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Jazz Trombone
Grab the full PDF or Hard Copy of "Get To It" my new etude book!
Get the files to enter the challenge by clicking the button below
Open from August 11 to August 25, 2021
Make sure to use the hashtag #GETTOIT and/or send it to me via DM, Messenger of Email! so I can make sure that I see your entry!
THREE WINNERS to be announced!
Hard Copy of GET TO IT Book
30-minute Zoom Lesson with me!
Can't wait to hear your entries!
An important part of teaching for me is to just PLAY with my students. We play duets, we play tunes, we sight-read, all different kinds of things. A few years ago, I realized that there is almost an unlimited supply of duets in the "classical" realm - from many different composers, but for jazz, there was almost none! A few books here and there, and some classic 2 trombone plus rhythm section arrangements.
But I thought, what about just for TWO OF US? And thus, the impetus for "GET TO IT" was born... 10 jazz trombone duets that feature improvisation. It's not just blowing over tunes, it is specific improvisational tasks that will develop an improviser's awareness for both the harmony, as well as the overall musical product.
If you want to be a better improviser, you'll want to study composition!
What makes a composer a better improviser?
Well, the devil is always in the details... Taking a dive into the world of composition gives you the chance to learn more about the language of jazz, the process of creating great melodies, and why certain musical choices are more effective than others!
In this course, you'll learn to compose:
Traditional/Riff Blues
Jazz Blues
Rhythm Changes
Contrafacts
Original Tunes in a Songbook Style
Each lesson will help you to think more about your musical choices, your musical personality, and what you enjoy in a musical composition! I'll take you through a number of composition exercises that aim to help you to develop as both a musician and composer! Use this framework to write original tunes, dynamic new arrangements, your own solos, and more!
Lifetime access to the course, and all future updates!
I'm EXTREMELY excited to announce a new partnership with Marcinkiewicz Mouthpieces to provide TWO Scholarships for the Virtual Jazz Trombone Bootcamp, 2021!
JUNE 2021 GUEST ARTISTS!
Andre Hayward! Steve Davis! Vincent Gardner! Michael Davis!
June 14th - 18th, 2021
Because of our global pandemic situation, this event will be held virtually, across a variety of technology platforms.
The event will include:
Daily Warmup Sessions
Daily MASTERCLASS (and we have AMAZING guests, I just can't announce them just yet...)
"Lunch & Listen" Sessions to uncover listening to music, in new ways.
Daily topic sessions that include things like:
Trombone Fundamentals
Music Theory
Tune Learning
Jazz Vocabulary Development
Transcription Strategies
Scales/Modes
Tune Trading Sessions
Daily Q&A sessions with Nick
Virtual Hangouts to chat with other attendees, TA's and Nick
Three evening events, throughout the week (more details soon)!
There is limited availability - we can only accommodate 20 participants in Session 1 this summer! (We want to make sure everyone gets to play in a guest artist masterclass!)
This camp is intended for advanced high school, college, graduate, and postgraduate students, who are serious about jazz trombone and want to take advantage of this time to take their playing to the next level!
2021 Participant Levels:
Masterclass Performer: Guaranteed Slot to Perform for one of our guest artists.
Masterclass Participant: Be an active member of the Bootcamp, participate in all Masterclasses, but performing for a guest artist is not guaranteed.
Auditor: New for 2021 - if you just want to watch, and not participate in the sessions, you'll receive a private link to stream the Bootcamp, but will not be an active participant in the Zoom call.
New jazz trombone mouthpiece from Nick Finzer, now available!
Kick-off the new year with an interactive Goal Setting Workshop! 2021 Goal Setting for Musicians! Free PDF Workbook will be provided for those that register for this training!
In this event, we'll go over what I think is a great way to brainstorm, think about and organize your goals, and then leave you to take control of your 2021!
This session will be a jumping off point to be able to take your career to the next level in 2021!
If you want to develop your knowledge of major key centers, this video and PDF will help you get your improvisation to the next level! Applicable to all levels and all instruments!
So, you're hesitant about going back to school this fall due to one of MANY reasonable situations. Whether it's health or financially driven, you might be reconsidering going back to campus this fall... But, you don't want to give up on being able to move forward with the progress you are making in your playing/career! I decided to launch a product this summer to allow you to tackle that situation head on. I'm calling it a "Gap Semester" or could even be for 2 semesters, making it a "Gap Year". Not taking a year off, but want some structure for 15 weeks this fall? This could be the ticket for your to jump-start the next phase of your artistic growth.
Happy Wednesday Everyone!
New week - new video! :) Hope you enjoy this one and find it useful!
A challenge to play the best version of Nick Finzer's Voice Leading Etude over the great jazz standard "all the things you are" from his New Book - GET SET! 22 Etudes to study Jazz Improvisation!
We're GIVING away 3 copies of the new book just from this giveaway... those will happen here at the official GET AHEAD CHALLENGE giveaway.
and we're giving away 3 1 month subscriptions of the Virtual Studio (and PDF Copies of the new book!) for this you need to post a video of you playing Voice Leading Etude 1 (free PDF available by clicking here) on FB or IG! AND tag @nickfinzer! AND #getsetchallenge
Happy practicing!
Nick
The new goal setting for Musicians 2020 Course and E-Workbook are now available!
New Exercise video alert! Check it out below:
Hey all! Glad you could check out the latest shapes of the week, I’ll be posting them all here as a repository for all the different shapes :)!
Have a great time shedding these, and feel free to stay in touch with questions, happy practicing!
-Nick
Jazz Shape of the Week: C Minor 6 (Cm6) | Jazz Chords One Shape at a Time with Nick Finzer DOWNLOAD THE PDF! https://selz.co/VyJLZdsjB Join Nick's Online Studio: http://bit.ly/NickFinzerVirtualStudio Are you SUBSCRIBED to the channel? https://goo.gl/38PBEP Creating your own YouTube Channel? You should check out this tool: http://bit.ly/NFtubebuddy Are you new here?
Today I want to talk a little bit about how I think about prioritization. Not only projects, but personally. Like when you get overwhelmed and you're doing a million different things, and you have a million expectations on you. What can we do to try to mitigate some of that and how can we figure out how to make the best out of a situation where we're feeling this stress and sense of being overwhelmed?
Maybe you're not even to the point where you're overwhelmed yet, but you just have so many things going on and you're not sure where to put your attention. This happens to me pretty frequently…
Something that I've been trying to do recently (that I am borrowing from a lot of other people that have talked about this) is trying to think about which of all the things/ all the projects/all the places where your energy is being put - if you focus on one of them, will allow you to knock down the rest of them? And by "knock down the rest of them," I mean, which one will affect the rest in a positive way? Which one will allow you to take the next steps the fastest?
For example, if you are an instrumentalist and you're working on your own music… you're working on music for other people….and you're trying to organize a whole bunch of different projects… the thing is, if you don't take care of your business (meaning yourself!), if you don't take care of your instrument, you don't take care of the basics, the fundamentals, getting better all the time, it's not going to matter, because if you don't take care of what the number one thing is (YOU) you’re going to fall behind. Whatever your major is, whatever your most important thing is - if it's your company, your business, your band, your ensemble, your chamber group, if you don't take care of that one thing, the thing you care about the most, all the rest of the stuff is going to fall away.
I'm not saying to abandon everything else, but to prioritize the things that matter to you. To prioritize the things that are going to allow you to get all the things done, by focusing your energy.
If I take care of what I need to take care of in a day to feel good, to feel like I crossed everything off my list, or at least to feel good about the things that I did (practice, take care of business at home, etc), it sets me up to be able to work on all of the external things that pop up. Taking care of yourself and thinking about yourself first can be a challenge, because a lot of people I know think about all the external expectations and get caught in a constant cycle of not be able to take care of themselves, but it really is so important. If you don’t, it leads to not being able to get done things for other people, which makes you feel even more stressed, and still not take care of the things that they need to take care of for themselves! It proliferates this downward spiral, if you will. And we don't want anyone to get there! We want everyone to break the pattern, and start to focus on what they want out of their situation.
Whatever your situation is, whatever you're working on, think about prioritizing the tasks that get you the furthest (i.e.80% of the way there) the fastest. Whatever the things are you need to do for yourself that are going to allow you to take care of everything (and everyone) else.
For me, those things are right now, working out; making sure to practice my instrument (that being the trombone); and writing music every day. If I don't take care of the basics on those fronts, there's no chance for me to be energetic enough to get all of the other projects I'm doing, all of the nonprofit stuff, all the Outside in Music stuff, all the teaching stuff that I do. There's no way, if I don't take care of myself, for me to do all that.
So, I encourage you, in this very hectic time of year, to start to think about how you're going to take care of yourself, and how you can balance everything, by prioritizing your projects.
Thanks for being here. Have an amazing Holiday Season!
- Nick Finzer
