Following a daily trumpet practice routine with my son was a definite highlight of my summer. I enjoyed introducing him to some introductory jazz concepts, and it has been really fun observing his progress. Before moving on to a new fall routine, here are some reflections, to document what we…
How do you get a kid to do something for which they have limited interest? Sometimes it’s just a matter of finding the right incentive. This summer, I wanted my 13-year old son to learn the twelve major scales on his instrument. (Knowing scales is foundational for all music making,…
Sordid Sort of Fellow is the second track on Earl MacDonald’s “Open Borders” album. The song includes solos by Josh Evans (trumpet), Sara Jacovino (trombone), Henry Lugo (string bass) and Earl (piano). Here is a live version to whet your whistle: When commissioned to write a piece for the 2009 Central…
I continue giving my son occasional jazz exercises as an add-on to his regular trumpet lesson material. Building upon our previous exercise of arpeggiating the chords of a 12-bar blues, we are currently jumbling the order of the chord tones, to create a variety of patterns to play through the blues progression.…
Where does one begin when teaching jazz improv? This question, and the enormity of the topic, can be almost paralyzing. We don’t want to overwhelm or turn off a young student by introducing too much theory too soon, but at the same time, they need tangible materials with which to…