Learn to Play Chord Symbols (Jazz Accompaniment Add On)
Chord symbol workshop to prepare for Jazz Accompaniment Course
This course is an add-on to the Jazz Accompaniment course, or for anyone who just wants to brush up on their knowledge of chords symbols. Taken from Level 2: The Singer's Toolkit, this course add-on is for anyone who needs a refresher in playing chords.
In this course we will cover 11 chord quality types, including triads and four note chords.
This approach is direct. There are no method books full of exercises that you'll never use. No fussy scale fingerings that you have to memorize. No random patterns to memorize. All you will learn at the skills that you can use in your every day life as a singer, voice teacher or conductor.
Your Instructor
I am a pianist and vocalist skilled in the fields of classical, jazz, pop, rock, r&b and musical theater. Not only have I trained, I have performed at the professional level in each of these styles, and each holds a special place in my heart!
As a performer, I have worked as both pianist and vocalist as a leader and sideperson across the US and Internationally. I have performed at the Kennedy Center, Avery Fischer Hall, The Toronto Jazz Festival, The Christchurch Arts Festival in New Zealand and at Carnegie Hall, with artists such as trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, stage legend Maurice Hines, the Desoff Symphonic Chorus and many others. I even opened for Duran Duran once! As a conductor, I spent 8 years directing the New York Summer Music Festival’s Jazz Choir and was the Artistic Director of the Rutger’s University Queen’s Chorale. I was an Episcopal Music Director and organist for several years as well! In any given week, you might find me singing with a classical choir, playing piano in a jazz club, playing keyboard and singing backup in a top 40 band or accompanying a Broadway singer. I love the challenge of wearing many hats and getting to express myself in different musical ways!
Because of my diverse musical skills and interests, I attract students with a wide range of interests and goals, from professional and pre-professional to children and teens to adults wanting to learn for fun and personal development. My students have sung on Broadway, in national commercials, have recorded solo albums and have been accepted to performing arts high schools and top conservatories in the US and Canada. I am skilled at creating a course of study that serves each of my students unique needs and interests.
I have served on the faculties of City College, the New York Summer Music Festival, the Grammy-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus and the Diller-Quaile School of Music. I currently serve on the faculty at Fordham University, where I teach piano, voice and direct a jazz ensemble.
I have been active in music outreach and am proud to have served at NYC inner city schools through the Midori and Friends Foundation and the New York Pops Educational outreach. I am entering my 9th year in a music residency at the Ronald McDonald House, where I make music with seriously ill children and their wonderful families!
Course Curriculum
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StartIntroduction to Section 3 (2:20)
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StartHow to practice for best results (7:03)
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StartEx #1: Major triads (12:32)
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StartEx #2: Minor triads (7:30)
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StartEx #3 Diminished triads (13:01)
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StartPrepare to play 4 note chords (2:51)
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StartEx #4: Major 7 chords (12:49)
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StartEx #5: Dominant 7th chords (11:38)
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StartEx #6: Minor 7th chords (10:56)
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StartEx#7: Minor 7 flat 5 chords (half diminished) (10:11)
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StartEx #8: Diminished 7 chords (9:12)
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StartEx #9: Sus 4 chords (12:20)
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StartEx #10: Sus 2 chords (11:27)
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StartEx #11: Dominant 7 sus chords (10:28)
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StartSlash chords (or "What in the heck is F/A?") (3:33)