Saul Richardson (B.Ed, MACE) is now taking private students in his studio at Jazz Workshop Australia. He specialises in teaching jazz guitar, electric bass, and in preparing students for Higher School Certificate (HSC), but will also teach motivated beginners. Saul’s HSC students on guitar and electric bass regularly achieve outstanding HSC performance results.
To arrange jazz guitar lessons with Saul Richardson, contact Jazz Workshop Australia: (02) 9966 5468 or info@jazzworkshopaustralia.com.au.
Jazz Workshop Australia is a unique venue bringing together a formidable faculty of leading jazz artists who give lessons, workshops and ensembles in a purpose-built facility in the Sydney suburb of St Leonards.
Saul Richardson is a guitarist and bass player who graduated from the University of Sydney with First Class Honours in Education and the University Medal in 1995. He studied Jazz guitar under Steve Brien and Steve McKenna, and conducting with Jerry Nowak. He is an internationally recognized Jazz educator, and was elected as Australasian representative on the Executive Board of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) in 2006.
Saul established and developed the renowned Jazz program at North Sydney Boys' High School, now widely regarded as a benchmark of excellence in its field in Australia. He was recognized by the (IAJE) at their January 2004 conference for his outstanding service to Jazz Education. He has also received an Excellence in Teaching award from the North Sydney Boys’ High School P&C Association and was the winner of the Merimbula Jazz Festival award in 2008.
As a performer he has worked with many of Australia's leading Jazz artists and groups including Ed Wilson, John Morrison and Swing City Big Band, Andrew Firth, Roger Frampton, Don Burrows, Col Nolan, Keith Stirling and Tony and Bob Barnard. He has performed throughout Australia, the UK and Europe and in the USA.
Saul is director of the acclaimed Jazz Workshop Australia Big Band. He is former director of the NSW Department of Education and Training Arts Unit Stage Band and has previously directed the Blue Riff big band and the Powerhouse big band. He was a founding member of IAJE in NSW and works as a clinician, consultant and adjudicator. He currently plays with The Black and White Big Band, the trio What’s New?, and his own group Snap, Crackle and Bop.
Some of Saul Richardson's past students have included Simon Ferenci, National Jazz Award winning pianist Jackson Harrison, Dale Gorfinkel, Jeremy Rose, Jamie Castrisos, Scott Simpkins, Robert Sidaway, Andrew Brooks, Martin Wieczorek, Grant Arthur, and many other fine young musicians now making their own mark on the Australian Jazz scene. Graduates of his programs and ensembles can be found studying tertiary music across Australia, working professionally as performers and educators, or simply appreciating and hearing Jazz with discerning ears.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Brendan Clarke joins faculty at Jazz Workshop Australia
One of Australia’s most in demand bass players, Brendan Clarke, has joined the faculty at Jazz Workshop Australia (JWA) as teacher of electric and acoustic bass. He is available for private bass lessons, and is also running the JWA adult combos on Monday evenings.
Brendan is a highly respected performer and experienced educator.
In 2001 Brendan Clarke was the winner of the National Jazz Award at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival. He is one of Australia's most sought after bassists and has performed extensively across Australia at all major venues and jazz festivals. He has also toured Europe many times which has included performances at the Berlin Jazz Festival, Jazz Hooilart in Belgium and the Locano film Festival in Switzerland. He has also performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in California.
Brendan has played, recorded and toured with many great international and national jazz artists including Kirk Lightsey, Jim McNeely, Wycliffe Gorden, Barbara Morrison, Don Rader, Dale Barlow, Vince Jones, James Morrison, Roger Manins, Bobby Gebert, John Harkins and Bernie McGann.
To arrange lessons with Brendan Clarke, contact Jazz Workshop Australia: (02) 9966 5468 or info@jazzworkshopaustralia.com.au.
Jazz Workshop Australia is a unique venue bringing together a formidable faculty of leading jazz artists who give lessons, workshops and ensembles in a purpose-built facility in the Sydney suburb of St Leonards.
Brendan is a highly respected performer and experienced educator.
In 2001 Brendan Clarke was the winner of the National Jazz Award at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival. He is one of Australia's most sought after bassists and has performed extensively across Australia at all major venues and jazz festivals. He has also toured Europe many times which has included performances at the Berlin Jazz Festival, Jazz Hooilart in Belgium and the Locano film Festival in Switzerland. He has also performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in California.
Brendan has played, recorded and toured with many great international and national jazz artists including Kirk Lightsey, Jim McNeely, Wycliffe Gorden, Barbara Morrison, Don Rader, Dale Barlow, Vince Jones, James Morrison, Roger Manins, Bobby Gebert, John Harkins and Bernie McGann.
To arrange lessons with Brendan Clarke, contact Jazz Workshop Australia: (02) 9966 5468 or info@jazzworkshopaustralia.com.au.
Jazz Workshop Australia is a unique venue bringing together a formidable faculty of leading jazz artists who give lessons, workshops and ensembles in a purpose-built facility in the Sydney suburb of St Leonards.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Jazz Workshop Australia
Jazz Workshop Australia is a music school in Sydney, Australia, dedicated to the teaching and learning of jazz and improvised music. It is owned and operated by Saul Richardson, Principal, and Karen Richards, Managing Director. It is in a purpose-built space at 58 Atchison St, St Leonards, NSW, Australia.
The vision behind the Jazz Workshop is to make high quality jazz education easily available to students, in one convenient and well-resourced location. We bring motivated students, of all ages and levels, together with some of Australia's finest jazz musician/educators.
It is rare to find a jazz musician who is a truly excellent teacher, who recognises education and their own teaching as a vital aspect of their own professional practice. It is equally rare to find an experienced teacher who is also an expert, working professional jazz player.
At Jazz Workshop Australia we have worked hard to find prominent musicians in whom each of these qualities is combined: Our teaching faculty are all outstanding players and excellent teachers. They are available for private music lessons on: Saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass, drums, guitar, clarinet, flute, violin and singing.
Another brilliant aspect of the Jazz Workshop is that we offer students the opportunity to play in a range of jazz bands: big bands, jazz combos, and even a jazz for strings ensemble. Students from diverse areas and backgrounds get to work together, playing jazz music and learning the essential skills of jazz improvisation, small group ensemble skills, and self confidence. We offer good, structured rehearsals, access to a huge library of wonderful music, and a community of like minded, motivated students.
During school holidays, and often at other times too, Jazz Workshop Australia runs jazz improvisation workshops. These range from "Jazz For Kids", for primary school kids, through our popular "Introduction to Jazz Improvisation" to advanced improvisation workshops. Most are presented by Saul Richardson, but guest presenters at the Jazz Workshop have included Jamie Oehlers, Jacam Manricks, John Conley, John Morrison, Matt Baker, and even Bob Mintzer.
As part of our project to create a vibrant community of jazz musicians on Sydney's north shore, we also open our facility to professional groups as a rehearsal venue. Swing City, the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, Ralph Pyl's Sydney Allstars Big Band, Blue Riff Big Band, the Black and White Big Band, Gai Bryant's Spare Parts orchestra with Jim McNeely, Tom Burlinson, Blaine Whittaker, and many others have all used our fully equipped and soundproof rehearsal room.
Jazz Workshop Australia operates international and domestic performance tours for student ensembles. OUr most recent tour took a band of our students to New York, Florida and Barbados for great gigs plus workshops with Rufus Reid, John Fedchock and the University of Southern Florida Jazz Ensemble. The students also went to Iridium jazz club in New York city to see an all star band with Cedar Walton, Jimmy Cobb, Javon Jackson, and Buster Williams. A tour like this is an unforgettable experience! We are available help schools and other bands to organise their own overseas tours too, drawing on our years of experience and huge network of contacts.
Perhaps our most exciting event is the annual Jazz Camp, directed by John Morrison. John is one of Australia's great jazz drummers and is a truly inspirational educator who has encouraged and mentored generations of young jazz musicians. Jazz Camp is held in late January in Sydney. It is a residential camp, bringing together some of the keenest and most accomplished students from all over Australia and New Zealand. It caters to students ages 11 to 19 Year at all levels of experience.
We run a shorter, non-residential camp for adults, usually in February.
Jazz Workshop Australia, and our venue, the Jazz Workshop, is a unique and exciting project. We invite anybody keen to learn and play jazz music to visit us and participate in any of the huge range of opportunities on offer.
The vision behind the Jazz Workshop is to make high quality jazz education easily available to students, in one convenient and well-resourced location. We bring motivated students, of all ages and levels, together with some of Australia's finest jazz musician/educators.
It is rare to find a jazz musician who is a truly excellent teacher, who recognises education and their own teaching as a vital aspect of their own professional practice. It is equally rare to find an experienced teacher who is also an expert, working professional jazz player.
At Jazz Workshop Australia we have worked hard to find prominent musicians in whom each of these qualities is combined: Our teaching faculty are all outstanding players and excellent teachers. They are available for private music lessons on: Saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass, drums, guitar, clarinet, flute, violin and singing.
Another brilliant aspect of the Jazz Workshop is that we offer students the opportunity to play in a range of jazz bands: big bands, jazz combos, and even a jazz for strings ensemble. Students from diverse areas and backgrounds get to work together, playing jazz music and learning the essential skills of jazz improvisation, small group ensemble skills, and self confidence. We offer good, structured rehearsals, access to a huge library of wonderful music, and a community of like minded, motivated students.
During school holidays, and often at other times too, Jazz Workshop Australia runs jazz improvisation workshops. These range from "Jazz For Kids", for primary school kids, through our popular "Introduction to Jazz Improvisation" to advanced improvisation workshops. Most are presented by Saul Richardson, but guest presenters at the Jazz Workshop have included Jamie Oehlers, Jacam Manricks, John Conley, John Morrison, Matt Baker, and even Bob Mintzer.
As part of our project to create a vibrant community of jazz musicians on Sydney's north shore, we also open our facility to professional groups as a rehearsal venue. Swing City, the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, Ralph Pyl's Sydney Allstars Big Band, Blue Riff Big Band, the Black and White Big Band, Gai Bryant's Spare Parts orchestra with Jim McNeely, Tom Burlinson, Blaine Whittaker, and many others have all used our fully equipped and soundproof rehearsal room.
Jazz Workshop Australia operates international and domestic performance tours for student ensembles. OUr most recent tour took a band of our students to New York, Florida and Barbados for great gigs plus workshops with Rufus Reid, John Fedchock and the University of Southern Florida Jazz Ensemble. The students also went to Iridium jazz club in New York city to see an all star band with Cedar Walton, Jimmy Cobb, Javon Jackson, and Buster Williams. A tour like this is an unforgettable experience! We are available help schools and other bands to organise their own overseas tours too, drawing on our years of experience and huge network of contacts.
Perhaps our most exciting event is the annual Jazz Camp, directed by John Morrison. John is one of Australia's great jazz drummers and is a truly inspirational educator who has encouraged and mentored generations of young jazz musicians. Jazz Camp is held in late January in Sydney. It is a residential camp, bringing together some of the keenest and most accomplished students from all over Australia and New Zealand. It caters to students ages 11 to 19 Year at all levels of experience.
We run a shorter, non-residential camp for adults, usually in February.
Jazz Workshop Australia, and our venue, the Jazz Workshop, is a unique and exciting project. We invite anybody keen to learn and play jazz music to visit us and participate in any of the huge range of opportunities on offer.
Improvising in minor keys: The Bebop Minor scale
The Bebop Minor Scale
For young players looking for a scale for improvising in minor keys, the Bebop Minor scale is an excellent option. It is spelled as follows:
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7, 8
This is a natural (Aeolian) scale with a raised seventh added to it. Some people, such as Randy Halberstad, refer to this as the bebop harmonic minor scale. Mark Levine calls it the Bebop natural minor scale. The so-called "bebop scales" are normal diatonic scales or modes with one extra passing note added so that there are 8 different notes in the octave. The bebop minor scale is the relative of the bebop major scale, which has a #5 added to it. Such scales, for bebop players, facilitated the long flowing quaver lines favoured by bebop musicians from the 1940's on.
Whatever we call it doesn't really matter. The important thing is that is an effective choice for improvising in a tune, or section of a tune, that is in a minor key. That is a tune with a minor key centre, especially if there is V - I harmony or II-V-I harmony present. The bebop minor scale, starting on the tonic, emphasizes the chord tones in a minor 7 chord (1, b3, 5, b7). When it is played from the leading note (the raised seventh) it outlines chord tones from chord V in the minor key (3, 5, b7, b9). It is also a close match to chord II (b6, 1, b3, b5).
In fact, using a Shearing-style block chord harmony approach, the bebop minor scale can pretty effectively outline every chord in a minor key, just by changing emphasis (or mode). Take care with the raised 7th against chord IV, which can be a little ugly.
Here is an example of how a beginner improviser might effectively play, using a key centre approach, through a tune with two key centers. Bernie's tune is a 32 bar AABA song. The A sections are in D minor (I, VI, II, V, I) and the B section is in Bb major (I, VI, II, V). In the A sections, then, use the D bebop minor scale, which can easily outline all the chords. In the B section use the jazz pentatonic (major blues) scale.
This approach gives the less experienced improviser something they can play without too much difficulty that will allow them to sound good and in style. There are other things more advanced players do, but this is a really effective "entry level" technique. In fact, it is more than that, as it is very close to what many professional players do too. This is a great thing for anyone who wants to learn how to improvise.
To summarise, then: If a tune (or section of a tune) is in a minor key, the bebop minor scale is a great choice.
For young players looking for a scale for improvising in minor keys, the Bebop Minor scale is an excellent option. It is spelled as follows:
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 7, 8
This is a natural (Aeolian) scale with a raised seventh added to it. Some people, such as Randy Halberstad, refer to this as the bebop harmonic minor scale. Mark Levine calls it the Bebop natural minor scale. The so-called "bebop scales" are normal diatonic scales or modes with one extra passing note added so that there are 8 different notes in the octave. The bebop minor scale is the relative of the bebop major scale, which has a #5 added to it. Such scales, for bebop players, facilitated the long flowing quaver lines favoured by bebop musicians from the 1940's on.
Whatever we call it doesn't really matter. The important thing is that is an effective choice for improvising in a tune, or section of a tune, that is in a minor key. That is a tune with a minor key centre, especially if there is V - I harmony or II-V-I harmony present. The bebop minor scale, starting on the tonic, emphasizes the chord tones in a minor 7 chord (1, b3, 5, b7). When it is played from the leading note (the raised seventh) it outlines chord tones from chord V in the minor key (3, 5, b7, b9). It is also a close match to chord II (b6, 1, b3, b5).
In fact, using a Shearing-style block chord harmony approach, the bebop minor scale can pretty effectively outline every chord in a minor key, just by changing emphasis (or mode). Take care with the raised 7th against chord IV, which can be a little ugly.
Here is an example of how a beginner improviser might effectively play, using a key centre approach, through a tune with two key centers. Bernie's tune is a 32 bar AABA song. The A sections are in D minor (I, VI, II, V, I) and the B section is in Bb major (I, VI, II, V). In the A sections, then, use the D bebop minor scale, which can easily outline all the chords. In the B section use the jazz pentatonic (major blues) scale.
This approach gives the less experienced improviser something they can play without too much difficulty that will allow them to sound good and in style. There are other things more advanced players do, but this is a really effective "entry level" technique. In fact, it is more than that, as it is very close to what many professional players do too. This is a great thing for anyone who wants to learn how to improvise.
To summarise, then: If a tune (or section of a tune) is in a minor key, the bebop minor scale is a great choice.
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