Jazz Ensemble at GBWHS
by Mike Youmans, GBWHS Faculty - 19 Feb 2005

Dear Students & Parents,
Students at GBWHS, as well as several recruits from the 8th grade at Steiner, have banded together to form a jazz ensemble! There are several purposes for the group: 1) to have an opportunity for instrumentalists (and potentially vocalists) to make music together; 2) to learn some basic improvisation skills; 3) to perform for students on both campuses and, perhaps, at local social gatherings; and 4) to learn a bunch of tunes and possibly make a CD recording. So far instruments include sax, trumpet, clarinet, cello/bass, violin, drums, and guitar. More are welcome!
The group is rehearsing weekly for an hour and a half at the high school. To accommodate the 8th gradersí schedules, we are currently meeting on Mondays, 4-5:30. As we are still in the early stages of development, we are happy to include any interested parties, grades 7-12. While students should have some experience on their instruments (i.e., be able to play scales and arpeggios in a few keys) and some basic ability to read music (or a strong desire to learn), they need have no prior experience improvisingó thatís what weíll be learning together.
Our ìcurriculumî consists primarily of Jamey Aebersoldís play-along catalog. We will choose a variety of jazz, bossa, funk, and even rock tunes from this catalog, learn the melodies, and begin improvising over the chord changes. Photocopies of the tunes will be provided for all participants. Students are encouraged to purchase (or borrow) the CDís to practice at home (http://www.jazzbooks.com/miva/aebersold_play_alongs.htm).

We are currently in need of a powerful boom box that can play CDísó it needs to be loud enough such that students can hear it above the considerable volume created by drums, sax, trumpet, etc. Similarly, we could use an amp or two for the string players. Donations welcome!
Sincerely,
Mike Youmans
GBWHS Faculty

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