Category Archives: Pedagogy
Review: Coursera Introduction to Improvisation – Final Thoughts
Having completed the 5-week Introduction to Improvisation course on Coursera, I do have a few thoughts to share for those considering trying the same course. First, though it is marketed as an introductory course, it does assume facility with one’s … Continue reading
Posted in Jazz, Pedagogy, Reviews
Tagged Coursera Reviews, Jazz, Music lessons, Pedagogy, Reviews
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Review: Coursera Introduction to Improvisation
The concluding week of Gary Burton’s Introduction to Improvisation course dealt primarily with thematic development. Throughout the course, Burton emphasized the role of the improviser as a storyteller, considering the solo as a logical narrative. To assist in realizing this … Continue reading
Review: Coursera Introduction to Improvisation
Week 4 of Gary Burton’s Introduction to Improvisation course introduced three new topics for improvisers. The first is the concept of guide tones. Guide tones are chord tones that are a step or half-step from a chord tone of subsequent … Continue reading
Review: Coursera Introduction to Improvisation
Sorry for the delay on these reviews, I’ll be posting about Weeks 3, 4, and 5 of Gary Burton’s Introduction to Improvisation class this week. Week 3 deals with the application of scales to harmonies in a vertical manner, i.e., … Continue reading
Posted in Jazz, Music Lessons, Pedagogy, Reviews
Tagged Coursera Reviews, Guitar, Jazz, Music lessons, Pedagogy, Reviews
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Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Civic Orchestra
Here’s a link to a great article in the May 2, 2013 Chicago Tribune, written by Mark Caro. Caro reports on a collaboration between renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. The article describes Yo-Yo Ma’s “challenge” to the … Continue reading
Review: Coursera Introduction to Improvisation
I’ve completed the second week of Gary Burton’s Intro to Improvisation online course through Coursera. The lessons progressed from the first week’s discussion of parallels between language and music to a more theoretical description of ten of the commonly used … Continue reading
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Tagged Coursera Reviews, Guitar, Jazz, Pedagogy, Reviews
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Review: Coursera Introduction to Improvisation
I’ve just completed the assignments for Week 1 of Gary Burton’s introductory improvisation class. I think it’s off to a good start, and he really throws you right into the thick of things. The first lectures address music as a … Continue reading
Posted in Jazz, Music Lessons, Pedagogy, Reviews
Tagged Coursera Reviews, Guitar, Jazz, Music lessons, Pedagogy, Reviews
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Review: Coursera Introduction to Improvisation
Today I had my first glimpse of the online Introduction to Improvisation course offered by Berklee College of Music. It is a five-week class presenting some of the fundamentals of jazz improvisation. I’ll be giving a week-by-week review as a … Continue reading
Posted in Jazz, Music Lessons, Pedagogy, Reviews
Tagged Coursera Reviews, Guitar, Jazz, Music lessons, Pedagogy, Reviews
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New Book! Guitar: A Course for Adult Beginners
I just finished printing my new book Guitar: A Course for Adult Beginners. The content is related to that found in my Beginner Guitar Series. However, the book is more focused as a workbook/songbook, emphasizing the methods for building a basic vocabulary … Continue reading
Posted in Music Lessons, Pedagogy, Products
Tagged Americana, Bluegrass, Guitar, Music lessons, Old-time, Pedagogy, Products
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New Year’s Resolutions
It’s a little late, but one month into 2013, I’ve finally settled on some resolutions for this blog! I’m adding a couple of new running topics to the blog such as album and concert reviews, instructional book, DVD, and website … Continue reading
Posted in Music Lessons, Pedagogy, Performance, Products, Reviews
Tagged Banjo, Guitar, Hindustani music, Mandolin, Music lessons, Pedagogy, Performance, Products, Reviews
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