Jazz for Harps – What’s it All About?

If you play the harp,  I want you to know about Jazz for Harps.  If you don’t play the harp, you might be interested in reading about how jazz works.

“Jazz for Harps” is a brand new program – and before I tell you exactly what’s in the program I want to say this:

Jazz is highly misunderstood. 

Jazz not a specific style. So if you think you know what jazz sounds like, you’re probably only thinking of one small subset of jazz.

Jazz is a way of approaching music, a way of understanding it — and learning jazz can help you in every part of your playing if you want to liberate yourself from the notes written on the page.

Here are two of the basic differences between Jazz and Classical music, especially from a learning-standpoint:

• Jazz musicians don’t read sheet music like classical musicians do – they read what’s called lead-sheets.  They might be playing for 20 minutes, but they’re playing off that one page lead-sheet. Those lead-sheets are like the roadmap of a tune, so when you know how to read that roadmap, you know where you’re going. How you get there – that’s the creative part.
• Jazz musicians don’t read rhythms either — they learn certain rhythmic ‘feels’ like Bossa Nova, Swing and Jazz Waltz – then they can apply those to any tune.

And that’s what you learn do in “Jazz for Harps.”

There are 4 quadrants to Jazz for Harps:

The Harmony – The Rhythm – The Roadmap of each Tune – and Improvisation

And the program is focused into those 4 parts, so we focus on each area separately and then put them all together. In fact, you’ll probably see me list them in a different order in various places – because they are all present at all times – and to learn them, you need to be learning to put them together – which is a big part of “Jazz for Harps.”

Most harp player don’t want to spend the years and years it takes to become a bona fide ‘jazz harpist’ but what “Jazz for Harps’ does is to open up these 4 quadrants in your playing.  That can lead to playing jazz, or it or it can just help you ‘jazz up’ anything you do. 

You can take the elements that work for you to expand your creativity and your expression as a player at your level, whether you actually want to play jazz, enhance your playing as a therapeutic harpist, learn ways to quickly expand your repertoire,  get a strong grasp of how harmony works (literally!) — or you just want to start expanding your own creative expression with improvisation, richer harmonies and more rhythm.

The Program is run on 3 Levels

Now, everyone is at a slightly different level but the program is  focused in 3 levels:  Fledgling players (which is advanced beginner to intermediate), Intermediate players and Advanced or Professionals.

And you have access to all those levels in the program — so you take the parts that work for you.

• Level 1: Fledgling (Adv. Beg. to Int.) – Add the Flavor of Jazz to Your Playing
• Level 2: Intermediate – Discover the magic of improv, extended harmony & rhythm
• Level 3: Advanced & Professional – Get INSIDE the harmony, rhythm, basslines, comping and improvisation and how to add jazz to your repertoire

So whatever level you’re at, you’re enriching the harmony, you’re adding rhythm, you’re improvising.

You become a more responsive player

Regardless of how you approach it, the ethic of jazz helps you become a more and more responsive player – whether you’re performing for events, playing at bedside, playing with a band,  or you really want to make jazz part of your life – or you just want to have more fun.  Because jazz teaches you to be able to play, listen and respond – in the moment – all at the same time.

And that’s why jazz liberates your spirit, expands your understanding of music, and gives you a whole new sense of play.

And that’s what “Jazz for Harps” is all about.

So if you do play the harp, REGISTER NOW.