Dec 20, Two's and Three's

We had a very intensive class, working mostly on original material written by the students: a tune in 7/4, quarter notes and halftime, a tune with a cycle of 3/4 - 4/4 - 3/4 - 5/4 plus a metric modulation, and we continued the session with an indian clapping exercise: 23232323 / 222 / 32233223 / 22 / 2323 / 2323 in three speeds, triplets, sixteenth and quintuplets. We also touched upon working with the metronome on different beats while playing a head. What a great class.

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Dec. 13 workshop.

Another great class. We worked on 4:3, and payed special attention to always feeling the sixteenth as an undercurrent. From there we moved on to a metric modulation exercise, quarter note triplets equals quarter notes and back, dotted quarternotes equals quarter notes. Clement brought in a tune with this rhytmic principle, a nice challenge to bite our teeth into. Then we tackled 2 and 3 note groupings in compound meter using the pentagon shape as a grid. Main focus here was feeling the triplets at all times. After this we loosened up with an original composition of mine, ASAP in medium tempo, working on execution of the melody and getting deeper in the pocket on an eight note level. A very productive two hours. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention this, I started the session with an essay I wrote for brilliant corners, a great seasonal magazine dedicated to Art, Jazz an Literature. The topic was Art and Jazz. Check out this magazine and support it if you can.

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Rhythmic sequences

Dec.6, 2012 class

Another great class with the cats. We worked on the ride/bass
relationship, explored a couple of originals written by the students
and worked on a tune by Miles Okazaki who will do a Masterclass on
January 31. His piece is based on a Pentagon shape including 5 series
of 3-2 groupings (12 beats each) in three different speeds; triplets,
sixteenth and quintuplets. We took the Indian clapping approach, next
week we should be rolling. We are also working on 3:4 versus 4:3
relationships. I also shared information that I have received from
Wayne Krantz in an hour conversation regarding his approach on
rhythm, harmony and melody. Thank you Wayne for your great insight.
And, the setlist for the gig in smalls on Jan.29 is shaping up. What
a great class and great group of students.

Welcome to the blog of the New York Jazz Workshop's Mixed Meter - Polyrythm class lead by Marc Mommaas.