The Art of Section Playing
This course focuses on developing the necessary skills to work as a freelance brass player in today's music world. A brass player can get called to play an Easter gig on a Sunday morning, a salsa gig that same afternoon, and a big band gig the same evening. It is important to know how to approach each genre and musical setting in a professional and informed manner. In this course students will learn how to correctly read and play articulations, play in tune, and listen to their fellow section mates as well as section leaders. The courses covers a variety fo genres, including jazz, big band, classical, pop, funk, and Broadway musicals. Students will be given music a week in advance and expected to prepare the music before each class. Class time will be spent analyzing recordings and finetuning the prepared pieces.