Music Training & Jazz Exploration
Improvisation on the Fly
Are you a musician? Would you like to take your musical improvisation skills to the next level or return to your high school's band program with a newly found set of skills as well as more swagger and attitude? Then this is the course for you. Students joining us this summer will have the opportunity to:
- Learn the nuts and bolts of how to play a jazz solo
- Be the star soloist that you always dreamed of being
- Gain experience and confidence playing with others
After completing this course students will:
- Be able to take command of their improvised solos
- Fully equip themselves for a successful college jazz audition
- Further expand their instrumental technical facility
- Expand their knowledge of theory, harmony, and history all while building monster “chops.”
Exploring jazz at the UConn Pre-College Summer program will closely replicate life as a UConn jazz student. Your day will be divided into segments of instrumental instruction, ensemble playing, and classes in jazz improvisation, theory and jazz history. The whole experience will culminate in a final performance showcasing all you have learned.
Proficiency in at least one musical instrument is required for this course and students who apply for this course must submit a one-minute video of them playing a piece of their choosing in their application.
Faculty:
- Earl MacDonald, Professor of Music, Director of Jazz Studies, Department of Music, UConn School of Fine Arts
- John Mastroianni, Assistant Professor in Residence of Jazz Studies, Department of Music, UConn School of Fine Arts