2020-21 Clinic Topics – Bradley Sowash

Please note that this list is not comprehensive. Bradley is happy to present on any topic related to musical creativity.

Chord Fluency There's a difference between harmony theory and practical chord fluency. The latter opens the doors to so many musical skills including analysis, memorization, improvisation, lead sheets… Learn drills, exercises, and creative prompts from a master improvisation teacher to help your students recognize and play chords effortlessly both on and off the bench in any genre. Rationale: Like language students who have memorized vocabulary but are not yet conversant, pianists who have learned to construct chords may not yet be “chord fluent.” So how do we help our students move beyond music theory worksheets to being able to interpret chord symbols and identify underlying harmonies in literature? Content: Step by step guide to teaching chords at the piano without theory books including drills, exercises, and how to integrate chord fluency with literature and improvisation.

Creative Chords or That's Jazz series Find out why Bradley's books are among the best-selling beginning improvisation methods in the world. Is it because they are written specifically for teachers with little or no improvising experience? Or is it how easily they integrate with traditional methods? Or is it the joy of students discovering self-expression through Bradley’s time-tested techniques? Session will cover: Follow an overview of the methodology, we will zoom in on how to guide students through common challenges on a tune by tune basis.

Going Further with Lead Sheets So, you can already play the melody and chord symbols on lead sheets... now what? Learn how to personalize your interpretation of lead sheets found in fake books through creative techniques. If you can do it, you can teach your students to do it. Rationale: The desire to play by ear seems to be nearly universal. Teaching music only through reading cuts off an essential avenue to a lifetime of joyful music making. Lead sheets offer a compromise between playing totally “off the top of one's head” and reading every note one plays. Content: This session offers practical tips for interpreting lead sheets through demonstration and written examples. Specific topics include an exploration of common left hand patterns, embellishment, chord voicings, improvisation, style considerations and more.

Improve Your Groove Deepen your students’ sense of time, awareness of phrase lengths, and ensemble skills with easy piano and percussion accompaniment patterns, teaching with “rhythm boxes,” utilizing technology, and more in this hands-on, interactive workshop. Rationale: Most young musicians learn by playing their instruments with peers in a student orchestra, concert band, jam band, or group class. Student pianists, on the other hand, because they typically practice and perform alone for many years often miss out on learning essential ensemble skills such as - Steady beat - Realize the necessity of keeping a steady pulse and avoiding pauses to fix notes. - Listening - Understand aurally how piano parts fit into an ensemble. - Form - Become skilled at keeping their place in the structure of a tune. - Rhythm section - Learn to provide essential chords and style-specific beats in contemporary ensembles in conjunction with a drummer and bassist. To compensate for reduced opportunities to play with others, it’s especially important for piano teachers to emphasize these skills in the lesson.

Pedagogy of Teaching Creativity An overview or creative teaching principles, techniques, examples, and approaches to move beyond merely critiquing to foster creative expression both on and off the page. Learn how the philosophy and mindset of teaching improvisation and composition differs from teaching written music and understand how to integrate the two approaches.

Preparing Students for Jazz Band How does a pianist move from soloist to playing in a big band? Learn to coach students on interpreting and voicing chord symbols, accompanying improvisers, working within a rhythm section and understanding stock jazz styles. Content: This session explains and demonstrates the skills needed to play in the rhythm section of a larger jazz ensemble including how to voice chords, what scales to play when improvising, and stock accompaniments and grooves for the main jazz styles.

Scaling the Chords Tips from a jazz musician on making chords and scales more fun to practice and more relevant to your students' repertoire. Rationale: One of the biggest challenges beginning improvisers face is mastering the fundamental aspects of harmony including how it relates to key signatures and scales, how to construct and interpret popular chord symbols, how to apply chord knowledge, and why would anyone want to know this stuff anyway? Content: Using techniques developed in my studio, participants will learn a practical approach to teaching harmony, pop/jazz chord symbols and key signatures that reinforces students’ understanding of the chord/scale relationship. Through live demonstration and written examples, fun and practical applications of music theory for students of all ability levels will be included. Teaching Group Lessons Online As a pioneer, some say the first, to offer group lessons online, Bradley Sowash will guide you through pedagogical tips and best practices to for successfully teaching online music classes. Content: This session is not about setting up technology. While we will briefly touch on equipment needs, the focus is on how to transfer group teaching pedagogical principles to an online setting including designing lesson plans, drills, scales, games, apps, and strategies that enable group, managing assignments, sharing practice videos, etc.

Understanding Chord Symbols One of the biggest challenges beginning pop/jazz improvisers face is learning to construct and interpret chord symbols. This very practical session provides a straightforward explanation of the principles, common practices and variations in contemporary chord nomenclature.

Teaching the Blues Rationale: Evolving from its rural American roots in the 1900s to worldwide popularity today, the 12-bar blues is considered a mainstay of improvisation by jazz musicians and educators. Though blues appears to be simple on the surface, many teachers, lacking experience with it in their own training, can benefit from guidance on how to navigate its nuances in the private studio. Learn to play and teach this essential American music form the right way. Content: This session offers practical tips for teaching the blues to all ability levels through demonstration and written examples. This is a hands-on workshop in which volunteer pianists and participant singing will be used to demonstrate how easy it can be to improvise in this form. Specific topics will encompass a comparison of basic and jazz blues forms, left-hand styles (including primary chord patterns, boogie-woogie and walking bass), and authentic blues scales, riffs and licks to prime the improvisational pump!

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Bio Bradley Sowash is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator known for his innovative online group jazz piano classes, widely-acclaimed keyboard improvisation books, and as the co-founder of 88 Creative Keys workshops and webinars for music teachers.

Testimonials ● You should know that your sessions this morning really created a stir. Many of us were intrigued about a whole other area of teaching. We appreciated the information that you presented us with humor, honesty, and clarity. You were extremely patient with us as we questioned you about the material. – Robert Vandall (educational composer) ● It was a great workshop!! I thought that I would be worn out and would be bored after being there all day, but it was very, very good. He has really thought this through. It was great to have someone know how to approach all of this with people who read music. - M. (piano teacher) ● ...unique and pedagogically beneficial. – Wendy Stevens (educational composer) ● I so much appreciated the absolutely top-quality job you did at your workshop... clear, logical, thorough, and I have retained with clarity many points you made without needing to look at the book or my notes. Bravo & carry on!!! - (piano teacher) ● You did a great workshop. The best comment I heard was "it was not a commercial and I learned lots of new things for my students". - Deedy (music store owner) ● ...a most informative and interesting workshop + fabulous performance! All the best with your continued "bridging the gap." - Dr. Cyntha Benson, College of Musical Arts, Bowling Green State University ● I have never seen someone deal with the elements of Jazz in such an instantly engaging and creative way. - Barry Oreck, Ph.D., Consultant in Arts and Gifted Education, NYC ● You are a master teacher, conveying your knowledge with sensitivity and patience. - Joanne, (Office of Arts Learning, Ohio Arts Council)

Bradley Sowash Owner, Bradley Sowash Music https://bradleysowash.com

Wish you could improvise better? Check out online group jazz piano classes.