Notes - 2011 MSBF Intermediate Jazz Tutorials

This year, at MSBF on Friday the 19th of August, educator Jenny Going presented a short tutorial on "Guidelines for Improvisation." The audience was students in the intermediate jazz section. I am uncertain whether she was the organiser for the materials (author/gatherer), but perhaps noone can lay claim to these sort of things anyhow.

These are my brief notes from Jenny's tutorial.

* There are no wrong notes, only unfortunate choices.
* If you're not making bad choices ... You're not playing hard enough.
* When you get to a wrong note ... Do it again, then move on and resolve it up or down a semitone.
* Don't be afraid to play wrong notes ... Unlike in classical/legit
* listen to other performers, copy what they do
* improvise on one note (focus on rhythm)
* learn technical riffs/tricks ... transpose them ... use them! (See Jerry Coker's "Patterns for Jazz")
* use play alongs

Each year, the Billy Hyde Music Foundation hosts the Melbourne School Bands Festival (MSBF). As part of the festival, school orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles have the opportunity to perform for adjudicators, receive commentary, and attend tutorials on various topics.