Courses

Stan Getz said that the best jazz is like a conversation among good friends. Even without any musical training, listeners can reach a deeper enjoyment of the music through understanding some of its language and structure as well as the tacit agreements that many jazz musicians use to guide their interpretations and improvisational interactions. This course is for the general listener who wants to better understand jazz music and learn more about the inner game that jazz musicians play. Jazz is a music based on individual self-expression in the context of a musical team, and the role of each musician changes throughout any performance. By looking at musical contributions made by some of jazz’s greatest artists, including Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, we will begin to understand that there are many different yet highly successful approaches to playing jazz. Topics to be explored include the language and structure of jazz as well as the approaches to improvisation. Demonstrations and discussions are designed to help the general listener hear the music as a “fifth member of the quartet.”