bill evans autumn in new york transcription

In some ways this spiritual aspect is summed up with Leonard Bernstein’s quote: This undaunted creative attitude is necessary for us to have the courage of finding new ways to touch our audience’s hearts and minds. All of this starts in one place: the mind. For me, I know that God gave me the gift of creating music, and the joy that it brings me has grown over the years and continues to grow as Iearn, try new things and think about music in different ways.

Why is having a strong imagination important? I believe that it’s because God (Himself being the Creator) gave us the urge to be creative. After this is done you will be able to live up to your responsibility of being a contributor to the sound of the group, reacting very quickly to your peers in musical situations. All of the technical studies you undertake will go toward developing what many call the “inner ear.” This may seem daunting, but the strongest allies you have in this are your ability to listen to music in detail, your music theory ear training and your subconscious mind, which solves a great many musical problems for you as you feed it with your hard work. The rhythms you play need to be physically felt: you should be able to sing the melodies and harmonies in your mind, while imagining all of the timbral and technical nuances of the music. This means that to improvise music you must have a vivid SOUND PICTURE in your mind of the music you are playing. Let’s examine in detail why being a creative jazz musician will be challenging.ġ) The aspect of AURAL IMAGINATION is of primary importance in becoming a successful jazz musician. In time your music will become circular: PERFORMING AND LISTENING will help your AURAL IMAGINATION grow and vice versa. What you will find though, is that the process of being a creative jazz musician starts a snowball effect that leads to areas that you never imagined. While the former two motivations for being drawn to this music are admirable, it is this sheer joy of participating in the music itself that should give us the desire to practice hard, have the courage to jump into new situations, and create in the moment.īecause most of music education is geared toward the western classical tradition, learning to improvise and create in the jazz style will include (for some of you) a steep learning curve at first. Others are drawn to the rich rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic qualities of the music, even though it can be hard to understand at first. This is also a great way to come to the music, as emulating the masters has infinite ways of expanding our technical abilities. Some of you came to jazz through a love for the great players on your instrument. When we experience jazz at a very deep level, it leads us to want to share it. Remember that our gateway to being an excellent teacher is becoming a great artist. Some of you want to understand it to pass it along to the next generation of musicians, and this is a most admirable goal. We are drawn to playing jazz for different reasons. It is this tradition and culture that you are joining. It is one that combines the sounds of America with the music of the rest of the world, celebrating the evolution of an enslaved people’s expression into a powerful cultural musical force. So, you are interested in becoming a jazz musician? If so, you have chosen one of the most demanding, exhilarating, and creative pursuits. So, You’re Interested in Becoming a Jazz Musician?īy Jamey Simmons, Director of Jazz Studies and results will be posted by Wednesday, January 17th so combos can begin on Thursday. The audition deadline is Sunday, January 14th, 8 p.m. Please enter your contact information, and your availability for ensembles, and private youtube link in the following online form: Upload your video to youtube as a private video. At the beginning of the video state your name, major, and year in school. O Vocalists should sing a favorite jazz standard, with a backing track or accompanist. O Drummers should perform short 8-bar samples of the following styles: Fast bebop swing, medium swing, ballad with brushes, bossa nova, samba, 12/8 afro-cuban, funk. For a lead sheet, go to Jazz & Latin Music Real Books and Method Books | Sher Music Co. Stop the backing track and comp/walk the changes for a chorus, keeping the form. O Guitarists, Bassists, and Pianists should play the entire melody, then improvise one chorus over the chord progression to Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo”. O Horn players should play the melody and then improvise one chorus of the chord progression to Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo” with a backing track. For those who did not perform in a combo, please record a video of the following: Please fill out the online information form at Students who participated in a combo in fall 23 do not need to audition.

Bill evans autumn in new york transcription