Beginning on January 12th, I will be doing a 3 month intensive online course in advanced jazz piano at one of the leading american institutions in music education. I have done one course previously at this university and had a great time following a structured curriccula across 12 lessons. At that time, back in winter 2023, our main assignments were to record our own solos along with play along tracks in Aebersold style. This is a familiar way of working within the jazz community and served as a foundation for the live tutor’s assessment and feedback/forward. The curricula was at that time based on Gary Burton’s musical universe and most tunes exist as recordings done by Burton and various top artists.
The new course spans across 12 lessons that follows a historical path that outlines the development of jazz piano, including jazz solo piano playing. I will submit videos that capture from above my hands and keyboard. For this I have made a solution combining Ableton live with Open Broadcaster Software (OBS). I use an external webcam for the birdview angle and the integrated webcam for an additional view from the side. Ableton serves as the daw for playback of backing tracks and for close miking the Yamaha uprigth piano in my office. I will be using a pair of condenser microphones for this and used Neumann KM184 for piloting.
Below is one of my pilot recordings, an improvisation on My one and only love. Why this tune? Check out Chick Corea’s many recordings of the tune and see how creative he is in his playful treatment of the harmonies. rhythm etc.
