Online music lessons and group classes at CMC are community classrooms for reaching new heights of your musical development. CMC’s entire course catalog is available online unless otherwise noted.
Step into the world of Parisian Hot Jazz circa 1935. For students new to the genre Gypsy Jazz this class will combine short lectures on the history and tributaries of the music with analysis, theory, and technique development. As we study, discuss, and play on our instruments works by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli we will learn about elements specific to this genre including composition, improvisation, and ensemble playing. Relevant short assignments will be given.
Ages: Adults, older teens (high school students)
Instruments: Violins/violas, clarinets, guitars, upright bass, accordion, mandolins, cellos, flutes
Prerequisites: String and woodwind players should read music and be able to play major scales in concert C, G, D, A, E, F, and B-flat. Guitar players should be able to play major and minor bar chords with the root on A or E strings. Accordion players should be able to play major and minor chords. Bass players should be able to play the root and the 5th for major and minor chords.
Class size: 4–12 students
Location, Day and Time: Mission District Branch; Mondays, 6:30–7:30pm *This class will be held remotely Summer Quarter 2021
Instructor: Scott Feichter
Tuition: $532 Fall (14 weeks),$380 Winter (10 weeks), $380 Spring (10 weeks), $304 Summer (8 weeks)
Students enrolled in private lessons at CMC receive 50% discount.
For enrollment, please make an appointment with CMC’s registration team.
For intermediate to advanced students this class will delve deeper into the repertoire and composers of this music past and present. Topics of exploration include the development of the genre after Django’s passing by surveying works from the families Ferret, Schmidt, Rosenberg and others. The class will also evaluate predecessors in the genres of Musette and Dixieland and briefly touch on some related sounds from Flamenco, Irish, Ragtime, and Blues. In studying these works we can examine how Gypsy Jazz is not only an innovation but also a synthesis of related styles. Relevant assignments will be given.
Ages: Adults, older teens (high school students)
Instruments: Violins/violas, clarinets, guitars, upright bass, accordion, mandolins, cellos, flutes
Prerequisites: Entrance by audition. A 20-minute private audition with the teacher can be arranged by contacting the teacher at scott@sfcmc.org. Once approved for entrance, students should then make an appointment to register prior to attending their first session.
Class size: 4–12 students
Location, Day and Time: Mission District Branch; Mondays, 8:00-9:00pm *This class will be held remotely Summer Quarter 2021
Instructor: Scott Feichter
Tuition: $532 Fall (14 weeks),$380 Winter (10 weeks), $380 Spring (10 weeks), $304 Summer (8 weeks)
For enrollment, please make an appointment with CMC’s registration team.
Students enrolled in private lessons at CMC receive 50% discount.
Video by Scott Feichter and Tony Naterra
Learn some jazz vocabulary! Each week we’ll learn and practice a new piece of jazz language (or “lick”) in all 12 keys, along with discussion and analysis. Licks will be from a variety of styles, eras, and instrumentalists.
Ages: Adults, older teens (high school students)
Instruments: Brass, woodwinds, strings, rhythm section (bass, guitar, bass and drums)
Prerequisites: Knowledge of major and minor scales recommended, admission with instructor’s consent.
Class size: 4–8 students
Location, Day and Time: Mission District Branch; Thursdays, 6:00–7:30pm *This class will be held remotely Summer Quarter 2021
Instructor: Charlie Gurke
Tuition: $304 Summer (8 weeks)
Students enrolled in private lessons at CMC receive 50% discount.
For enrollment, please make an appointment with CMC’s registration team.
CMC offers jazz ensembles for players of all levels. Online jazz classes will focus on jazz theory and practice.
Immerse yourself in the jazz tradition, exploring and working on a variety of improvisation and ensemble concepts, in an engaging setting. The beginning class will focus on developing a standard repertoire, tools for improvisation, learning skills for playing in an ensemble with other musicians, as well as insight and analysis of jazz theory & repertoire. Students will have an opportunity to use play instruments one at a time to put into practice the topics discussed. We will analyze, study, discuss and “read” (play on our instruments) works by Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Wayne Shorter, and Jon Jang that are based on motivic development. Learning about motivic development and the nuances behind each individual composer-improviser will help offer a fresh perspective and approach toward your composition and/or improvisation skills.
In intermediate and advanced sections students will explore a standard jazz repertoire in a dynamic, participatory setting. Each week we’ll discuss topics related to jazz improvisation, using the repertoire of the great jazz composers as the basis for our exploration. Students will share improvisation concepts and learn how to improve and evaluate solos, group dynamics and sound
Ages: Adults, older teens (high school students)
Instruments: Brass, woodwinds, strings and rhythm section (piano, guitar, bass and drums)
Musical Styles: Jazz standards, be-bop, blues, Latin jazz
Prerequisites:
Class size: 4–8 students
Location, Day and Time: Mission District Branch
Instructor:
Tuition: $532 Fall (14 weeks), $456 Winter (12 weeks), $380 Spring (10 weeks), $304 Summer (8 weeks)
Students enrolled in private lessons at CMC receive 50% discount.
For enrollment, please make an appointment with CMC’s registration team.
Learn how to apply jazz theory to hone your improvisational skills. You will be introduced to the blues, the seven modes of a major scale, motivic development, the value of limitations within improvising, and much more. We will work on ear training exercises and analyze jazz standards as a group.
Ages: Adults
Instrument: All instruments, no singers
Prerequisites: Ability to play all major scales and arpeggios by memory
Class size: 2–8 students
Location, Day and Time: Mission District Branch, Saturdays, 2:30–3:30pm
Instructor: Max Miller-Loran
Tuition: $532 Fall (14 weeks), $456 Winter (12 weeks), $380 Spring (10 weeks), $304 Summer (8 weeks)
Students enrolled in private lessons at CMC receive 50% discount.
For enrollment, please make an appointment with CMC’s registration team.
This online workshop will focus on learning and memorizing jazz standards and developing techniques to extend improvisational vocabulary through transcription and transposition. The class will involve interactive ear training, learning about harmony and jazz theory, and developing improvised phrases in different keys.
Ages: Adults, older teens (high school students)
Instruments: Woodwinds, brass, and rhythm section (piano, guitar, bass and drums)
Musical Styles: Jazz standards, blues, Latin jazz, originals
Prerequisites: For intermediate to advanced students
Class size: 2–5 students
Location, Day and Time: Richmond District Branch, Thursdays, 5:30pm–7:00pm
Instructor: Max Miller-Loran
Tuition: $532 Fall (14 weeks), $456 Winter (12 weeks), $380 Spring (10 weeks), $304 Summer (8 weeks)
Students enrolled in private lessons at CMC receive 50% discount.
For enrollment, please make an appointment with CMC’s registration team.
Hone your comping skills! The primary job of a jazz rhythm section is to support the melody and soloists – in other words, to ‘comp’. This workshop will focus on creating a good rhythm section feel through the articulation of time, form, harmony, and rhythm. We’ll explore a range of styles, feels, and tempos.
Ages: Adults, older teens (high school students)
Instruments: Open to all rhythm section instruments: piano,bass, drums, guitar, vibes (must bring own)
Prerequisites: Knowledge of major and minor scales recommended, admission with instructor’s consent.
Class size: 4–8 students
Location, Day and Time: Mission District Branch; Tuesdays, 8:00–9:30pm
Instructor: Charlie Gurke
Tuition: $304 Summer (8 weeks)
Students enrolled in private lessons at CMC receive 50% discount.
For enrollment, please make an appointment with CMC’s registration team.
If you’d like to be matched with other students in a small Jazz ensemble or receive coaching for an existing group, please fill out a Chamber Music Inquiry Form.
