Teaching & Workshops

Portland Jazz Theory Classes taught by Randy Porter

January 7, 2012 and February 11, 2012

An INTERMEDIATE/ ADVANCED JAZZ THEORY CLASS at 1PM will be offered on Jan. 7th and Feb. 11th.  Bring your instrument or just take notes.  All are welcome!   $25

Contact us to sign up for a jazz workshop!

What the students say

Randy has seemingly boundless information to give. Every lesson I’ve taken from him has left me thinking about new concepts, each of which have added depth to my improvising. He is able to build on a player’s own strengths while recognizing and addressing weaknesses at the same time. I highly recommend that those who want to take their playing to the next level on any instrument check Randy out.

Tree Palmedo, trumpet, 9/22/11

 

I had my first private lesson with pianist Randy Porter today. It’s been years since I had a formal lesson with anybody. Randy has one of the deepest harmonic and rhythmic concepts I’ve ever encountered, plus he is my favorite saxophonist’s (Charles McPherson) favorite pianist. We looked at a couple of standards and he gave me some new ideas to think about.  Randy seems to be able to play anything over anything and still sound great. These harmonic devices seemed to be true classical BeBop.

David Valdez, sax, 9/29/06   http://davidvaldez.blogspot.com/2006/09/randy-porters-be-bop-harmonic-devices.html

 

(Randy)  is able to pass his eclectic and deep wealth of knowledge on to the students in a way that applies to each of their individual tastes, while still teaching them the basics of their craft.  He’s the best and everyone should take lessons from him.

Ryan Wolfe, piano, 9/18/11

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Schedule a lesson on skype or at the studio.   Pay for a lesson here.

 

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What Randy covers in Lessons/Workshops

An in depth look at jazz music’s most important elements:

RHYTHM

  • feeling and playing time with more freedom and control
  • studying musical tension and resolution (over the bar, polyrhythm, odd meters)

HARMONY

  • drilling the basics and implementing the more advanced and exotic
  • looking at harmonic leaders such as Bill Evans, Barry Harris, George Shearing, John Coltrane, Richie Bierach and others

MELODY

  • setting a higher standard for creating a new song within a song
  • getting beyond chord/scale theory and “playing what you hear”
  • exercises to balance various note durations with space
  • finding ways to tap the melodic wisdom of masters such as Charlie Parker and apply some general principles to all styles

Contact us to sign up for a jazz workshop!

A jazz workshop for the serious student/professional

  • Focused instruction/ playing/ recording from 10 am to 2 pm at Heavywood Studios
  • Classes are comprised of 2 jazz groups working through concepts of jazz improvisation
    and performance with a concentrated day of musical growth

Below is the old scoop….

Next Workshops TBA- jazz workshops w/randy porter and guests at heavywood studio

yes, it’s been a while since i’ve cleaned up the studio and invited y’all back for some stretching of both sides of the musical brain with some seriously focused workshops. so, finally, here it is… a whole series of them! i’ve been honored to have had some amazing ‘alumni’ participate, and know that once we get going the challenges of improvisation fire up those endorphins and stimulate some inspired jazz. many of you are busy with various summer activities and gigs, but please let me know if you can make any of these and i’ll get to organizing the sessions. these workshops are a highlight of my year and i’ve been putting together old and new teaching techniques and ideas to help us reach a higher level of musicianship together.

as you may know, guest teachers of past workshops include: madeline eastman vcls, ellio villafranca pno, alan jones drms, reinhardt melz drms, gary hobbs drms

i’m truly humbled by the talented participants that have signed up in the past, so though i won’t mention names, suffice it to say that if you’re advanced you will be in good company! singers note workshop-3. that one’s for you!! o.k., now the details…

Workshop 1-advanced improvisation. “the jazz gym”. this is the classic workshop of the past, but with new ideas and techniques added which challenge us to play with a deeper level of satisfaction and confidence.

Workshop 2-intermediate improvisation. “solo, comp, swing”. focusing on keeping the flow of the 3 primary elements of all music, melody, rhythm and harmony, while improvising. all instruments welcome.

Workshop 3-singers and accompanists. “the vox/keys connection.” guitarists welcome, too. on the spot arranging and stylistic input to create a more sophisticated, inventive collaboration between singers and instrumentalists.

Workshop 4- “bebop!” it is no coincidence that success in this idiom, which is musically analogous to the baroque era, is often followed by high degree of ability in many others styles. do this and you can do anything! w/ todd strait and ed bennet

Workshop 5- beyond jazz ….”do what’chu wanna do.” songs and ideas that may not be mainstream, but are sometimes closer to our heart and perhaps for some, more relevant.

thanks for your time,

rp

Contact us to sign up for a jazz workshop!

Last Workshop:  July 24, 2011 at The Jazz School

Berkeley, CA 11AM-1PM, $30 now, $45 at the door

THE TEN MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT JAZZ PIANO

A WORKSHOP WITH RANDY PORTER

AT THE JAZZ SCHOOL, Berkeley, CA 11AM-1PM