This has also been posted by myself over at
http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7438.
The website for the Players School is at
http://www.playerschool.com/
Okay, after a month at the Players School of Music, I think I can now post a review. It may be of use to others who are considering attending.
Why did I pick somewhere to study that was thousands of miles away from where I live, not work, spend a reasonable amount of hard-earned cash, and leave my wife behind? Two - no, three, answers: Jeff Berlin, emphasis on chord tones, and emphasis on chord tones. Of all the schools in the UK (where I live) and the ones I read about briefly in the US, there was always emphasis on scales/modes/etc. I practiced modes for a year and got nowhere when I first started. The only two people I have seen publicly espouse chord tones as the basis of jazz teaching are Carol Kaye and Jeff Berlin. I've had couple lessons with Carol before, but never with Jeff, and I could also improve my understanding of theory and do ear training at the Players School also, so off to Florida I went....
Right. So. You want the whole post in a nutshell?
Overall, the whole experience was extremely positive. I can wholehearted recommend this place as place to learn your instrument solidly, and learn musicianship to a professional standard. Value for money is absolutely outstanding. In retrospect, it might have been worth going for 10 weeks, but the 4 week program has given me enough work to do for the next few years at the very least. I imagine if you did the year-long course, you'd end up as a monster; some guys do two years and I think would be absolutely astounding musicians.
Interestingly, Jeff Berlin gives a talk on the first day of the course where he essentially says that your playing is likely to get worse over the first month of being there, with subsequent radical improvement. My experience did not quite follow this.
My background is that I am a full-time professional who does music as a treasured hobby. I have gigged plenty in the past doing funk, soul, and some funkier/fusion-type jazz, but not real straight-up jazz. Before I came here, I could already sight read bass clef (to an okay level only), chord charts (moderately), play chord tones for the min/maj/dim/augmented/dom7th/m7b5 chords (in only a few positions), had a a little understanding of the chordal scale, and had some very simple harmonic analysis under my belt (how I – ii - V chords function, some understanding of common chord progressions, tritone subs, and some other subs from Carol Kaye's writings). I had played a few Standards before also.
I did not truly understand harmony that well, and my technique on the instrument was (and is) fairly average. As it turns out, my fretboard knowledge was nothing like as good as I had hoped either.
On the plus side, I had recently started teaching myself piano, and could read a little treble clef because of this.
I sat a harmony exam at the beginning of the course to place me in the correct class for this. I ended up in Harmony 1 (the starter class), but as I was a little further on in my understanding they also let me sit in on Harmony 2. This kind of attitude was common at the school; if you wanted to push yourself harder/further they were very happy to accommodate you.
Although this kind of assessment is a tad painful, it needed to be done to understand how my comments may or may not apply to you.
Right. All that out of the way; now we can look at what I gained from my time.
My schedule consisted of 11 hours a week of taught classes:
1 hour x2/wk Ear Training
1 hour x2/wk Private Lessons (with Jeff Berlin)
1 hour /wk Harmony
4 hours /wk Ensembles
1 hour /wk Chart Reading/Performance
1 hour /wk Guitar Maintenance
Let's break each of these down.
Ear Training: I was in the beginner class. We were taught solfege, sight reading treble clef, conducting patterns for 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4 time, and simple rhythm patterns. Each week the exercises ratcheted up in difficulty, and I imagine if I stayed on longer things would get a lot harder. I passed the midterm exam (singing and conducting the major scale in solfege from memory, then the same for the ‘I ‘chord) before leaving. I have noticed a small but definite difference in how fast I pick up things now, but a great deal more work would be needed here to have 'jazz ears'. I’m going to have to keep on with this after I leave, as well as everything else……
I suspect this class is potentially one of the most valuable. Taken to its logical extreme, you should be able to transcribe lines/solos accurately, without your instrument to hand, and react to others in ensembles extremely well. What you would expect of a good musician, essentially.
Harmony: There is one textbook for all Harmony classes. The teacher for this is a great guy, a seasoned pianist named Matt Bokulic; he also wrote the textbook. Harmony 1 during my time there covered the chromatic scale, accidentals, major scale construction, clef types, major/minor intervals and inverting of these, and tetrachords/Circle of Fifths. It will move on after I leave to triad construction, inversions, and the chordal scale.
Harmony 2 covered major, minor, m7b5, and dom 7th chords over the same time, with students expected to be able to write these in root position or any of the three inversions. This class pushed me and was really helpful - I can now construct these chords in both treble and bass clef and am using them to help rip apart jazz tunes to help practice them.....
The harmony book Matt wrote seems pretty complete for only 32 pages - but it is 'basic' harmony. I note that after the sections I have already covered, it covers subordinate chord subs for primary chords, secondary dominants, tritone subs, modulation, voice leading, further chord tensions, and direct harmonic analysis. Seems pretty good for a ‘basic’ harmony book - I haven't even hit those sections yet....
Before I left, Matt gave me a very long list of things to do/write/play harmonically to help teach myself jazz further. That's why I now have a list of things to practice/do that will take a couple of years....or ten years.....
Private Lessons: It has to be said, this is one of the main reasons to come here, if no other.....private lessons with Jeff Berlin twice a week! Sadly, during my time, Jeff was only there for two weeks, and another chap, Joe Public, had to stand in for Jeff during the last two weeks of lessons. Nonetheless, Jeff really pushes you hard and I noticed improvement over the four weeks. I would have done a lot better over 10 weeks though....
Jeff had me:
1. Relearn my left hand technique.
2. Write out and play all the chords to a couple of standards.
3. When I finished with that, I then wrote out all the inversions to those chords and played them.
4. Improved my fretboard knowledge by getting me to play a standard and play all chord tones all the way up and down the neck, connecting them smoothly.
5. Subsequently I started writing out some beginner solos using only chord tones.
Needless to say, my soloing, reading, fretboard knowledge, and left hand technique have all improved.
Studying with Jeff was interesting. He has the ability to pick out what you need to do in a very short space of time - most of my lessons lasted about 20 mins or so - a rare talent. It is not often that you find a player who has the ability to teach also. He managed to motivate and push me to improve/do a lot in a very short space of time. I enjoyed studying with Joe, but Jeff is really something else. He can occasionally be impatient, but if he knows you're doing your work and practicing regularly, then he can tell extremely quickly and he is very supportive. I always felt able to approach him (or any member of the staff) with questions. It's worth pointing out here that private tuition is available for free when you're at the school.
Ensembles: Every day except Wednesday, every player was expected to play in an 'ensemble' - the level of which was determined by playing ability, but was dynamic; as people improved/felt the need to change, and if the instructors agreed, people could be moved - the ensemble typically composed of a drummer, guitarist, bassist, and others as available. Tunes played would start with simple chord progressions and move to Standards, with emphasis on group interaction, soloing, comping and walking correctly, and suggestions for playing generally. Basically, playing in a band 4 days a week is great for getting your musical interaction and playing/soloing together.....enough said.
Chart reading/Performance: This class focused on sight reading correctly and playing different styles of music as you would on a gig. I could sight read the first book pretty well so the instructor gave me some of his arrangements to sight read, which was just right for my level of playing, and also pushed me. This class had very little emphasis on soloing - just sticking to the written music. Very useful....what do you think you do in the studio, or when you do a jingle, or an orchestra pit gig? Some hip tunes to play too.
Guitar Maintenance: This was the surprise class to me - I really enjoyed it. I had wondered if it was just a ‘fill-in’ hour, but it was anything but. The guy who teaches it, Mick Donner, is a very well known tech (personal tech for Jeff, as well as a lot of traveling pros), and he has plenty of stories to tell from his days at Peavey, Dean, Washburn, and Parker.....not even mentioning his gigging days too....This class was a pleasant hour on a Friday with an opportunity to hear about all things technical with bass guitars and improved my knowledge of the physics side of instrument in a significant way. Mick also does set-up work for people on the course if you ask nicely.....and cough up $45....
Quick comment on the school grounds etc......the school itself is found behind the local Sam Ash store and has some interestingly faux Greco-Roman grounds. Used to be a restaurant, apparently. There are quite a few practice rooms, but there's always competition for them. There's one main room for ensembles and a classroom for the Harmony/Ear Training/Guitar Tech classes. The school’s facilities are overall adequate, not very fancy (a few bathrooms, a kitchen and office/hanging out area, lots of bass/guitar/music mags also). They also have WiFi and a PC there for you to check your email – a very nice touch.
Overall, this was a really great month. Generally I practiced/wrote out music/did ear training for 3 hours or so a day; I would generally come in for 9 for classes and leave at 5 having done all my work/practice. I didn't practice more in the evenings unless I had not done so during the day; however, I would do harmony writing and other bits of work at home, especially to help improve my own understanding.
Make no mistake, do not expect an easy ride if you decide to come here. Although 11 hours a week of taught classes doesn't sound like much, you will work VERY hard to stay on top of everything that's thrown at you. This is no classical conservatory; neither is it the halls of stuffy academia – the emphasis here is on being a rounded (and working) musician.
Jazz is the taught music here, because it encompasses a huge amount of harmony, reading, technique, and interaction......but I note just about everyone who is here (students and instructors) like a whole range of music, from rock, heavy metal and funk to jazz, Cuban music, and so on. If you come here I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say I think you will be doing the best thing for your playing that you could ever do. And pretty cheaply too, when you compare to other music schools.
I'll miss it.
Pete
A Review Of The Players School of Music (Jeff Berlin's School) 
