Jazz Intermediate Skills

Ages 17+

Course Dates & Times

Tuesday evenings, 29 April, 6, 13, 20, 27 May, 3 June 2025
6.15pm–8pm

About Jazz Intermediate Skills

This new evening course is a chance for you to further develop your jazz and improvisation skills. It is designed for you to identify and remedy gaps in your experience and skills, and to present strategies to continue on this path under your own steam. You will complete the course with the tools to determine what to practise and how.

Who is the course for?

• This course is for musicians who already have some jazz language and experience, who seek to expand their existing skills and knowledge. 
• The course is open to anyone aged 17 and over. It is suitable for young musicians about to embark upon a degree in jazz (at Guildhall School or otherwise) and for jazz musicians simply looking to improve.

What can I expect?

In this largely practical course, theory and harmony will be addressed in terms of how they inform your playing. There will be opportunities to experiment with these skills in a group setting. Some sessions exploring jazz harmony and language will take place in our Keyboard Lab, so some rudimentary piano skills are helpful, but not required.

Each session will be divided into two parts: the first part will be focused on input and the second on output. Concepts discussed in the first part will be applied in the second in a practical/ensemble setting.

You can expect to learn about:

• Jazz language 
• Ensemble skills 
• Harmonic literacy and keyboard skills 
• Stylistic awareness 
• Transcription skills and implementation 
• Aural skills
• Analytical skills

Course Fee

£255

Eligibility

• We welcome participants from all ages 17 and over
• Participants must have sufficient English language skills in order to fully engage with the course  
• Some rudimentary piano skills are helpful, but not required

About the Course Tutors

The course is led by Dr Jo Lawry, Head of Jazz, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Stuart Hall, Deputy Head of Jazz, Guildhall School of Music & Drama. 

Dr Jo Lawry is a vocalist, composer and educator who has taught at New England Conservatory, Boston; Manhattan School of Music, and Sydney Conservatorium, among others. Her debut album, I Want to Be Happy, was named as one of “Best CDs of the Decade” by Downbeat Magazine. As a guest artist, Dr Lawry has also featured on numerous jazz recordings including Dr Lonnie Smith’s Rise Up! And Kate McGarry’s If Less is More… Nothing is Everything, and she is a member of Fred Hersch’s quartet, the “Pocket Orchestra.” Beyond jazz circles, Dr Lawry has become well known for her work with Sting, with whom she has toured and recorded with since 2009, and more recently with Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel.

Stuart Hall mainly plays guitar, but also double and electric bass, violin, ‘ud, kemence, mandolin, banjo, viola caipira, tres, bouzouki, gimbri, lap steel, mandola, a bit of pedal steel and various other gratuitously obscure string instruments. Working with/ worked with Time Zone, Fumi Okiji, Ben Davis, Brigitte Beraha, Hermeto Pascoal, Django Bates, Steve Arguelles, Benet Maclean, Paul Clarvis, Kenny Wheeler, John Dankworth, Cleo Laine, Joglaresa, John Taylor, Lol Coxhill, Palle Danielsson, LJO, Tim Berne, the Ritz Tea Dance Band and Orquestra Mahatma. 

Other tutors on the course will include: 

Winston Clifford (drums)

Jules Jackson (bass)

Trish Clowes (saxophone)

Kate Williams (piano)

Miguel Gorodi (trumpet)

Clare Wheeler (voice)