Arrive Sunday 24th August from 5.30 pm / Depart Friday 29th August at 3 pm
The course welcomes pianists, bass players ( electric or double) and drummers with some jazz experience who want to develop and improve their improvisation, technical and ensemble playing skills . The faculty is:
Robin Aspland- piano, Jeremy Brown - bass and Tristan Mailliot - drums. See tutor biographies.
Tristan Mailliot is the course director dealing with overall organisation as well as teaching drums and leading rhythm workshops.
The emphasis of the course is very practical so be prepared for lots of playing... we encourage everyone to stretch their musical boundaries and have fun both on and off the bandstand !
Study topics:
Piano:
Chord/scale relationships, chord voicings and extensions, vocabulary, technique and ear training.
Repertoire will be a mixture of blues forms , jazz standards and more contemporary material ie music by Bill Evans , Chick Corea , Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter etc...
Bass:
Chord/scale relationships, developping walking bass lines.
Vocabulary and soloing.
Drums:
Straight eighths and triplet based time feels.
Rudiments and stickings, soloing and phrasing.
Brushwork.
Metric modulation.
Latin time feels.
Typical day's activities:
The day starts with breakfast around 8.30 am.
Instrument specific workshop from 9.45 to 11 am.
From 11am, participants will split into trios and work with tutors until lunch at 1 pm.
2 pm to 3.30 pm: Further trio coaching exploring different repertoire.
3.30 pm to 4.30pm : accompaniment class with vocalists.
4.30 pm until 7.30pm: free time for recreation or rehearsals. Each trio will be allocated rehearsal time to prepare for the evening concerts.
Everyone regroups at around 7.30 for an aperitif before dinner at 8pm.
9.30pm onwards:
The evening will conclude with a concert followed by a jam session lasting into the night (some jams have finished well beyond 3 am!) .
All participants have the opportunity to perform prepared pieces every evening and play in the jam session. Some advanced vocalists will be participating and the trios will also perform with them.
Excursion: After several days of serious study it's nice to have a little break so we organise a half-day trip to a nearby place of interest ie Le Lude ( with visit to the stunning chateau) or the picturesque town of La Fleche. It's an opportunity to sample french cuisine, culture and shopping .
For course fees please go to the accommodation page.