All the best jazz singers are master musicians and storytellers. This class will focus on developing our skills as singers, musicians, artists and song interpreters. Developing better performance skills will help:

• Make your singing more relaxed
  
• Increase your ability to "connect" with the audience
• Build your confidence and lower your stress level
• Help calm pre-performance jitters

What musical skills and techniques can we acquire to make our performance more charismatic, more engaging and more in tune with who we are and what we want to express as artists? How do we craft a performance that is, in the words of the venerable I Ching, "like an arrow" flying towards our artistic goal?

• We'll choose a few songs and get to know them intimately
• We'll work with an accompanist and with a trio to create custom arrangements
• We’ll do lots of singing and get useful and informative feedback
• We'll work on better understanding of jazz rhythm and phrasing
• We’ll prepare a set together with our accompanist and present it for the jazzschool student concert

Working with other musicians in a bandleading role is another focus for this class. We'll cover:

• Communicating with the band
• Clear chart writing
• Developing arrangements
• Song form
• Rhythm and improvisational skills
• Lots of singing

 

Class size limit: 6
Prerequisite: Consultation with Maye

Taking private classes allows us to focus on just the skills that you are interested in developing. I have experience teaching vocal technique, musicianship, performance skills, repetoire development, style and many other aspects of developing your art. I can provide you with tailor made warm-up CD's. We often record during our lessons so you can work on microphone technique and also have a chance to hear how you are progressing. I have a huge library of music and can frequently provide you with charts and leadsheets for your songs in your key as well as practice CD's for study. I believe that studying music should be enjoyable and that you should recognize tangible resutls quickly.

 "It Could Happen to You" Jimmy VanHeusen

Jimmy Van Heusen was a prolific composer who penned over 120 hit songs that have been recorded by countless artists. His frequent collaborator was Johnny Burke and together they gave us standards such as “Like Someone in Love,” “But Beautiful,” “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” and “Here’s That Rainy Day.” Another frequent collaborator was Sammy Cahn. Together they wrote many of the songs that defined Frank Sinatra’s career including “Come Fly With Me,” “All the Way,” and “My Kind of Town (Chicago)”. In this workshop we’ll explore and sing the music of  Jimmy Van Heusen. We’ll also listen to how some jazz greats have interpreted these songs and get ideas for our own arrangements. Students are provided  with 7 leadsheets for songs including practice-backing tracks. In the final week we’ll work with an accompanist and sing these songs trying out our own arrangement ideas

Concert Preparation and Performance is an independent studies program designed for advanced vocalists who are ready to present a solo concert.

More information and photos of past artists

 

For application click here

You've got the date, you've got the band, and now how can you make your performance memorable and engaging for an audience?

In this workshope we'll work on practical skills for live performance including:

• how to pace a set
• how to talk with the audience
• how to showcase all members of the group
• how to develop a personal artistic identity
• how to command attention
• how to stand out from the crowd
• how to tame pre-performance jitters
• and how to build your audience.

You'll identify your goals and learn ways for achieving them. This is a workshop for all musicians who want to develop better audience rapport.