes you go back to your own private woodshed with more motivation and focus.

I think that partnering may also be a good way to get the most out of the limited lesson time available to 1 credit students that are electing to take the group lesson.

STUDIO POLICIES: 

My lesson slots will start promptly on the hour and end at 55 minutes past the hour, giving me a 5 minute turnaround between lessons to make notes and get students packed and unpacked. I will expect students to be at the studio door 5 minutes before their assigned lesson time!

I will expect all my students to keep a practice log covering what is practiced (both my assignments and other material) and for how long. This will be used for both the individual and the group lessons. A Moleskine pocket music notebook works well for this purpose. Students will also be required to record their practice sessions at least once a week, and be able to send me excerpts from them on my request, in order to help me assess your progress in specific areas.

I also expect my students to bring all the music (exercises, charts, etc.) that we are working on as well as material previously covered, with them to each lesson. I expect the material that I give to my students to be neatly organized in a binder so it can be accessed at any time.

I have a very active performing schedule so I will need to reschedule lessons at times. I will expect each of you to provide me with reliable alternative times for your lesson so I can plan ahead with you. Group lessons and studio class will go on as scheduled during my performing absences, led by my teaching assistant(s), unless otherwise indicated on the master schedule. (see below)

I have set up a Facebook page for communication between all of us at: https://www.facebook.com/brianlynchfrosttrumpetstudio I will use this as an adjunct to regular email in informing you about schedule changes as well of all things of interest to the studio. This will not be a replacement for email so keep communicating to email messages, please! The master schedule for individual and group lessons, as well as master classes, will be on this page.

There is also a webpage on my own site set up for the studio in case Facebook is inadequate for any of our virtual needs. The address for that page is:  http://brianlynchjazztrumpetstudio.com. All schedules and documents pertaining to the studio will be on this web page as well.

Between the Facebook page and the studio webpage on my site, everyone should be able to know what’s going on from week to week, so please, no excuses for not knowing about something! I will be also using the UM Blackboard system to communicate with students when appropriate.

GRADES:

You will be graded on  1) attendance, 2) effort, 3) progress, and 4) completion to the best of your ability of assigned work. Factors such as unexcused absences from lessons, chronic lateness to lessons, unpreparedness, not being warmed up for a lesson, and other indicators of lack of serious intent (like not having your music with you at lessons) will also affect your grade. Missing a lesson without an prior excuse will result in the lowering of your semester grade by one half a letter (e.g. from A to A-).

JURIES:

Your end of semester jury will count towards a substantial portion of your grade. Jury requirements will be made clear to each student on an individual basis by the mid point of each semester; generally, though, a typical jury might take this form:

  1.  Demonstration of technical fluency through presentation of exercises or other assignment material from the lessons.
  2. Performing a transcription of an improvised solo (from an assigned transcription that semester) by memory along with the recording at a playback speed chosen by the jury (typically between 50 and 100%). A written transcription and a attached sheet of vocabulary extracts from the solo must be also submitted.
  3. Performing a piece from the repertoire list, and specifically from the tunes learned that semester, by memory (melody and improvised solo) with accompaniment (either live or play-along). The jury will select the song to be played from the repertoire list submitted by the student and OK’d by the studio instructor, Students will also be required to play the melody of one of the songs from their list (student’s choice) in the key of the jury’s choice. More advanced students (TP2 and above) will be required to improvise on this “12 key” tune as well in the key of the jury’s choice.

JAZZ TRUMPET STUDIO OBJECTIVES

  1. A firm hold on technique, with a balanced approach to development and maintenance of tone, flexibility, range, velocity, articulative fluency and versatility, along with all other aspects of playing the trumpet at a virtuoso level. Methodology and materials from the orchestral tradition will be adapted to work organically in a jazz/studio music context of performance alongside my own materials and contemporary technical approaches.
  2. Comprehension and understanding of a wide variety of styles. The jazz tradition will be the central focus to work outward from in gaining understanding of the role of the trumpet in other idioms:
  • Afro Cuban/salsa
  • Other Afro-Caribbean styles
  • Brazilian
  • Other Hispano-American styles
  • North American R&B, funk and pop
  • Afro Beat and Afro-pop
  • Other world musics
  • Western Classical Music

The jazz tradition will also be the central focus in terms of an expectation of achieving a high level of improvisational prowess and mastering the repertoire associated with it. The core of my improvisation teaching is to achieve fluency in the so called “bebop” idiom, with an emphasis on spontaneous construction of clear melodic lines on all varieties of harmonic structures and forms. More contemporary approaches to improvising and earlier jazz idioms will not be neglected, however!

My philosophy is that understanding bebop* gives you the tools to play any idiom of contemporary jazz music with the most efficiency, creativity, and flexibility (see below). *Since the term “bebop” has become so generalized and even misused, let me be clear about my use of the word. When I use the term “bebop”, I am referring to the innovations of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Fats Navarro, and other important musicians of the classic bebop idiom. Understanding bebop in its context as one of the most dynamic and fruitful musical and cultural phenomenons of the last 100 years is also crucially important in mastering the tools necessary to achieve distinction in one’s eventual idiom no matter what it is, in my opinion.

Repertoire, as stated above, is an integral aspect of the goal, and the aim is to equip the student with a comprehensive knowledge of classic and contemporary jazz tunes as well as important repertoire from other related idioms. The goal is to be able to play the core repertoire with deep understanding as well as to know the widest possible selection of other important repertoire.

Today’s musician must be comfortable and adept with technology, in particular with recording technology. We will integrate recording techniques into the studio with the goal of every student becoming able to record and produce their own overdub session in a home studio format to professional quality. Tracking, editing, and mixing techniques will be demonstrated and learned. Along with the recording techniques themselves, the philosophy of self-production as a session musician will be explored; that is, how to give an artist (client) what they want while still being able to express your own personality as a creative musician.

Teaching – Obviously, teaching will become a significant part of the career path for most of you. Along with the natural transmission of teaching techniques as a part of the teacher – student relationship, we will explore ways of integrating pedagogy into the student’s overall musicality to make teaching natural and easy.

TECHNIQUE – “CHOPS’

Some of you (especially upperclassmen/women and grad students) have certain warmups and practice routines already established. I don’t intend to change things that already work for you, or try to convert you to a particular “‘system” of playing. Rather, I want to be result driven in terms of developing what you need technically to do justice to the music and to be able to express yourself on the horn.

Certain routines and exercises have helped my own playing, and in turn I’d like to share some of these with you according to how I think they might help your playing.
One area where I consistently see a deficiency in my students is in the area of flexibility. The mastery of both slow and fast flexibilities (“lip slurs”) and the cultivation of the tongue arch compression technique used to execute them is crucial in being able to have the trumpet do your bidding. I will be focusing on this extensively with most or all of you!

Other techniques that have helped my playing and are core components of my approach to the instrument include breath attacks, mouthpiece and lip buzzing exercises, flow (moving long tone) studies and bending exercises.
Please take a look at my sheet “General Perspectives On Trumpet Playing” for a more detailed overview of my approach to playing the instrument and current thoughts on technique.

REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED MATERIAL

This year’s edition of the Studio Book will consist of material I have devised myself in the course of my teaching and my own practice, material conceived in the course of past group lessons and complied by my teaching assistant material shared by colleagues and students both past and present. Material from the required method books (see below) will supplement the studio book material.
All students are required to own these method books:

Max Schlossberg – Daily Drills And Exercises

Arbans – Complete Method (Vizzutti Edition or traditional version)

Herbert Clarke – Technical Studies

In addition, I STRONGLY encourage you to obtain these other  methods if you don’t already have them:
James Stamp – Warm-Ups and Studies

James Stamp: Supplementary Studies

Earl Irons – 27 Groups of Exercises (Southern Music)

Charles Colin – Advanced Lip Flexibilites

James Thompson – The Buzzing Book with play along CD (Editions Bim)

http://www.editions-bim.com/james-thompson-the-buzzing-book-for-trumpet.html

Anthony Plog – Method Vol. 4 Tonguing Exercises and Vol. 5 Lip Flexibilites – (Balquhiddher) www.balquhiddermusic.com/BQ-80.htm

John Daniel – Special Studies

Chris Kase – 21st Century Technical Studies

Bai Lin – Lip Flexibilities

IMPROVISATIONAL TECHNIQUE

I define this as what cultivates the player’s ability to negotiate musical space (the contour of the musical line) and time (extension/resolution/rhythm) efficiently, developing procedural memory and freeing up processing power for higher level creative decisions. The mastering of specific routines at different levels dealing with the expression of tonality and control of scale permutation will be a major component of our work here. This material will also be an application and extension of the basic technique work discussed above. Transposing and mastering these routines in all keys/tonalities with a high level of accuracy, beautiful sound, and precise (and varied) articulation or seamless legato will be the goal at each level of difficulty and routine.

“LANGUAGE ACQUISITION” – LISTENING AND IMITATION

Zeroing in on this indispensable process will be our other major work here. I want to make my philosophy clear – a prime goal in my teaching is to have my students engage with the jazz trumpet tradition in a meaningful and thorough way. Understanding how meaning is codified, developed, and transformed within a well defined, unitary style system such as “straight ahead jazz” or “bebop” is key to gaining the insight into how styles and traditions work in a more general sense. In my opinion, the student cannot sidestep this process and still come out the other end as a truly viable jazz player, even in 2015.

We will be working on this through the “learning by heart” of improvised solos and jazz compositions, working directly from the source recordings without mediation (written scores). Emphasis will be placed on good process, moving from singing along with the recording to working out the material with the horn and then being able to play along with the recording (often at altered speed), only at the end writing down the musical passages. This will be a developmental and skill building activity in the two most important areas for a jazz musician: memory and ear training.

I will require three (3) solos to be learned in the above fashion per semester. This is approximately one solo every 4 weeks. I’ll assign the solos as we go along, or in some cases the student can suggest a solo to learn.

REPERTOIRE

We will be working from a list of between 100 and 200 songs that I have compiled, along with repertoire lists from other sources including the MSJ Experiential tune list. My list is made up of what I consider core repertoire, important both in didactic terms and for the player’s viability on the bandstand. Emphasis will be given to learning these tunes from primary sources, either recorded or the composer’s original written version (no Real Books allowed!)

I will require 12 new tunes per semester to be memorized (both melody and changes). I will assign tunes through the course of each semester. These tunes will be part of your jury requirements. At least one of these tunes will be a 12 key tune, which means you will be responsible for playing it in any key, as specified at your jury.

ADVANCED STUDENTS

Some of you, especially the graduate students, are playing at a high level already. Consequently, you may have worked through many of the issues I touch upon above. As I check you out to address any holes you have in your game so far, I will also be working with you to broaden your scope and maximize your viability as a modern improvising trumpeter. Some of the possible areas that can be addressed are:

Afro- Caribbean Music, Trumpet Style and Playing in Clave; Rhythmic and Melodic Lexicons

Advanced and Contemporary Jazz Trumpet Lexicons

20th Century Classical Resources in Jazz Improvisation

Intensive Study and Content Assimilation of a Master Player

Dialoguing With the Jazz Trumpet Tradition – a 21st Century Approach

The Professional Trumpeter and The Home Studio – Recording and Editing Techniques for Fun and Profit

Improvisation Practice with a  Compositional Sensibility

 

OUTLINE OF STUDIO TOPICS as of Aug. 17, 2015

  1.  Development of Overall Technical Perspective
    1. Tone Production
    2. Breathing
      1. Open and relaxed – flow
      2. Compression
    3. Efficiency
    4. Emission Studies – breath attacks, “poo” attacks, isolated staccato notes
    5.  Attack/Tonguing
      1. Development of legato tongue and variants optimal for jazz playing
    6. Going from note to note (slurred or tongued)
    7. Integration of improvisational technique into warmups and developmental exercises like flexibility and tonguing studies
    8. Adaptation of traditional methods and methodology:
      1. Schlossberg
      2. Stamp & Thompson, Stevens (the “Schlossberg school”)
      3. Other flexibility studies (Irons, Plog)
      4. Arbans
      5. Clarke Technical Studies
      6. Études
    9. Exploration of other concepts appropriate to specialized areas
      1. Extreme upper register
      2. Extended techniques
      3. Jazz articulation
  2. Applied Technique
    1. Diatonic Scale Exercises and Level Routines
      1. I have compiled (and will keep compiling) a series of exercises for each Level Routine. Being able to play each routine fluently in all 12 keys (or starting pitches) will be a benchmark for judging level and progress, and will be part of semester goals and jury requirements. Scales required to be mastered during the course of study via these routines are:
        1. Major
        2. Melodic minor
        3. Harmonic minor
    2. Modal Digital Patterns (example:1235 or 5321)
    3. Vocabulary Patterns (ii-V patterns, for instance)
    4. “Bebop Scale” Exercises (Barry Harris teaching concepts)
      1. downward dominant scales with added passing tones
      2. major and minor diminished (“major bebop”, “minor bebop”scales)
      3. arpeggios
      4. enclosures (“bow on the box”)
      5. the pickup and using the triplet
      6. the pivot
    5. Pentatonic Patterns and Concepts
    6. Interval Exercises
    7. Fourth Structure related Line Exercises and Concepts (related to #5 above)
    8. Symmetrical Scales
      1. Diminished, understood as both traditional (whole/half) and octatonic (half/whole)
      2. Whole Tone
      3. Augmented Scale (symmetrical 1 1/2 step + 1/2 step)
    9. Widening Intervals and the Line (displacement)
    10.  The Blues Vocabulary and Scale
  3. Transcription
    1. A minimum of three trumpet solos will be “learned by heart” each semester.
  4. Repertoire
    1. Core repertoire to be mastered in sequence as part of jury requirements (to be assigned at the beginning of each semester).
    2.  A master repertoire list to codify core repertoire overall
    3. Specific repertoire as related to ensembles
  5. Style
    1. Goal of an informed and historical perspective of jazz trumpet styles
    2. Analysis of contemporary styles in context
    3. Style and historical perspective in related musical styles
  6. Other Topics
    1. Rhythm
      1. Everyone who comes in contact with me as a student one way or another gets a healthy dose of clave consciousness, the organizing principle of Afro-Cuban music, salsa, and Latin jazz. My trumpet studio will be no exception!
      2. A overall solidification of everyone’s rhythmic comprehension and ability (ranging from being able to swing “in the pocket” to being able to render and play polyrhythm, polymeter, and odd (additive) meters) will be organically pursued in this studio.
    2. Sight Reading
      1. Traditional Etudes
      2. Sight Reading Exercises and Specialized Etudes (both original and from other sources)
      3. Repertoire (big band section parts, standards, jazz classics, transcribed solos from all instruments)
      4.  Sight reading chord changes for improvisation
    3. Ensemble and Section Playing
    4. Recording Perspectives and Techniques

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *