Main Subject Cello Jazz & Pop 2

Module code
M-JP-CEL2
Curricular domain
Practical Classes
Credits
13
Group size
1
Number of course weeks
30
Class duration
One 50-minute lesson per week
Total contact hours
25 hours
Study load
339 hours

Form / content / level

Prerequisites
Admitted to the ArtEZ Jazz & Pop Cello main subject year 2.
Competencies
See Competencies Matrix.
Aims
Further developing the technical aspects of the students' musicianship in the broadest sense of the word, as well as stimulating their musical awareness and personal taste in music. Students will be able to play the pieces described under Contents or similar material (self-chosen pieces, other genres) with a band and to improvise over the pieces, demonstrating their ability to incorporate more complex structures with respect to harmony, melody, rhythm and musical form. For more detailed descriptions and examples, see Content.
Relation to other modules
The contents of the main subject class correspond to the contents of the chosen band and theory lessons such as analysis.
Content
TECHNIQUE:
All common scales and chords in first to third position; more complexly-structured licks (e.g., octatonic, altered).
READING SKILLS:
Fred Lipsius: Reading Key Jazz Rhythms 9 –16; bebop themes such as Donna Lee and Anthropology at a moderate tempo; Lennie Niehaus: Advanced Jazz Conception; Joseph Viola: Rhythm Studies; saxophone parts of big band pieces.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Transcribing solos, e.g., by Jean-Luc Ponty, Didier Lockwoord, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins or transcribing solos in other musical styles with a similar level of complexity.
IMPROVISATION:
Minor-blues, Parker-blues, rhythm changes, consciously applying different harmonic tonalities, including altered, octatonic, whole tone, mixolydian #11, lydian, and motivic improvisation.
REPERTOIRE:
Jazz standards, bebop themes, relatively simple fusion pieces and/or original compositions by the student in various tempi and with more complex chord changes, e.g., Blues for Alice, Body and Soul, Recorda Me, Friday Night at the Cadillac Club; playing circa 40 pieces by heart and improvising over them; indication classical technique: Sevçik's Changes of Position, Kayser, Mazas II, Beethoven's Romanzes, Wieniawski's Mazurkas, Bach, e.g., Solo Sonatas and Partitas.
TECHNICAL EXAM:
A selection of the following items (note that by the end of year three the student should have mastered all parts):
1. Scales.
Major, lydian, melodic minor, dorian, altered, mixolydian#11, pentatonic, blues scale, octatonic, chromatic and whole tone. All played over three octaves, in thirds (two variations), in fourth (two variations), as diatonic triads, as diatonic tetrads and in different patterns.
2. Chords.
Major, minor, diminished and augmented triads and major7, minor7, dominant7, half diminished and major-minor tetrads. All played chromatically, in a circle of fifths, in inversions and with different patterns.
3. II-V-I
All kinds of II-V-I chord progressions using mixolydian#11, octatonic and altered scales, diatonic progressions, chromatic progressions and thirds / fourth / Coltrane changes.
4. Classical Etudes.
A classical etude or a Bach solo sonate of choice. For example: Kreutzer: Etudes ou Caprices, Dont, Mazas, Sitt, Gavanies: 24 studies, Polo: double stops.
5. Transcription
A transcription of a non-violin player with a 'higher' difficulty.
6. Specials.
Playing and using several techniques in a self-written etude or prepared improvisation: riccochet, ponticello, pizzicato, chord playing (arco en pizz), flageolets, glissandi, trills and tremolos, one tone fingering, chopping in different rhythms and grooves.
Mode(s) of instruction
Individual lessons & occasional group lessons.
Material & Tools
Real Books, Charlie Parker: Omnibook, Fred Lipsius: Reading Key Jazz Rythms, Lennie Niehaus: Advanced Jazz Conceptions for Saxophone, Joseph Viola: Rhythm Studies, Gustorff lick system, recordings of the pieces to be played.
Student activity
Organizing a performance (band, repertoire, rehearsals) as part of the annual Jazz & Pop strings student concert; independently organizing a performance (five pieces) as part of the transition exam audition.

Examination and assessment

Mode(s) of assessment
Assessment by the main subject instructor at the end of each semester.
Criteria
The student should have mastered the elements described under Aims. Specific criteria are: creativity, expression, improvisation, technique, sound, intonation, timing, reading skills, repertoire knowledge, progress, self-reflection, session participation, attitude and lesson preparation.
Pass requirements
The student has completed this module if being awarded a minimum grade of 5.5 by the instructor as well as for the technical exam at the end of the second semester.
Examination procedure
At the end of both semesters the instructor fills out an assessment form designed specifically for this module. Assessment is comprised of a verbal evaluation and a concluding grade. The instructor reviews this assessment with the student during the first subsequent lesson. Assessment at the end of the autumn semester is formative and expressed in terms of satisfactory/unsatisfactory. It indicates a student's progress in this module. No ECs are awarded and there is no resit. Modules can only be absolved, and ECs awarded, after the end of the spring semester.
Resit options
See the Education and Assessment Plan.

Module summary

This module is intended to widen students' knowledge and abilities, emphasizing the development of professional skills in the broadest sense of the word. In addition, the study and design of sounds and their relevant applications feature prominently as a topic of discussion. Furthermore, particular attention is paid to the development of the student's individual taste in music. In addition, students work on their understanding and use of increasingly complex musical structures.