Jeff Gardner is available for master classes and workshops on jazz improvisation and composition for all instrumentalists. The curriculum will be drawn from Jazz Piano; Creative Concepts and Techniques (Editions H. Lemoine), Popular Music Harmony vol. 1 - Cycles, and Popular Music Harmony vol. 2 - Cadences and Harmonic Sequences. He also offers workshops on Brazilian music and a Blues Workshop based on the book of the same name.

  
 

Praise for "Jazz Piano: Creative Concepts and Techniques"

"Jeff's piano book is one of the most comprehensive books on any subject you will ever encounter for any level pianist - it's all here!"
David Liebman
 
"As a method book for budding improvisers on any instrument it should be required reading"
Paul Bley
 
"This is an immense work, complete and of the highest level, of unquestionable value to all
those interested in music in general and jazz in particular"
Martial Solal

“A tour-de-force of information”
Keyboard Magazine

“The Bible of improvisation”
Piano Magazine (France)

 
     
 
“I just wanted to thank you for the great clinic you gave here at Southern Miss. My students are still pondering all the possiblities you showed them. The theory concepts you exposed to them were advanced, yet were presented in a clear and user friendly manner. You started with what they knew and expanded upon it very effectively. I’m excited about digging into the material from your book with them as well. I look forward to having you here again.”

Larry Panella, Director of Jazz Studies,
University of Southern Mississippi
 
“Jeff Gardner is one the most talented pianists and educators I know. His knowledge of Brazilian music, his musicality, and personality make him an ideal clinician. Our students always enjoy his master classes.”

Dr. Paul de Castro,
University of California Los Angeles
 
Once again, thank you for your informative and inspiring clinics at Loyola University. Your playing and compositions are just superb, and the Brazilian rhythms presentation was fun -- hands on!

John Mahoney- Coordinator of Jazz Studies,
Loyola University, New Orleans
 
When I was first introduced to Jeff Gardner's text "Jazz Piano - Creative Concepts and Techniques" I recognized it as one of the very best jazz pedagogical works available. Jeff has a wonderful combination of abilities that allow him to perform engaging and complex improvisations and then verbally communicate the musical concepts involved in a clear and direct manner. The combination of superb musicianship, analytical clarity, and verbal communication skills make Jeff Gardner's presentations a valued experience for students of jazz.

Don Glanden
Chair, Graduate Jazz Studies
Chair, Piano Department
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia
  
     
  WORKSHOP OUTLINES  
   
 
BLUES WORKSHOP


MODULE 1

1. BLUES FORMS - 12 AND 8 MEASURES
2. BLUES SCALES
3. BLUES BASS LINES
4. BLUES SCALE PHRASES
5. CHORDAL ACCOMPANIMENT
6. HISTORY OF BLUES - ARTISTS AND RECORDINGS
7. SWING BLUES
8. BOOGIE WOOGIE
9. PLAYING WITH SMALL ENSEMBLE

This course will provide a firm base in Blues forms and language, with emphasis on 12 and 8 bar forms, the most widely used in most styles. Different rhythmic feels will be applied - shuffle beat, boogie woogie, Rock n Roll, Funk, etc. Soloing and accompaniment will be developed through small group playing situations. Principal Blues artists and famous pieces will be presented as an historical counterpoint to the theory and ensemble interaction. The course is based on the book of the same name, published in Brasil in 2017 by Edições Irmãos Vitale.

  
   
 
POPULAR MUSIC HARMONY

  1. CYCLE OF FIFTHS
  2. CADENCES IN MAJOR, MINOR AND DOMINANT SEVENTH KEYS
  3. HARMONIC SEQUENCES
  4. RHYTHMIC EXERCISES ON HARMONIC SEQUENCES AND CADENCES
  5.  MELODIC LINES ON HARMONIC SEQUENCES AND CADENCES
  6. PEDAL POINTS
  7. VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES WITH TRIADS AND SEVENTH CHORDS
  8. LOOPS
  9. CHORD SUBSTITUTIONS
  10. ANALYSIS OF JAZZ AND MPB STANDARDS
  11. EAR TRAINING WITH CHORDS AND INTERVALS 
  12. COMPOSITION EXERCISES

  
   
 
Jazz Harmony

• Cycle of fifths
• Guide tones
• Blues changes
• Chromatic cycle
• Voicing techniques
• Polytonality
• Chords in fourths
• Substitutions
• Use of pedal points
• Rhythm changes		   Small Group Workshops

• Accompanying different soloists
• How listen to several instruments
at the same time
• Chord Scales, pentatonic scales,
and modes
• Recognition of intervals, chords,
and harmonic progressions
• Superposition of meters
• Modal improvisation, blues, and
jazz standards.		   Brazilian Music Workshops

• Historical Overview
• Samba
• Baiao
• Bossa Nova
• Maracatu
• Chorinho
• Candomble
• Polyrhythmic Exercises
• Movement/dance exercises
         

Stretching the Envelope

An all instruments harmony/improvisation class - includes extensions of jazz harmony, voicings, lines, and using XXth century contemporary techniques in a jazz context.

1. Non common practice combinations of added tones 
2. Polytonality (including use in a tonal context)
3. Non-diatonic bass tones (slash chords on the border of polytonality)
4. Pandiatonicism
5. Modal techniques in composition and improvisation
6. Twentieth Century contemporary music as a mine of ideas for Jazz and Contemporary Music
7. "Directed Compositional Exercises" - a series of compositions based on different parameters of contemporary music, mixed with forms and techniques associated with Jazz.
8. Intervallic structures - used as chords and lines. Jeff's book "Shapes - Intervallic Studies for Melodic Instruments", will be used to exemplify these techniques in a jazz context.

Piano Master Class

1. Technique in double notes - based on modes, cycles, cadences, with 2 notes in each hand
2. Counterpoint in jazz piano - tonal, modal, and polytonal
3. Voicings in fourths and fifths
4. Crossed hand Voicings
5. Individual commentary on selected students' playing and conception
6. Application of different instrumental conceptions to the piano - i.e. - the piano as wind instrument, the piano as percussion instrument, the piano as orchestra
7. Brazilian rhythms applied to the piano
8. Different "swing" feels
9. Creative ways to practice scales

 
   
 
REFERENCES

  
  USA  
 

* International Association of Jazz Educators Annual Conference (New York, 1998)
* University of the Arts (Philadelphia)
* Berklee School of Music (Boston)
* University of Southern California (Los Angeles)
* City College of New York
* Long Island University (Brooklyn)
* Brown University (Providence)
* Brandeis University (Waltham)
* California State University (Los Angeles)
* McNeese State University (Lake Charles, Louisiana)
* University of New Orleans
* NOCCA - New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts
* High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Houston)
* University of Delaware
* University of Indiana (Bloomington)
* University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg)
* Louisville University
* Biola University (La Mirada, California)
* Loyola University (New Orleans)
* Arizona State University
* Berkshire Community College (Pittsfield)
* Raritan Valley Community College
* United Nations School (New York)

  
  Europe  
 

• Lyon Conservatory
• Jazz a Tours
• JUPO (Le Havre)
• BiIl Evans Piano Academy (Paris)
• IRCAM Centre Nacional de Culture (Paris)
• CIM (Paris)
• Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood (Dammarie Les Lys)
• Ecole Departemental de Musique et Danse (Mont de Marsan)
• Hochschule fur Musik und Theater (Hamburg)
• ZKM Zentrum Fur Kunst Und Mediatechnologie (Karlsruhe)
• Arnheim Conservatory (Holland)
• Antwerp Conservatory (Belgium)
• Halewyn Stichting (Belgium)
• St. Polten (Austria)
• Swiss Jazz School (Basel)
• Conservatory of Banska Bistrica (Slovak Republic)
• Zilina Conservatory (Slovak Republic)
• Conservatorio di Vicenza (Italy)

  
  Brasil  
 

• Festival de Musica Instrumental (Niteroi)
• Conservatorio Brasileiro de Musica (Rio de Janeiro)
• Sindicato dos Músicos (Rio de Janeiro)
• Faculdade de Musica de Espírito Santos (Vitória)
• UFRJ - Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro
• UFMG - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais  (Belo Horizonte)
• Universidade de Brasilia
• Palacio das Artes (Belo Horizonte)
• Fundação de Educação Artistica (Belo Horizonte)
• Associação Alumni (São Paulo)
• Universidade Livre de Musica (São Paulo)
• Conservatório Souza Lima (São Paulo)
• Fundação das Artes (São Caetano do Sul)
• Escola de Musica do Estado de Maranhão (São Luis)
• Fundação Carlos Gomes (Belem)
• Encontro Nacional de Artes (Belem)
• SESC Boulevard (Belem)
• Conservatorio de Tatuí
• Conservatorio Alberto Nepomuceno (Fortaleza)
• IBEU Ipanema
• ABA (Recife)
• Livraria Cultural (Recife)

 
  Latin America  
 

• Conservatorio Nacional de Paraguai (Asuncion)
• Universidad Javeriana (Bogota)
• Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango (Bogota)
• National Music School of Saint Lucia (Castries)
• CMAC - Centre Martiniquais d'Action Culturelle (Fort de France)
• Escuela Nacional de Musica (Tegucigalpa, Honduras)
• Conservatorio de Musica Francisco R. Diaz Zelaya (Tegucigalpa)
• Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras (Tegucigalpa)
• Escuela de Musica Victoriano Lopez (San Pedro Sula, Honduras)
• Escuela Superior de Musica (México City)
• Sindicato dos Músicos (México City)
• Instituto de Musica Contemporânea - Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador)
• ICPNA Instituto Cultural Peruano Norte Americano (Lima)
• UPOLI Universidad Polytechnica de Nicaragua (Managua)

  
  Africa  
 
• Universidade Nacional de Mozambique (Maputo)
• Oran Conservatory (Algeria)
• Centro Cultural Brasileiro (São Tomé)
• American Cultural Center (Antananarivo, Madagascar)