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Aebersold camp feedback

i always wanted to attend one of these when i was younger but never had the cash or could get away from work for a week. one of these years i thought about going but didn't want to be the only 30 or 40+ year old. do people of all ages attend these or is it mostly high school and college players? is there private instructions for pianist or are there just so many that it's group piano class?

larryc

by LarryC on 02/23/2004, 15:54

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i attended aebersold last year and had a lot of fun.    the camp is definitely attended by players of all ages and abilities so there is no problem with fitting in (i'm 36).

the one thing you need to be aware of though is that there are more piano players than combos.  for instance, i think there were about 65 piano players at the one i attended and only about 35-40 combos.  the remaining piano players are put into something known as "piano band" which is basically plays along with band-in-a-box for the week (although, in the concert they play with an all-faculty rhythm section).   the key thing is to be somewhat up on your audition---know some ii-v-i and how to play a blues.  i thought my audition sucked, but i knew enough of this stuff to barely make a combo.

as for the instruction, it's mostly in groups.  there was a piano voicing workshop that was pretty useful.  you will also attend master classes in small groups of about 8-people---meeting with a different faculty member each day.    i got a lot out of the workshop.  it was fun to be around so many people all interested in jazz.

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by signal11 on 02/23/2004, 20:34

i'm attending this year with a saxophonist friend, so i'll report back after the event. i have to say that i'd be miffed if i spent all that money and was asked to spend all week playing along to band-in-box. i can do that at home!.

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by Kai on 02/24/2004, 00:57

signal 11- i'm interested in this camp. i've wanted to go for a long time, but the money has always been an issue. for the past few years i've been saving for this and i finally have enough $. do you feel like you got your money out of it? i mean there's a lot of other things you could spend a grand on, like books, cds, private lessons......
also i would be kind pissed off too if have to play with band in a box all week. so i want be sure i can do well enough on the audition. when you say you have to play a blues, do they want to hear a solo piano agrrangement or a combo type approach? an actual tune or an improvisation? any other feedback would really be appreciated!

paul

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by Paul on 02/24/2004, 09:34

i wouldnt worry about the age, i've been to a few summer schools, even have a job on one, and there are people of all ages there, from the youngest to the oldest (in my experience) :-)

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by Rick on 02/24/2004, 09:39

well, let me start with the whole audition thing.  when i attended, i hadn't been playing piano very long (less than a year!).   i had been studying ii-v-i progressions, chords, and some simple voicings, but i certainly didn't have much of a background to go on.   i definitely didn't know what to expect in the audition.  in the audition, they asked me a few questions about my background.   then they asked me something like "well, what do you like to play when you practice?  do you know any tunes?"   i didn't really have anything specifically prepared so i just kind of improvised over some major ii-v-is and then switched to a couple of minor ii-v-is.   it only lasted about 4-5 minutes.  frankly, i thought i bombed the audition.  however, it was *barely* enough to get into a combo.   of course, it's hard to say exactly what the criterion might have been.  despite my weak performance, i've always had a really good swing time sense so maybe i wowed them enough with rhythm to overcome other shortcomings ;-).    in any event, knowing what i know now, i think i should have spent more time practicing over a simple f blues or something.    keep in mind that the audition is not meant to be a super high-stress thing at aebersold so i don't think there's a need to spend tons and tons of time preparing some big elaborate show.    being able to improvise over a blues or some simple progressions is probably sufficient.

as for whether or not the camp was worth it, that's hard to say.  i think on the whole it was worth it for me.  there's much more to the camp than just the combos.   you get to meet people who at different levels of playing and it's interesting to talk to them.  i also got a lot of practical advice to get me started.   i also attended a special session on "stage fright" which literally changed my whole outlook on playing (and which was rather unbelivable for reasons i can't really describe).    if anything, i think the camp gave me focus for my practice.   i was really quite encouraged afterwards.

since attending the camp, i've been studying a lot more intensely with private lessons.  i would say that i've been getting a lot more from the private lessons than i ever did from the camp.    however, the camp was instrumental in finding a first-rate private teacher who actually knew what he was doing.   in fact, he really didn't seem to be interested in taking new students until i mentioned that i attended aebersold.   so, in that sense, the camp gave me some currency to play with.  i'm glad i attended.

i'm not sure i would go back to the camp right now though.  between private lessons and the combo i'm playing with back home, i feel like i'm learning more than i would at another camp session.    the camp was a great way to get started though.

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by signal11 on 02/24/2004, 19:57

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Aebersold camp feedback

There are 5 comments, leave a comment.

by signal11 on 02/23/2004, 20:34

by Kai on 02/24/2004, 00:57

by Paul on 02/24/2004, 09:34

by Rick on 02/24/2004, 09:39

by signal11 on 02/24/2004, 19:57

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Aebersold camp feedback

There are 5 comments, leave a comment.

by signal11 on 02/23/2004, 20:34

by Kai on 02/24/2004, 00:57

by Paul on 02/24/2004, 09:34

by Rick on 02/24/2004, 09:39

by signal11 on 02/24/2004, 19:57

Reply to Thread

Jazz Piano Notebook Series

"Latinesque"

LJP Jazz Piano Blogs

Most Recent Discussions

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Jazz piano education is cool.

Rock on. Follow your passion.

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