Will the year-in, year-out learning of music (instrument, singing, drumming, etc.) make you into… a better person?

OK, OK, it’s a loaded question. And a crowd-pleaser too, the kind of question an M.C. could bark to a packed auditorium just to hear a great big “YES” in return. We’re all “better people” for loving music, aren’t we?

Seem obvious? Well then, try making music a “core” curriculum item in schools, one that’ll stick when your government starts to prioritize military spending and “security” infrastructure over education.

And if you’re daring, make music central to your concept of education.

My hunch is that you’ll have to find better words than “music makes children into better people” to sell your idea, no matter how much we all agree on the universal virtues of music.

character training

So how do you do it? How do you convince people that music is of central importance to education?

I’ll argue that music will forever be relegated to “secondary curriculum” status in education (what is also happening to phys ed these days) until the concept of “character training” is revived in educational philosophy, and given mainstream respectability.

In other words, we have to change our concept of education.

Seems like a radical proposition? Or does “character training” sound a little too much like boot camp, or religious upbringing?

…et la musique

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate how music and character training go hand in hand is to look at a real-world example.

Canada’s National Film Board has produced a fine little gem of a film on this very subject. It’s called …et la musique.

The film, released in French, follows three kids – Alexis, 6 years old, Rachel 9 years old and Anne-Catherine, 11 years old – in their public school learning adventures at école primaire du Sacré-Coeur in Sherbrooke, Québec. And you guessed it: the school’s curriculum focus is music education.

Having seen the film, I’ll try to encapsulate the experience and message it conveys.

First, filmmaker Michel Lam adopts the point of view of children in the school environment as they discover socializing, teachers, educational expectations, group discipline, and school-yard play with new friends. The film is set for the most part in the school’s classrooms, practice rooms, halls and playground.

Nothing especially novel here. But because the film eschews story development and favors “day-in-the-life”, scene to scene transitions, we’re slowly made aware of the real star of the film: the educational setting itself, and the special relationships that emerge between children and teachers.

Pierre Foglia, who reviewed the film for La Presse says it best:

“…On comprend tout de suite que ces enfants-là ne deviendront pas des virtuoses, ce n’est pas l’idée non plus. L’idée, magnifique, et même grandiose, est celle qui est au coeur de tout projet éducatif: apprendre à apprendre. On comprend tout de suite que ces enfants-là seront meilleurs en français, en sciences, en mathématiques, grâce à la musique certes, mais on comprend aussi que cela pourrait être grâce à l’équitation, au tricot, à la littérature… Je dis n’importe quoi exprès pour qu’on m’entende bien: apprendre à apprendre à travers une passion.”

In a nutshell, this film is about “learning to learn“, or becoming passionate about learning by developing a life-long pursuit. Foglia’s statement goes even further: he implies that the success or failure of any educational project should be judged on how well people “learn how to learn”.

All fine and well, but perhaps we’re putting the cart before the horse here: is Lam really making a case for quality education, or the ideals of pedagogy? Or is he simply concerned with making a loving portrait of kids learning music at school, as a tribute to his own experience as a child going to school at Sacré-Coeur?

I’ll let you be the judge of this. I for one, thought the picture of music education that emerged from the film was slightly idealized, almost isolated from other areas of character development. For better and for worse, the film focuses on the interaction between children and their teachers, with our attention shifting between directive vs. supportive approaches to music teaching. Does this setting truly create a “love of learning”? For a few, for many?

Of course, only Sacré-Coeur alumni can answer this question. As for Michel Lam, whatever “case” he might be making with …et la musique, he’s not in the least bit preachy about it, and more than a little bit poetic.

a modest proposal

Returning to our initial question: how do we “upgrade” our concept of education? If subject-based “core” curricula remain the norm in public education, how does one make the case for change?

If you’re having trouble with the idea, perhaps we should look at other institutions that are undergoing major brain-shifts.

For example, health care: we’re hearing more and more about a “whole-person approach” to treating illness and disease these days. Not just from alternative medicine practitioners, but from traditional “authorized” medical institutions, hospitals, universities, etc.

amateurmusicians.net‘s modest proposal? To do the same in education: reexamine our focus on knowledge and skill acquisition in light of this “whole person” paradigm.

If that sounds like New Age talk, it’s not. “Whole person approaches” in practice simply means using multiple models instead of a single authorized body of knowledge to solve problems. In health care the multiple-model approach is called “integrative medicine“.

And perhaps this is where music education – and music teachers in particular – will lead the way into a new revolution of “integrative learning” in education. Because you can’t teach music successfully without understanding your students’ music itch, and how to scratch it.

Andrew is founder of the Community Guitar Program, as well as being the director and coordinator of Django In June, the only annual music camp in North America dedicated to the pursuit of gypsy jazz musicianship. For a more complete bio, click here.

[audio:AndrewInJune-QT.mp3]

The interview was recorded on Saturday July 15th, in Northampton, circa 2pm. As it is close to 50 minutes in duration, here is a time-line of the main discussion points, should you wish to jump to specific parts of the interview:

0:15- intro + Django In June ’07
3:00- Django In June challenges
4:00- who came to Django In June ’07
8:15- Community Guitar – intro
9:00- origins of Community Guitar
11:30- the CG vision: music as a shared experience
12:25- why focus on the guitar?
14:25- basic principles of the group instruction model for instrumentalists

• step 1 – instructor as matchmaker
• step 2 – focus on repertoire that’s good for jamming
• step 3 – learn the skills required for a group playing context

17:00- CG: startup challenges
20:30- what musical styles work best for the CG format?
21:50- vocal repertoire?
24:15- assessing instrument skill levels
25:30- skill level 1: technique + theory + repertoire
26:50- skill level 2: technique + theory + repertoire
29:40- skill level 3: technique + theory + repertoire
31:05- gypsy jazz suited for CG curriculum?
31:50- academic model vs. recreational program
35:10- a new concept of leisure
37:55- the future of CG
39:25- new options for guitar teachers
40:10- scaling CG
41:00- demand for CG
42:55- how the CG guitar model fits with existing institutions

If you think you’d like to start a Community Guitar Program in your hometown (link) – or pilot a Community Guitar Program from your music store – or if you’re simply curious and would like more information, you can contact Andrew here.

Thanks again Andrew, for your time, and for this amazing experience! See you next year at Django In June!

what was it like?

Well… read my other posts, for starters. The details describe the experience fairly well. Nevertheless, here are a few final verbal snapshots, in no particular order:

• The way the camp “energy” goes… the days seem basically split in two: the structured day offerings vs. the informal evening jams. Both are opportunities to learn and apply new ideas and skills, but in different ways.
• Love the “horseshoe” shape of the dorm for wandering around, from group to group!
• We were blessed with great weather, overall. I’d rather have a bit if grey and light rain like we did for a couple of days, than excessive heat.
• The teachers were amazing people, and fantastic musicians! Yes, I made new friends at Django In June, with both staff and participants.
• Kudos to Andrew for making sure we had mandolin, accordion, fiddle and bass players in this über-guitar jamboree!
• Seems the gypsy jazz revival is as testosterone-heavy as the old guard. The male/female ratio at the camp? Jeez…
• It was fun to mix around and chat at the cafeteria. The wonders round tables can do for socializing. Imagine if they set up airports like this!
• Cafeteria: definitely not “cafeteria food”! Really healthy stuff, lots of options. Loved that picnic, too. Bravo kitchen staff!
• There was a curfew for playing music up at the dorm level. By day 2 it wasn’t being respected much. And some people talk real loud at night, man. C’mon fellas, this ain’t Oktoberfest.
• Jams: when you let these guys loose, they can unleash energies for hours. Even after three instructional sessions, and an early morning wake-up. Chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop, goes Sweet Georgia Brown.
• A nice moment: violins under my window as I drifted into an afternoon nap, welcome respite from the seemingly endless giant ukulele fest on floor one. Informal practice groups were also part of the camp experience.
• Really loved the acoustics at Helen Hills Hills Chapel.
• Northampton = Paradise City!

That’s it for the snapshots. Now let’s get to the heart of the matter, why we all came to Northampton with our instruments. To be sure: to meet and to learn. Essentially, did Django In June satisfy your expectations?

on having expectations…

In all immersive learning experiences, there comes a point where the participants feel saturated, even overwhelmed by what they have been so focused on. Came day 3 or 4, and many of the people I talked to at the cafeteria were experiencing a mixture of elation and exhaustion. Some even mentioned they were assimilating so much that a lot of essential learning content was already escaping them.

Perhaps it’s out of experience, but I found having my blog to have been pretty helpful in this instance. Yes, come day 4, I was pretty tired and “feeling full” like many others, but I managed to stay on top of my learning process by doing this:

1. taking short notes on paper during most seminars
2. doing a quick summary of what I had learned in a session as soon as it was over on my laptop, while the details were still fresh, to put up later on my blog in the daily post.

Result: I could bookmark for later the technical issues I knew I needed more time for assimilation and experimentation, and be ready for the session ahead.

what i got out of it

Which brings me to my main point here, in terms of having such an approach to begin with. I came to Django In June not to become an overnight virtuoso – or even to have my playing substantially improve. Rather, I came to this camp to save time for the future. I have enough experience in learning music to know that it takes a lot of (fun) sweat, and to be a good musician you need to establish a lifestyle habit of systematic practice, over the long haul. All real improvements in music – as with most endeavors that are intrinsically their own reward – take time.

Therefore, I was looking to jump-start my practice habits (and not merely my playing) and – just as important – to find other players who share similar goals, who don’t live too far, hopefully.

In other words, I believe I had realistic expectations.

So there you have it. Recreational pursuit jump-start. Motivated musicians to practice with. Musical epiphanies. Django In June rocks!

Further, I’m now part of a network, belong to a new “music tribe”, a loose association of like-minded musicians with whom I share a deep involvement with a (life)style of music.

Above all, I have a renewed sense of optimism about the long, fun road, ahead to becoming a good, if not even a great player (if such be my path). And as Andrew Lawrence told me, this was the basic point of Django In June: to make sure participants were making satisfying musical connections with one another, around an opportunity to share their passion for music-making.

advice to myself

In terms of the future, there’s a lot of specific advice I’ll be giving myself. For example:

• Practice regularly and meet up with other gypsy jazz musicians regularly as well. Regularity!
• Now that your learning notes are all organized, regroup together areas of development and make a practice plan for the next three months, six months, etc.
• In anticipation of audiences (imaginary or real) you’ll be playing to, start to put really interesting sets together. This will ensure that all your learning is focused on the Holy Grail of repertoire. Put deadlines on you song list learning goals as well.
• With respect to your musical ideals, make sure your goals are also realistic. For example, if by looking at all your life commitments, you see you’ve only got three half-hours time slots to practice a week, then formulate your goals and plans around your lifestyle.
• Focus equally on accompaniment and lead playing.
• Be nit-picky about your problems, before they turn into bad habits!
• Seek external advice as much as you can, from a teacher pr mentor, if such a person is available to you.
• Good lord: have fun!

Amen.

Ahem. The more I look at the list, the more it looks like New Year’s resolutions. Promises, promises. So maybe I should just keep it simple: go to next year’s Django In June!

the end of isolation?

Ending our isolation: isn’t that the basic point of Django In June? A week has past, and looking back, and there are moments where my experience in Northampton seems almost like something I dreamed up. And this perhaps is where our basic challenge remains, to ensure that we bring conscious change to ourlifestyle as a result of our time in Northampton.

For the moment, geography is still the main barrier. Unless we participants take the initiative to establish continuity with each other, then this great week remains an amazing dream once lived, later a treasured memory.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Not me. I’m done for. Fingers are hurting, I haven’t slept much in the last few days, and now I’m roaming around the ground floor chit-chatting with the soon-to-depart guest instructors and camp participants.

As the sessions are underway I decide to walk around some more and take a few a few last pics. You’ll see below pics of a session with Dennis Chang on the Art of Accompaniment, Kruno Spisic doing a rundown of trademark Django licks and Tim Kliphuis teaching unversal Grappelli licks to the the recently-initiated.

Aurevoir Northampton!

Alas, time to go! Michel Gaudette and I pack our belongings and head to the font desk to do check out procedures with Andrew. Eschewing good-bye sentimentalism, I’m nevertheless feeling the pangs of the end of a great moment in time, a week of undisturbed musical bliss in a setting perfect for the cause. So much has happened, and I haven’t even begun assimilating all the learning I’ve done throughout the week.

Now the pinch has finally come – the goodbye pinch – to check if I’ve be dreaming all this up!

FINE

• Djangology
• Douce Ambiance

Morning session: improvisation with Biel Ballester (Barcelona, Spain)

What was covered:

Djangology: learned to practice changes with arpeggios. Learned two chord substitutions for the second chord in the piece. Instead of C dim, play basic triad:

• with F#, play D7
• with G natural, play Cmin 6 (“planar cadence”)

Biel offered a systematic approach to getting basic improvisational chops. Practice:

1. All arpeggio positions in a tune
2. Arpeggios in real-time changing chords, exactly as they come about in the progression
3. 4th note arpeggios, changing from chord to chord as per progression (like walking bass line)
4. 8th note arpeggios, bis
5. 16th note arpeggios, bis

This learning of the arpeggios skeleton should be learned in all place on the guitar neck, in all possible( and imaginative) permutations.

Lessons learned:

• On a tune like Djangology, no way to cheat the chord changes with scale or catch-all melodic device. you must learn the chord changes, not in scale form, but in basic arpeggios.
• If the rhythm guitar keeps to the basic triad, a lead guitar player has more harmonic options at his/her disposal in the same chord progression. at this point, it’s a matter of really knowing the possible harmonic variations of a tune in advance.
• Pace Dennis Chang: by and large, basic gypsy jazz improvising on the guitar requires arpeggiated, vertical development of melodic ideas over horizontal, single-string melodic development.
• As a practice rule of thumb, transitions between arpeggios take on the closest note in the next arpeggio of the chord progression.
• Turn-around = cadenza
• Take harmonic risks during the basic progression, but always nail the turnaround with a recognizable lick, melodic pattern. this grounds your solos.
• Improv performance is largely intuitive. all the rote, learned stuff happens during intensive practicing, using the gamut of left-brained approach (metronome, musical analysis, naming notes, chords, etc.)

Early afternoon session: —

skipped class, to rest… and yet neglected to go to the much-vaunted Smith College Museum of Art next door!

Late afternoon session – latin rhythms in Gypsy Jazz, with Biel Ballester (encore!)

What was covered:

Same issues covered as with day 3 early afternoon session, with addition of three other specific gypsy jazz latin rhythm: the bossa (both plectrum and hand strums), the bolero and the rhumba.

The Basics:

• Bossa: up-strokes and left-hand muting all-important.
• Bolero: though it sounds tough because of that rapid right-hand triplet pattern, much easier to play than bossa.
• Rhumba: near-continuous triplet strumming, with three accents, the strongest one in the lone upstroke accent of the strumming pattern.

Lessons learned:

• Learn the rhythm before you try it on your instrument: sing/scat it.
• Latin rhythms in gypsy jazz are not “true” bossa’s bolero’s, etc., rather, they are adapted by gypsy masters into the gyspy jazz repertoire as derivations of “la pompe”. learning a latin gypsy jazz rhythm therefore requires to learn the “ground and accent” approach of la pompe, and play the required strumming and left-hand muting approach as per latin rhythm style.
• If there’s one thing Biel wanted us to take away from this session, it’s the habit out grounding rhythm playing in beats one and three of a 4/4 bar, whatever the rhythm happens to be. Tempo is king in gyspy jazz music.

Concert Time Again!

Tonight’s concert is the Django In June big event. Already 3/4 of an hour before the show droves of people are lining up in front of the Helen Hills Hills Chapel for tickets.

The show begins with a warm welcome to all by Andrew, who summarizes the entire week-long event to the locals and out-of-town guests, and goes on to thank the many sponsors who’ve provided support, resources, funds and promotional opportunities to Django In June.

Next, the musical performers. The first set showcases the talent Vladimir Mollov (accordion) and Kruno Spisic (guitar and vocals), with Ted Gottsegen (guitar) and Jared Engel (bass) as accompanists. The gypsy jazz standards offered to our ears are played with guts and brio, and Spisic and Mollov shine further with soulful numbers from the Balkans.

After a the first ovational moment of the evening, the crowd returns from a 15-minute break to greet the star performers of the evening: German gypsy guitar master Wawau Adler and the great Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis, backed up by the trusty rhythm team of Ted Gottsegen and Jared Engel.

If you’ve attended many jazz concerts in your life, you’re probably experienced in finding the musical gems in the rough wherever they may turn up. Jazz music is so easily typifiable for today’s seasoned listeners that it takes a special kind of talent (and a lot of work!) to bring an audience from simple enjoyment of the familiar to the experience of true musical epiphany.

In our case, as Tim Kliphuis mentions early on in the show to the audience, he and Wawau became lifelong friends about 1/2 hours before the show, lying on a couple of couches behind the stage. So what musical dialogue to expect from two new lifelong friends?

Tonight I discovered that it takes top musical improvisation skills along with the mastery of diverse traditional repertoires to pull an act of impromptu stage chemistry.

With all the jams I’ve been witnessing throughout the week breakneck tempos seem to me to be the bread and butter of gypsy jazz today. Not with tonight’s all-stars: by the end of the concert I’ve counted only four uptempo numbers, from a total of roughly 13-15 songs.

Does that mean that the rest were “slow tunes”? Not at all. Seasoned performers know this, it’s the combination of rhythmic variety and eclectic numbers that keep today’s concert-going audiences satisfied.

And this is exactly what Adler, Kliphuis and co. delivered. One exquisite tune after another, of warm acoustic magic, beautifully melodic solos cascading in and out of a vast reservoir of musical knowledge – snippets of bach, mozart, scottish reels, bossa beats and eastern dirges, all delivered into the gypsy cauldron to boil and simmer, as required. Result: I heard classics like Nuages and Minor Swing as if for the first time.

To give you a taste of the virtuosity involved in both Kliphuis’ and Adler’s playing, here’s a couple of clips from Youtube (again, if someone comes across an embedable clip of this actual concert, let me know!). First Wawau Adler, at Samois 2006 (he’s wearing the blue cap):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now Tim Kliphuis playing Sweet Georgia Brown. Tim’s inventiveness just blows me away:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Need I say more? If these guys ever come to your town, don’t miss a beat and run straight to the ticket booth! Lucky me, I got to see them play together, in one life-changing concert!

One Last Jam!

Here are a few pics from the last mega-jam of Django In June 2007. Enjoy!

• Dark Eyes
• Swing 39

morning session – improvisation John McGann (Berklee)

What was covered:

Metronome practice fundamentals. Also learned a specific scale for improvising over Dark Eyes. John prefers (and advocates) mid-tempo playing over fast, because breathing space makes for more inventiveness, less reliance on licks and clichés.

Lessons learned:

• Do “caveman” single-fingered arpeggios, with a single string finger. breaks away from dependency of scale fingering.
• Good “on your feet” exercise for practice: trade eights with yourself, switching from chord to melody.
• Writing down/recording three different melodic ideas for a chord progression will slowly build the skill-set of inventing melodies, to break away from rote approaches.
• A scalar approach is more appropriate for, with reference to chord tones Dark Eyes, while less useful for Swing ’39.
• Who’s a better soloist? Someone who displays technical mastery, or someone who keeps the audience on the “qui-vive”, “l’expectative”. In other words, a soloist who invites audience participation.

Early afternoon session – advanced rhythm workshop Michael Horowitz (Seattle, WA)

What was covered:

Explored the many possible variations of basic transitions and turnarounds in gypsy jazz chord progressions. Examples: Major and Minor V-I changes, IV-iv-I and V-bII deceptive cadences, chord enclosures, line clichés and the use of “thumb pedals”. For more details, see Michael’s book, Gypsy Rhythm.

What differentiates Michael from the other teachers, is that he has handouts

Lessons learned:

• Why the “1000 chord book” approach is wrong: harmonic knowledge and chord vocabulary is to be built from the “ground up”, from real musical situations, such as transitions between dominant and root chords, turn-arounds, etc.
• Variety is the spice of life: use of line clichés, “deceptive cadences” (i.e. surprise end-chords).
• Gyspy jazzer’s sometimes make use of pedal tones in rhythm playing.

Late afternoon eclectic offerings session – Vladimir Mollov motif development, part II

(Methinks I didn’t take any pictures during Vlado’s workshops because I was having too much fun!)

What was covered:

part II of motif development workshop (see part I for details)

Smith College Goes Barbecue

After the days’ sessions, we’re always rather hungry. Tonight, the Smith College cafeteria people graciously offer dinner outdoors. The weather is splendid, and we’ve got full-on buffet options on the menu. These people are so terrific that even our instruments are invited for dinner, as this picture will attest:

Concert Time!

Straight from the banquet to church! To Helen Hills Hills Chapel (yes, two Hills for Helen) for the first Django In June Concert. Featured tonight is the Stéphane Wrembel Trio, with special guest Biel Ballester Biel Ballester from Barcelona.

For the unitiated, Stéphane is a rising star of the US Gypsy Jazz scene… and beyond. That said, it’s a little difficult to describe what Stéphane does, as he’s not a traditionalist in any sense of the word. For the sake of brevity, I’ll characterize his music – if I can avoid being punched by Stéphane – as Gadjo Grunge.

Fox News, I own a copyright on that term…

For reference, I’ve adding a clip of the Stéphane Wrembel Trio’s performance LAST YEAR at Django In June 2006. As soon as someone spots an embeddable video excerpt of this year’s performance, please let me know, and I’ll replace this clip with the new one.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For the main set, the Trio was joined by the amazing Biel Ballester from Barcelona. Biel, who accepted the Django In June gig with only one week head time was quite the melodic and brooding counterpoint to Stéphane’s stratospheric sonic stretching.

More jams!!

After the storm, you have… further breakneck tempo jam experiments! Back at Franklin King House, it’s Sweet Georgia Brown looped for 632 choruses at 230 BPM until 2am, for God’s sake… Even a hostile lawn sprinkler system couldn’t stop these guys.

• Swing ’42
• Swing Gitan

Morning session – imrovisation Vladimir Mollov (Bulgaria, via Philadelphia)

(sorry, forgot to take some pictures!)

What was covered:

In a guitar heavy camp, I was one of the only guitar players in the session. Role-reversal with players on other instruments.

Vlado kept it simple. His focus was on getting us up on basic knowledge on how to approach a tune harmonically, through appropriate use of scales and arpeggios. In other words, the basic knowledge to “play safe” and sound good on a tune. We focused on Swing 42, and got an overview of the harmonic chops required for the other tune of the day, Swing Gitan

Lessons learned:

• It takes lots of rote practice before you can let loose as an improviser.
• Learn theory to the extent it is useful and will save you time. Theory can help you transpose the patterns you hear to other situations. But theory for its own sake…

Early afternoon session – rhythm, with Biel Ballester (Barcelona, Spain)

What was covered:

La pompe! More exactly: the sense of timing you need to cultivate as a rhythm player.

Meter strictness is a hallmark of gypsy rhythm. Variations in tension and intensity are effected within the strict meter, by emphasizing rhythm modes: legato or staccato. That strictness is called “tempo di marcha” in european music. it connotes the same strictness in meter, but its function can rather be more militaristic, as the name implies.

Lessons learned:

• The rules: strict, monotonous comping, with strumming style variations to alter intensity, as the song or moment requires.
• As Biel put it: “gypsy jazz rhythm is like Bruce Lee: quick, sharp and always alert”. Gypsy rhythms strictness has everything to do with the fact that the rhythm player has nearly-always the sole responsibility of “carrying the band” in your typical combo format.
• Rhythm practice: when listening to any 4/4 time popular music, make a foot-tapping beat emphasis on the 1 and 3 of the measure. you will gain control over any rhythm
• In this way, because it is focus on the ground instead of the syncopation which allows for polyrhythmic awareness.
• The relaxation movement in music pedagogy came as a reaction the stress and tension-related injuries that have long plagued musicians. But the relaxation approach turned out to be counter-productive to performance, especially with regards to rhythmic performance, which requires a kind of “tuned-in” attention. Biel used the word “tonic” to describe the proper attitude for good physical/mental performance in rhythm and lead playing.
• In my opinion, the disciplinary rigor of the meter has also everything to do with focusing the performance energy in the present moment, as the perpetual the center of attention and energy flow. In contrast, “rubato time” (as in classical and romantic music) encourages daydream, detachment.

Late afternoon eclectic offerings session: Vladimir Mollov on motif development

(again, no pics! désolé…)

What was covered:

We played a number of motifs over the first half of the Puttin’ On the Ritz chord progression. The Puttin’ On the Ritz melody itself is a playful variation of three notes, with development.

Lessons learned:

• Motif development could be described as simple melodic ideas with rhythmic variations, repeated and developed as a melody theme
• The spirit of motif development is “jumping in, creatively working out the idea in real-time and seeing how you’re going to get out of it”.

Special Guest…

In the evening, Andrew calls us into the Franklin King Living room to officially greet our camp guest star, German Gyspy guitarist Wawau Adler. Adler, who just got in this afternoon is on his first trip to the United States. As he doesn’t know much English, Adler is accompanied by a German journalist friend for general purposes of communication.

Time for the second impromptu show of the camp. Someone lends Adler a guitar, and he, Ted Gottsegen and Tim Kliphuis jump into some swingin’ gypsy jazz standards.

Are we amazed yet? Can’t wait to see their show on Saturday night!
Here are some pics of today’s jam sessions.

Tunes of the Day:

• Minor Swing
• Django’s Castle

Morning session – improv with Michael Horowitz (Seattle, WA)

What was covered:

How to get started on vocabulary building. We covered basic picking principles and phrase “templates” to apply in minor 6th chord progressions. We learned to variants of lick #9.1 in Michael’s Gypsy Picking book tutorial, one in eight notes, the other in eight note triplets. Then we learned a second lick for the turnaround, from D7 back to Gm6. The second part of this lick, going back into G6 is example #7.3 in the gypsy picking book. Finally, we also tried an ascending pattern to fit the Minor blues chords (example #5.3 from the same book).

Lessons learned:

• Seems the major 6th scale step in a minor 6th chord is idiomatic of gypsy music.
• In melodic phrasing, where your starting and end notes are moments where listeners can “pin the tail on the donkey”. ending on the 6th note in a phrase can therefore help characterize your melody within the gypsy jazz sound.

Early afternoon session with Ted Gottsegen (Hollywood, CA)

What was covered:

We focused on a minor swing chord progression. Areas of attention were la pompe and voice leading in minor blues chord progressions. This was the first workshop which covered the role and intricacies of la pompe – basic gypsy jazz rhythm on the guitar. The basic examples which Ted presented of ascending triad comping are also covered in Michael Horowitz’s book Gypsy Rhythm and Denis Chang’s DVD Jazz Manouche: The Art of Accompaniment.

Lessons learned:

• In standard jazz chord progressions, dominant 7th chords are often reharmonized as diminished chords in gypsy jazz.
• Despite the expectation that an accompanist should fully carry the harmonic intricacies of gypsy jazz in his playing, an accompanist often plays triads to leave on-the-spot reharmonizations to the soloist.
• You can make a career as an accompanist and always have you hands full!

Late afternoon session eclectic offerings with Dennis Chang (Montreal) – problem solving

What was covered:

Looked at the habits, mindset an techniques for building skills as an improviser. Focus of attention was on the minor 6th blues and other typical chord progressions, such as Minor Swing.

This was more an exploration session peppered with examples than the applied problem-solving program I expected.

Lessons learned:

• Work with the metronome! A strict sense of timing is critical to playing this style of music.
• The value of a teacher/mentor: get someone outside to pay attention to your playing habits.
• Gypsy jazz improvisation requires that you get out of single or dual string horizontal playing to vertical, arpeggiated melodic invention.

N.B. In the seminars I attended today, Django’s Castle barely got a mention. It seems it is not a tune people jam on much either.

Here are a few pics from the evening jam sessions.

First impressions? This place is just gorgeous! Obviously, the founders of Smith College were concerned with offering to their students a highly memorable experience of their college years, and attention to detail was their greatest talent. As a newcomer, it’s the sheer variety (and harmony) of architectural, landscape and natural/botanical offerings which overtake your senses, and put you in a state heightened anticipation.

Upon locating the dormitory where Django In June will be taking place, we meet with Andrew Lawrence, the camp director and organizer. Second fortuitous moment in the arrival process, as Andrew immediately makes us feel at home, and briefs us on the practicalities of our stay. As with many other camp attendants, we have our own private dorm room, and full access to the dorm areas where learning and jam sessions will be taking place, as well as a cafeteria card for meals.

After a quick meal downtown, we’re back in the Franklin King House dorm for a the camp orientation session – the formal learning session begin tomorrow morning. Andrew’s up in front, happy to see the great turnout, delivering an enthusiastic welcome speech to a packed living room. From his first words, it’s obvious to all that Andrew is the visionary behind this unique event, and that he deeply cares about bridging the gulf between a great, living musical tradition and new generations of passionate advocates for the genre in North America.

To prove to us he’s our man on the block, Andrew then does the staff roll call. Here’s who will be teaching and performing at the 2007 Django In June:

• Stéphane Wrembel (concert Friday night)
• Tim Kliphuis (concert Saturday night)
• Ted Gottsegen (concert Saturday night)
• Biel Ballester (concert Friday night)
• Dennis Chang
• Michael Horowitz
• Vladimir Mollov (concert Saturday night)
• John McGann
• Matt Glaser
• Jared Engel (concert Friday night)
• Wawau Adler (one masterclass later in the week + concert Saturday night)
• Kruno Spisic (one class Sunday morn + concert Saturday night)

So how will event proceed onward, on a day to day basis? As Andrew explains, the camp is for the most part structured around three daily learning sessions:

• 10:00am-11:30am improvisation
• 1:30pm-3:00pm rhythm
• 4:00pm-5:30pm – eclectic offerings (examples: a famous solo by Django on guitar, gypsy jazz for accordion, right hand technique for guitar soloists…)

Also on Friday and Saturday evening two concerts will take place – the main draw of Django In June. As for the lessons, they vary with each specific instructor, but the curriculum is overall organized around key skill-building areas and core repertoire. For example, two specific tunes are to be selected for study each day of the event, culled from a master repertoire of 11 standards.

The finale of our camp orientation session is a small improvised set, as performed by instructors Ted Gottsegen, Dennis Chang, Stéphane Wrembel on guitar, and another fine Montreal musician, Josianne Laberge on fiddle. After four up-tempo swingin’ numbers – punctuated by thunderous applause – the crowd breaks for some free time. Andrew has set up a billboard for our use and reference, where each participant is free to tag his or her name to the various à la carte seminar offerings of the camp, as each day presents itself.

Even though I’m somewhat tired from the trip, I’m quick to break out my acoustic axe to join a couple of jams, already underway in various corners of the dorm. I’m excited by all the offerings ahead, and already wondering how much sleep I’ll actually be getting on this vacation

Why Northampton? What’s so special about the place?

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were allegedly spawned there.
• One of my all-time favorite movies – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf – was filmed (in part) in Northampton.
• According to Wikipedia, some of the more illustrious members of the community were signers of the Declaration of Independence (though haven’t found out who, yet).
• Perhaps a repayment of karmic debt for the witch trials hosted all over New England way back when in the 18th century, the town is also home to Smith College, one of the leading liberal arts colleges for women in the United States (where I’ll be lodging for the duration of my stay, in a residence).
• There’s an Easthampton that’s southwest of Northampton, and a Southampton that’s further south of Easthampton.
• Sci-fi writer Kurt Vonnegut stayed in “Paradise City” (Northampton’s nickname) for a while.
• And much, much more…

My reason for going is, of course, musically-related. I’m going to Northampton to attend the Django In June music camp, a one-of-a-kind week-long gypsy jazz music seminar! From the DIJ homepage:

Django in June is really two events in one. For the general public, we’ll host concerts on both Friday and Saturday nights at the lovely Helen Hills Hills Chapel. These shows offer the opportunity to enjoy world-class Gypsy jazz artists in a live, intimate setting — without the additional expense and bother of a flight to Europe! If you already know which concert(s) you would like to attend and you just need tickets … You are also invited to a dinner showcase on Wednesday evening featuring our own Swing Caravan at the Sierra Grille in downtown Northampton.

For musicians, (including players of guitar, violin, mandolin, accordion and bass), we offer a variety of opportunities to learn and share. This year, for the first time, musicians will have the option of attending Django Camp — the first such music camp in the US devoted entirely to Gypsy jazz — which will run from Tuesday evening through Sunday noon. For those who would rather just drop in on the weekend for jamming, a la carte clinics and performances as we’ve done in the past, that will still be an option and we’d love to see you.

Though there will be many gypsy jazz luminaries present at the camp, I’m especially thrilled to know I’ll be able to meet Andrew Lawrence, the organizer and coordinator of the event. He’s the brains, heart and soul behind the Community Guitar Program in Northampton and environs.

Basically, the Community Guitar Program is a new type of educational offering to musicians in any local setting, using a group-learning instructional model developed by Andrew over a period of many years. The history page on the CGP site describes the genesis of his instructional model, and details the challenges and opportunities specific to the group learning format for musicians. During my stay in Northampton, I’ll see if Andrew’s got time for a recorded Q&A session, enough that I can distill into an amateurmusicians.net podcast upon my return to Montreal.

So there you have it. I’m pretty much all set to go. Depending on how loaded the schedule will be, I’ll try to keep a log of my Django In June experience as it happens. Otherwise, you’ll get the full summary when I’m back.

Until then… Viva le Django!

And, why not, throw in my own practical and philosophical two cents into the wisdom-of-the-crowd pot. Since I myself have been active in finding amateur musicians to learn and practice with for some time now. Even played at quasi-official ceremonies, full of pomp and cheer.

My habit will be to research and write in conjunction with music practice, to share ideas and problems that emerge from the dedicated process of learning a musical instrument and trying to master a repertoire, whether alone or with others.

So, if you’re an everyday – or everyweek – perspiring instrumentalist you’ve found a home. Click deep into the links to find what you’re looking for.