A Live Workshop Series
10 Levels of Arranging
using Christmas Music!
4-week Live Online Series (Zoom)
Mondays: November 21 - December 12, 2022
9:30 - 11 AM (Pacific) | 12:30 - 2 PM (Eastern)
Registration at bottom of page!
Want to dive more into arranging and playing from a lead sheet?
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While good piano technique helps you to play physically freely, arranging helps you to play musically freely! Arranging (playing from a lead sheet) and improvisation will help you not only get “off the page” but also rediscover fully-notated music in different ways! Performance anxiety also becomes significantly less with the mindset and tools arranging and improv provide.
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As a classically-trained pianist, I was a “sight-reader” before becoming comfortable (and enamored!) with arranging and improvisation. I was not one who learned arranging and Creative arts from the beginning and have only come into it from my adult life -- so it is not too late!!
Is this course for me?
This course is designed for teachers, although intermediate/advanced adult students could certainly participate.
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The 10 Levels of Arranging cover from the very beginning of arranging to the advanced, so this course covers a wide spectrum of arranging levels. For those of you that participate in 10-level exam syllabi (RCM, Certificate of Merit, etc.) these ten levels of arranging approximately correspond with the same leveling.
Cost
The course is $89 and the registration deadline is November 19.
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Recordings will be made available for all registrants.
Content
I will use the following two samples to demonstrate different styles and levels of arranging:
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O Holy Night -- a traditional ballad carol with many opportunities for colorful harmonies
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Mary, Did You Know? -- a modern song with a lot of melodic and rhythmic interest
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Week 1: November 21
Exploring 10 Levels of Arranging with Ballad Style with "O Holy Night"
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Week 2: November 28
Exploring 10 Levels of Arranging with Upbeat/Popular Style with "Mary, Did You Know"
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Week 3: December 5
Exploring YouTube Christmas arrangements in different levels and styles
Individual Guidance on your lead sheets
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Week 4: December 12
Performance Day
It is optional to perform, but those that do generally see better results!
Materials & Syllabus
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Please prepare your own lead sheet for a piece you would like to work on
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Fake Books (compilations of lead sheets)
If you would like to get a Christmas Fake Book (and I highly recommend it), here are some great options:
Easy Fake Books (key of C, simplified chords)
Traditional Carols | Popular Christmas
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Professional Fake Book (original key, more colorful harmonies)
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Resources on Arranging
I will not cover these in depth too much, but some great resources for further study into arranging.
Forrest Kinney: Puzzle Play | Quick Chord Course | 88 Birthday Variations
Jeremy Siskind: Jazz Piano Fundamentals (Books 1 & 2) | Playing Solo Jazz Piano
Randy Felts: Reharmonization Techniques
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Sample Videos
You can check out some of my recordings at my YouTube Channel. Virtually everything is played either from a lead sheet or like a lead sheet (taking fully-notated scores and making my own versions of them).
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