JB Dyas Jazz Clinics
for students
Bass Line Construction
Systematic approach on how to construct walking bass lines from chord symbols.
Blues ‘n Rhythm
Description and demonstration of the evolution of blues and rhythm changes chord progressions from their inception to today’s variants. Includes methodologies for the memorization of blues heads and I Got Rhythm contrafacts, as well as concepts for improvising on their chord progressions and variations thereof.
Countdown to Giant Steps
Demystification of “Coltrane Changes” (the infamous John Coltrane chord substitutions) and how to use them to modernize solo improvisation. Includes methodologies for learning such Coltrane classics as Countdown and Giant Steps.
Ear Training
Overview of effective methods on how to play what you hear in your mind’s ear (improvising), how to know what you’re hearing when listening to others play (aural recognition), how to hear the notes in your mind when looking at written music (audiating), and how to sing on sight (sight-singing).
Evolution of Jazz Styles
A “jazz informance” (utilizing recordings or a live professional quintet), highlighting stylistic differences in the development of jazz from its inception to today.
How to Get the Big Scholarship
Systematic method on how to prepare for college auditions and secure music scholarships. Insight into what audition and scholarship adjudicators want to hear. Follow these tips and you just might be going to college for free!
Jazz Combo Performance
Effective methods for starting, participating in, and directing a jazz combo. Included is instruction regarding rhythm section roles, head arranging, interactive techniques, tune repertoire and memorization, and improvisation.
Jazz Guitar
Jazz guitar chord voicings, fingerings, homonyms, “instant” transposition, and idiomatic comping patterns. Includes hands-on visual and aural demonstrations.
Jazz in America
Overview of the Jazz in America website and how to use it for the study of jazz history and appreciation. Includes instruction on how to download the free materials contained within: lesson plans, student handouts, tests, and more. Also includes audio and video examples, featuring an animated Herbie Hancock taking you back into time in his virtual “jazz time machine” to see how jazz began!
Jazz Piano
One-handed and two-handed jazz piano chord voicings, idiomatic comping patterns, and appropriate fingerings (for pianists and non-pianists). Includes hand-on visual and aural demonstrations.
Jazz Theory and Nomenclature as it Pertains to Jazz Improvisation
Comprehensive explanation of chord/scale relationships, including the difference between basic and specific chord symbols, as well as an easy-to-use formula for learning the most important scales used in jazz improvisation and effective methods for “instant” memorization.
Jazzing Up Jazz Band
Effective methods for directing a big band, including learning how to improvise as an integral component.
Leadership Through the Jazz Paradigm
Designed for current and future leaders outside the music realm (in business, government, healthcare, higher education, etc.), the clinic elucidates the ways leadership and cooperation occur in the jazz space, all in an effort to build better partnerships and coalitions among executives and their employees outside the jazz space, resulting in increased company morale, productivity and profits.
Living the Dream – How to Get a Job in Jazz Education
Comprehensive description of the various opportunities in the field of jazz education and a systematic method for finding, preparing for, applying for, and landing these positions.
Rhythm Reading
Visual and aural demonstration of effective methods regarding the reading of jazz rhythms, particularly syncopated eighth notes, triplets, and sixteenth notes.
Rhythm Section Workshop
Aural and visual instruction regarding the roles of each member of the rhythm section. Included are essential rhythm section grooves (swing, samba, bossa nova, rock, funk, and ballad).
Road Rules – Tour Etiquette for Young Musicians
Step-by-step guide on professionalism; what you need to know and be able to do – as well as how to comport yourself – in order to be considered a pro.
Small Group Arranging
Overview of methods for writing for small ensembles. Includes scoring techniques for two, three, and four horns; composing intros, endings, and backgrounds; and writing for the rhythm section.
Transcribing
Hands-on demonstration/lecture on how to transcribe solos of the jazz masters, and how to use this experience to increase jazz vocabulary, improve solo development, and better grasp the language of jazz – all in an effort to inform and inspire one’s own unique voice.
Tune Learning
Hands-on demonstration/lecture on how to memorize and retain jazz’s must-know standard repertoire. Includes instruction in effective memorization techniques, tune categorization, ear learning, and instant transposition. Tune learning/review schedule check-off sheets and a definitive recording list of the 104 must-know jazz standards (along with a listing of the personnel on each recording) are provided to all participants.
What is Jazz and Why it is Important to the World
Description of the five quintessential elements of jazz, as well as an overview of the music’s history and the important values that jazz represents: teamwork, unity with ethnic diversity, the correlation of hard work and goal accomplishment, persistence, democracy, and the vital importance of really listening to one another.
