[Harp-L] Berkeley will be offering Jazz Harmonica studies

Hey All,

Congrats to Hendrik on the Berklee gig, I hope they pay him enough to relocate from NY!

For those of you that don't live in Boston, there's another Berkeley here in California that is supporting a harmonica program.

It's at the Jazz School in Berkeley, Ca., (http:// www.jazzschool.com/) and the prevoius quarter was a hit with a full intermediate/advanced chromatic course. Due to the success of that class, I'm initiating a second session for beginners, with one distinction from other harmonica courses:

the chromatic harmonica is the prerequisite instrument, diatonic will be taught in conjunction, for those who choose to bring one as well.


When living in Brazil some years ago, I came across a harmonica student who wanted to study Blues harp with me. I taught him all the Little Walter licks I knew and discussed his previous education with him. He told me he was studying with a man named Clayber de Souza, who made his students buy chromatic harmonicas and pay three months in advance! I was irritated when I heard this - Who does this guy think he is? He should teach students whatever they want to learn! I ranted and raved about it for a while.

Years later, I look around and see all kinds of workshops and courses, not just in the harmonica world, but in every genre. They pander to the specific needs and desires of people's egos, taking their money and fueling whatever fantasies the student has about their future successes.

Don't get me wrong, there's a place for this! I had just decided long ago that I wasn't going to participate. I consider myself a serious, professionally trained and schooled musician, regardless of the fact I play the harmonica. When people approached me about learning diatonic harmonica, I would tell them to buy an instrument and listen to the Masters, that they are the best teachers. I still believe that. Maybe because that's how I learned to play diatonic.

Recently I was doing a gig at the Jazz School in Berkeley, Ca. and the director approached me and asked me to teach harmonica. I told her I wasn't really interested, that students could learn anywhere. She asked me again, saying that I would teach chromatic harmonica. I told her I would do it, but secretly suspected no one would sign up. Well, it's been a few months, and I've had a good group of intermediate/advanced players, and they're all on board for the summer course as well. From that, I've decided maybe Clayber was on to something.

So I'm offering a beginners' course now, but the class will be taught like any other music course. No tabs, diagrams or exotic lingo. Students who want to learn to play the blues or other styles on the diatonic should bring a 10 hole as well for supplementary instruction.

GOOD NEWS! It looks like the Jazz School has given me the green light for Fall '07 to enroll for: Harmonica Ensemble 101. I'm hoping to get some good people on board, ideally with bass and chord harps! Stay tuned....

Here's the schedule:

   Intermediate/Advanced Harmonica at 6:00-7:30 pm and
   Beginning Harmonica at  7:45-9:15 pm

Starting July 16th and running for 6 weeks. The official Jazz School catalog may have conflicting info, due to communication issues, but this is the final schedule.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Harmonica for beginners:

This class is designed for students who have little or no experience on the instrument . In this class you will learn basic technique on the chromatic and diatonic harmonicas, including embouchure(s), how to hold the instrument, air support and control. Also, students will learn fundamentals of reading music and theory as applicable to the harmonica. Prerequisites for the class are a functioning chromatic harmonica (required) and if you so choose, additional instructional will be given for those who want to play the diatonic 10 hole, a.k.a. the "Blues Harp".
By the end of this course students will be able to:

 	- Play single note melodies on the harmonica
        - Read simple melodies and identify some chord symbols
        - simple improvisation

               Everyone is welcome!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Description for Intermediate/Advanced class:

This class is designed for players who can already play and improvise, and who have had some training in basic theory. As well it is ideal for professional level musicians who would like to learn to play the chromatic harmonica. In this class we will learn to:

- Strengthen harmonica vocabulary, allowing for more diverse and profound improvisation.
- Develop reading and chord symbol recognition skills on your harmonica
- Study alternate techniques (harmonic intervals, corner switching, chord/melody)
- Transcription & analysis
- Harmonica and its usage in other cultures

Prerequisites for this class are a functioning chromatic harmonica and an understanding of music fundamentals. Students who play chromatic 10 hole (or who play the diatonic "chromatically") are encouraged to join this class as well.

Potential students should ideally be able to play/ identify:

                         Major & Minor scales,
			 Major & Minor triads, 6th and 7th chords
	  		 Read simple melodies and rhythms
			 Simple harmonica progressions, i.e., I - IV - V, ii - V - I

Of course, anyone is free to enter this course if so inclined, but for the sake of the other students' time and your own, if you have any doubts, please contact me first.


Thanks again! Hope to see you all there, and spread the word...

D

Damien Masterson http://www.damienmasterson.com
or enter my name in any search engine
http://www.myspace.com/damienmastersonmusic
http://cdbaby.com/all/damienzm
415 305 7138 dzm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Damien Endorses Hohner Harmonicas and Audix Microphones


On May 29, 2007, at 2:22 PM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Berklee will be offering Jazz Harmonica studies



This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.