IfCM Jazz and Creative Music Camp: Virtual Edition, June 22-26
I have been teaching in an exclusively digitally format for more than two months. Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown I was meeting in-person with three 7-12th grade percussion classes, adult drum set students, an undergraduate jazz improv class, and three jazz combos. The transition away from in-person/analog learning was a big shift, and I definitely categorize it as a transition AWAY from in-person/analog learning rather than a transition TO remote/digital learning. While I can be content that I did the best job that I could given the time and tools available to switch these in-person/analog classes to be fully remote/digital there’s a lot of important factors that were pulled out of my influence—mainly being able to check in with students while we’re in the same room and observe and ask questions to find out if they are able to absorb the material we’re working on. Just the act of getting everyone together in one place is an accomplishment that I appreciate a lot more now; there is no technological replacement for joking around and making small talk, jamming together in the same room, or making eye contact with someone for a half second from across the room.
While there is so much that I miss about the way we all used to learn and work together I’ve been amazed by the resilience and motivation that a lot of students and friends have shown in the last couple of months. I’ve seen people learn new songs, perform, and try new creative explorations in ways that really inspire me to keep using my time to feel alive and connected with the spirit of what they are doing. I can’t say that I have more time on my hands over the last couple of months because in addition to finishing up my spring teaching in a new and exciting way (recording lots of video lessons, teaching into the void of YouTube, getting acquainted with all of the video conferencing programs) I’ve been working with Nick Finzer, Matthew Golombisky, Doug Stone, Lauren Lee, and Alex Wintz to put together new video courses to learn 12(!) jazz tunes with the intent of presenting them at the IfCM Jazz and Creative Music Virtual Camp from June 22-26. While we’ve launched several courses like this over the past few years this will be the first time that we’ll all get to interact with students in an intensive week-long format where everyone will have learned the tunes in the same way prior to our video streaming class time. Since all of the learning of the song melodies, harmony, and basic instrument tutorials are going to be available a week ahead of time (but there’s time built into the camp to learn from the videos as well) students will be able to take everything at their own pace, review, and have any questions ready. In our combo meetings we’ll really get dig into the nuance of the songs, style, and improvisation.
As with any of our camps or workshops, students will be able to work with others who are at a similar level of experience starting from being totally new to jazz up to people who are seasoned performers. Check out this scenario: You sign up for the camp as someone who has never played jazz before but you’re pretty comfortable on your instrument and play in a community wind band or school orchestra. You get to access a note-by-note video tutorial where you learn songs entirely by ear from Matthew, Doug, and Lauren, and you can practice them as many times as you want until you’re really comfortable. There’s an improvisation video to give you the chance to learn how to take your newfound knowledge of the song and re-arrange the parts with style that sounds like a real jazz solo (because it is). You get together with your combo through a video conference every day for a week and dig into new musical explorations and conversations. You’ve learned your first three jazz tunes and have improvised dozens of choruses of solos and you have a ton more material to dig into as well. (Virtual) high five!
What if you’ve been playing in jazz groups for years and you want to spend some time really digging into advanced concepts on tunes like “Cherokee”? Learn these tunes in-and-out from the video tutorials, dig into the roles of all the rhythm section instruments from Matthew, Lauren, Alex, and me (hey—you could demonstrate all of these parts to the students in the high school big band you run!). Nick Finzer expands your solo vocabulary in combo sessions and you hear some new perspectives on current jazz performance from the guest lecturers. You’re motivated to keep up a regular practice schedule through the summer and have a lot of resources from the faculty and other students. (Virtual) fist bump!
These situations and everything in-between can happen at the IfCM Jazz and Creative Music Camp! But—we do need a critical mass of students to register in order to run it for everyone. We won’t down-scale the camp experience by cutting activities or anything if we only get a certain portion of our minimum to run; that wouldn’t be fair to the students and faculty who are signing on for this experience. So sign yourself up and tell your friends. While we’d love to have you in Fayetteville, AR to take part in the camp in person, since we’re fully remote you can do it from exactly where you are now. If you’re an Arkansas teacher who needs professional development hours you can also get 30 of those (not bad for playing jazz in your living room). Heck, we have a sliding-scale for tuition for everyone and even some full scholarships available. Check out the sample schedule and email me with any questions but don’t wait too long so we can guarantee this unique experience for everyone.
We hope to see you there!
Chris Teal
IfCM Co-Director
uofacmsjazz@gmail.com
chris@ifcmusic.org