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Free Jazz Improvisation course from Berklee's Gary Burton

#4
This is my first post to TB, so far I have been reading only :)
This course got me very excited. A topic that I have been more and more interested recently. I have found the chitchat of students of this course from an earlier occasion:
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I wonder if I should sign up though - I am very far from these levels.
 
#7
I did that last session and it was very cool, except for one thing: grading.

Since the grades are given by peers, it was frustrating when peers who seemingly didn't understand the topic or hadn't actually consulted the grading rubric were in charge of grading you. For example, in one case Gary was very explicit that *multiple* minor scales were equally valid choices. So when I purposely chose to use a Dorian (in a passage where I liked the motion the 6th created) and the answer sheet had Aeolian, the peers grading me all knocked me for not using an Aeolian, then commented that I needed to work on understanding scales.

After that, I took things a lot less seriously. The information was excellent, but the whole grading policy is meaningless.
 
#8
famousbirds said:
Yeah, I hear you. I took another course that just dove right in. I ended up doing a fair amount of research outside of the class, but it was SO worth it.

Figure you give it a shot, worse case is you drop it.
Click to expand...

Yes. I signed up and on one hand I see this is overwhelming, on the other hand I may have good inspiration and orientation as to what to study for a year or so. Thanks for encouraging.

Regarding the improvisation excerise for example, I want to first understand the chords throroughly, then try to play it on the piano (just the accompanying part) with a metronome, then construct a walking bassline that is improvised but sticking mostly to the chord notes. Only then do I want to jump into deeper solo improvising. Whether this will take me 3 weeks or 3 years for this song, I do not know.
 
#9
I also took the course. Good info, but yes the grading system is SEVERELY broken. Here's why:
Your peers can give you one of 3 grades: 0, 1, or 2.
The 0 is stated as either you didn't do the work, or you really didn't understand it
1 is "good". You understood, but there may be some limited flaws in the performance
2 is "excellent". Perfect understanding and flawless performance.

So, most people give and receive 1's. However, here's the problem, you must get a 70% to "pass". Well, if you got mostly 1's, that equates to a 50% and you will not "pass" the course.
Of course, there's no real penalty for not passing, but it's a broken system that is easily remedied, but no one at coursera or Berkelee seems to pay any attention to the students and there is really no way to contact them.
 
#10
I signed up for the last round of courses months before it started, but just as it started, I got married and moved into a new house, and spare time was lost. I simply couldn't keep up with the class.

Periodically, I would just log in and download all of the lessons and files.

I still haven't had the time to go through them, but whenever I want to, I can. Sure, I missed the grading and working through it with peers, but it doesn't seem like I missed out much anyway. I'm looking forward to when I can chug through them, but during my hiatus I decided to rework my technique, and reprioritize my goals, so it will be a while before I can get pounding.
 
#11
One thing about this course in particular was that alot of the things that are taught as are actually what bassists use anyway. Sometimes he uses different names which makes you look for something more, but essentially, he tends to emphasize "write a bassline, but do it in a higher register as the melody".
 
#12
Anyone who ha taken the course - for how long time are the discussion forums available after the course is finished? There is so much value in them but I will not be able to read it all in the upcoming 3-4 weeks.
 

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