TIM ARMACOST / Inside/Outside : La práctica para ser un gran improvisador
 In a career already spanning 28 years, saxophonist and composer Tim Armacost has amassed an impressive array of credits, releasing eight albums as a leader, two of which feature his regular quartet with Bruce Barth, Ray Drummond and Billy Hart. He has toured throughout the world, and has played on 40 records as a sideman. Armacost is a member of the cooperative group, NY Standards Quartet, and co-leads the Brooklyn Big Band, for which he composes and arranges. Forty-one of Armacost's compositions have been recorded, and numerous university ensembles are performing and recording his big band charts. Wynton Marsalis commissioned Armacost to write an original composition and arrangement for the 'Jazz And Art' concert at Lincoln Center, which was performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in February of 2010. After 20 years on the road, Armacost decided recently to begin teaching again. He completed a Masters Degree in Jazz Composition at Queens College, joined the faculty of the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop in the summer of 2006, and, in addition to his busy touring schedule, is active giving improvisation master classes at universities throughout the US, Japan and Europe. |
Inside/Outside : Training to be a Great ImproviserI will discuss and demonstrate the two processes essential to becoming an effective improviser – training “from the outside in,” meaning training one’s inner ear to hear melodies, both simple and complex, and training “from the inside out,” meaning developing one’s ability immediately to deliver those melodies, without hesitation, through one’s instrument. With my instrument in hand, I have an audience member sing or play me a melody, preferably one I’ve never heard before. I demonstrate how I learn to sing it first, and then try immediately to play it through my instrument, without taking any time to “figure it out” with my fingers. I emphasize that there is no time to “figure it out” while you’re performing, so it is of utmost importance to train your ability to deliver new ideas immediately. I then use my computer to play some music from the jazz tradition, and show how I use this method to study the tradition. I am a jazz musician, but I use this method of learning with classical music with my students as well. Sitting at a piano, I show how I use my warm-up routine to engage my mind and my inner ear, never doing exercises without having a connection to improvisation. The overall goal is to show a comprehensive and efficient way of learning, which maximizes practice time and helps a performer take steps toward a number of long-term goals simultaneously. |
The VIDEOS |
