Attention: Band Directors, Middle/High School Jazz and Percussion Instructors
and Teachers/Professional Musicians with little improvisation experience...this Course will help you and your program!
The starting point is to check out this Sampler video of material taken from the 105 mins in Video 1/Semester 1.
Arthur Lipner has presented almost 300 workshops on 6 continents since the late 1980's as a Musser & Zildjian-sponsored artist.
Jazz Improvisation Course Overview
Jazz Improvisation Course by Arthur Lipner is for beginning improvisers of any age on any instrument, from a ten year-old new music student to a veteran orchestral player. So many introductory methods on the market start with chords and scales. This is not Lipner’s approach! He aims for the essence of the improvisational mindset which everyone possesses. He stresses to “play what you know, not what you don’t know.” Establishing the ability to “speak” music confidently at whatever level the student is currently dovetails into learning more and playing more. Opening up this channel is the key to Arthur's time-tested methodology.
By supporting the student, and presenting simple concepts about rhythm and pitch in creating their own music regardless of the simplicity, Lipner then moves forward introducing harmonic and technical concepts. Arthur has presented this material in almost 300 workshops over 30+ years, in 28 countries on six continents. A seasoned educator is easy to spot, and he is one. His smooth, supportive demeanor and world-class playing will help your students feel at ease and excited to learn.
Volume 1/Semester 1 is comprised of five videos. The first video is "Introductory/Preparatory." It discusses the value of improvisation, some quick basics about the vibraphone, and gets started with different ways to practice/get to know major scales. Aside from instrument setup, Burton grip, and a few other details, all other information of course applies to all instruments. The other four videos focus on one song each: Slick, Fog Scene, Smooth Boperator and Sweet Rio. These four songs are included in the book Jazz Mallets: IN SESSION (Row-loff Productions). Transcriptions of Arthur’s solos on these four songs are included in this book and his series "From Lead Sheets To Hip Solos" (Carl Fischer). In the playing sections of the videos, Arthur plays these exact solos. This way, the student has the chance to play along with Arthur AND experience the phrasing and timing of professional musicians first-hand.
"From Lead Sheets To Hip Solos" is available in five separate books: Tenor Sax, Bb, Eb, C Instruments and Bass Clef. If you purchase this video course and will be working from the Carl Fischer series, MalletWorks will provide Slick and the solo transcription free of charge
as it is not included.
Click here to see a list of the 16 Lessons which accompany the videos. Notice that the times of each video where the specific lesson topic is discussed are indicated. Click here to see a master log of all 105 minutes of videos.