Trumpeter/hornist Jeff Stockham is well-known to Upstate New York music fans. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and a veteran of the renowned Eastman Jazz Ensemble, his performance credits read like a Who’s Who of the upstate New York music scene. He has performed with the Central New York Jazz Orchestra, Salt City […]
At a young age, Prateek was diagnosed with impaired hearing, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a music teacher. He had to work twice as hard to make sure he was successful. Whenever one of his students feels discouraged, he always tells them that if he can accomplish his dream despite all the challenges he faced, anyone can do it.
Nick Fields is a Syracuse Area trumpeter and vocalist who has been playing professionally for over a decade. Initially a classical vocalist, he won or placed in numerous competitions, including but not limited to CNY AMT and NATS. He has maintained jobs as a tenor soloist, most recently at….
Lucia Sarmiento is a young Peruvian Saxophonist, with a huge sound and effervescent personality. Born and raised in Lima, Perú, Lucia has been influenced by classic jazz players like Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, as well as the modern…
This video outlines the best practices for cleaning a trumpet, though the steps for the bathing process can be applied to most brass instruments.
Jeff Coffin is a globally recognized saxophonist, composer, educator, and is a member of the legendary U.S. rock group, Dave Matthews Band. You may also know him from his 14 years, and 3 Grammy Awards, with the genre-defying Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. Jeff fronts numerous groups when not touring with DMB and has released 15+ solo CD’s on Ear Up Records.
If you want to get into playing the piano, it’s a good idea to get a basic understanding of how the instrument works. Before you even sit down at the piano bench, or sign up for lessons, educating yourself about the instrument gives you a base to start from, and may even help you decide if it’s the right choice of instrument for you.
“Creating music on the moment was what drew me to jazz.” ~Yuko Mabuchi Yuko Mabuchi started playing classical piano at age four, in her hometown of Fukui, Japan. As a teenager, she was fascinated by American R&B, hip-hop and blues. After hearing the music of some of the jazz greats, she fell in love with […]
Theme and variations in Western art music is a musical form in which after the first statement of a theme, modifications or elaborations of it occur with each subsequent statement of that theme. In those subsequent statements, certain elements of the theme are retained, while others are altered. Ordinarily, enough are retained in order for […]
To confidently identify intervals, you’ll first need to master your understanding whole-steps and half-steps—also known as tones and semi-tones. A half-step (semi-tone) is two different notes with the smallest possible distance between them—for example, B up to C, or E down to Eb. Think of two frets right next to each other on a guitar, or two keys (including the black keys) right next to each other on the piano. A whole-step (tone) is made up of two half-steps—for example, B up to C#, or E down to D…