Jazz education programme starts at the Globe

Jazz.Coop is starting a new learning programme in October, to be held in the refurbished Globe, which is the first co-operatively owned music venue in the UK.

The new programme comprises a 10-week improvisation course for all instruments, a 5-session advanced jazz guitar course and a monthly amateur jam session. The programme builds on the success of the monthly Play Jazz! workshops that Jazz.Coop has been running for the last 12 months in association with Sage Gateshead. These workshops will continue to be held on the first Saturday of each month at the Sage.

The 10-week course, called Play More Jazz!, is designed for musicians wanting to step up from jazz beginner to jazz improver. The 2-hour sessions will include lots of playing, and will also focus on repertoire, theory, playing in an ensemble and how and what to practice. The tutor is Judith Thompson, a very experienced musician and teacher.

The Advanced Jazz Guitar course comprises five 2-hour sessions once a fortnight. It’s aimed at guitarists who have established a reasonable level of facility. Topics covered will include: technique, how to practice, the structure concept, interpretation of chord symbols, harmonic analysis and substitution, comping and improvisation. The tutor is James Birkett, a well known jazz educator.

The jam session, called Am Jam, will be held on the second Sunday of each month from 3pm to 6pm. It’s been set up by some of the people who have attended the Play Jazz! workshops and is designed to give opportunities for less experienced jazz musicians to jam in a supportive environment.

Details of dates, times and prices of all these events are on jazz.coop/education