Register for one of these early morning classes

Swing Piano

—Michael Creber 

Students must pre-register for one of these seminars and must bring portable keyboards and headphones to camp. If space permits, afternoon students will be welcome to join the morning class.

Beginner/Intermediate This course is for swing pianists of all levels. The morning class will concentrate on the foundation skills: basic jazz harmony, understanding chords, working with lead sheets, building basic jazz voicings, and the pianist's role in the band. This would correspond to the first three chapters of Mark Levine’s The Jazz Piano Book (highly recommended!). As always in swing camp we are working on skills to help you have more fun playing in groups with other players!
 
Intermediate/Advanced This is a special class offered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. As in the morning class, we will tailor the material to fit the levels of the players, so expect to dive into soloing over changes, Bill Evans left hand voicings, inner voice movements, and all that really fun stuff!

Woodwind and Brass Workshop

—Tom Keenlyside 

Students will not need to register separately for morning and late-morning horn classes.

This course will provide in-depth look at numerous aspects of playing brass and woodwind instruments in a collective jazz setting. Techniques to be discussed and practised include jazz phrasing, articulation, expression, and sound production on all wind and brass instruments. We will also focus on playing in tight ensemble. In addition, we will study various aspects of jazz improvisation - playing through many different types of chord changes and the blues. We will create a fun, supportive environment in which all players will be encouraged to improvise.
Special Late Morning Class
Focus on Improvising
This will be a user-friendly introduction to soloing for horn players that will include note choice, phrasing, embellishments, style, getting rid of bad habits, etc. We’ll work through the building blocks of soloing, 2-5-1 progressions, blues, turnarounds, V7b9 to 1 minor, etc.

Rhythm-a-Ning 

—Bill Coon 

Join me as we explore "rhythm first" as a way to greatly improve our soloing ability. By focusing on Thelonious Monk songs that are based on standards, we'll have fun unlocking the secrets of his incredible music and become better composers and improvisers in the process. Open to all instrumentalists and vocalists with at least some music reading experience.

Jazzin' Up the Blues 

—Ron Peters 

How hard can the Blues be? It’s only 12 bars and just l-lV-V right? Then you see a tune like Charlie Parker’s “Blues for Alice” or Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar” and you realize you’re not in Kansas anymore! Take my class and learn some common chord substitutions, approaches, and embellishments to spice up that blues!

Chords and Scales: Decoded! 

—Mike Rud 

You’ve heard people throw away the terms “She played that altered chord there” or “oh, the diminished sound is a whole world in itself”. In 5 classes, Mike will take you through examples of commonly used sounds like these ones, modes, bebop scales and more, leaving you with good simple strategies for using this beautiful bag of tricks. Guitarists will receive chord fingerings and useful licks. Non guitarists are welcome. Everything will also be written out in treble clef.

Brazilian Guitar 

—Ray Piper 

This class will look at the four main Brazilian guitar styles: Bossa Nova, Samba, Choro and Baião. We will look at the differences between the styles and apply the rhythm to well-known Brazilian tunes in each genre. We will also look at the typical chord voicings and rhythmic structures that are incorporated in each style. A percussionist will be in class to help show how each style fits with a typical rhythm in a practical situation.

Instrumental Story Telling 

—Neil Fraser 

A captivating solo starts with a single note. This class will include lots of hands-on playing as we explore tension and release, call and response, melodic and rhythmic motifs, emotion, and more. A knowledge of major scales, the blues scale, and the natural minor would be an asset. Let’s make some sounds!

Back Up and Push: Moves and Grooves for Next-level Comping 

—Joe Vinikow 

The seasoned accompanist is the secret sauce of the ensemble, keeping the harmony tasty and the rhythm cooking. This class offers simple exercises for the intermediate player, to make your comping more fun and effective, with an introduction to moving lines, turnarounds, chord inversions and substitutions. We’ll also devote particular attention to the right hand, helping you drive the tune straight into the pocket, and keep it there. Solid, Jackson!

Unsung Songs by the Great Composers 

—Rebecca Kilgore 

Are you looking for Great American Songbook compositions that are not often performed? My professional life has been a constant quest for “unsung” great songs. We will look at the great composers’ and lyricists’ bodies of work, and find their more obscure pieces. I can’t wait to show you, so bring your open ears!

For vocalists, guitarists, bassists, and players of other instruments

Swing! Baby Swing–Intro to Swing-style Rhythm Guitar 

—Ali Romanow 

Become the heartbeat of the band. Build your knowledge of moveable chord shapes, right hand techniques, turnarounds and transitions to provide rock solid rhythm. Using a selection of old standards and new classics we’ll explore the challenges of self-accompaniment, band dynamics, chart reading, as well as some tools to navigating the great cosmic mystery that is music theory. Whether you’re new to the world of swing guitar or an ol’hep cat looking to learn new tricks, you’ll walk away with a swing in your step (and your hands) as well as a few boppin’ tunes under your belt.

The Jazz Singer’s Performance Toolkit 

—Jennifer Scott 

Let’s delve into the components that make a vocal performance jazz-worthy! Interpreting and getting into the subtext of a lyric, improvising on the rhythms and melody, scat singing and figuring out what you need to get into and out of a tune are some of the important things we’ll cover in this comprehensive class!. Come prepared to work it out!

Dig Deeper into the Standards 

—Karin Plato 

Making the Swing Standards personally unique to you. We all love how Ella sang a song! Are there other ideas buried within the lyric or the melody or the rhythm which can be identified and then associated with your own arrangement of a song? We’ll explore all the variations that may exist within a song to give it a new life including tempos, grooves, and time signatures.The song is your recipe and the ingredients you add will enable a unique flavour.

Duke’s Place 

—Steve Maddock 

Arguably one of the greatest composers of the 20th Century, Duke Ellington remains one of the most influential figures in jazz. He wrote over 3000 songs, and was a major contributor to the Great American Songbook. Join me as we sing some of Duke’s most popular melodies, plus a few of his hidden gems.

“Some day all jazz musicians should get together in one place, get down on their knees, and thank Duke.” Miles Davis

Jazz Ukulele 

—Guido Heistek 

This year we will focus on playing as a group! We will learn compositions by Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. These songs will be arranged in parts, including bass lines (for uke), chords, melody and harmony. Experience the thrill of hearing all the parts work together! There will be opportunities for singing, for improvisation and soloing, and there will be time to work on rhythm and groove, chord inversions, strumming and right hand techniques that will really get your playing swinging! We will also study at least one solo uke arrangement in chord melody style. This class will be light-hearted but challenging. It is not recommended for complete beginners. Some knowledge of tablature, and some experience with chord inversions higher up the neck will be very helpful. Materials will be provided in GCEA tuning.

Intermediate to Advanced level.

Shuswap Strings

—Julian Smedley 

We’ll swing arpeggios, slur syncopations, punctuate hits and refine riffs to further invigorate fresh arrangements of jazz standards. We’ll also explore bowing, shifting, tuning and section playing in preparation for two nights as the Shuswap Strings return to Sorrento.

Bass Explorations 

—Rene Worst 

A fresh approach to Swing Bass this year! In addition to working on a classic large ensemble piece and some cool transcriptions we can play together, we’ll get back to basics. We’ll learn how to walk with a good groove, latin lines and some cool melodic lines!

Bass cleff reading is an asset, but is not compulsory. All bass instruments are welcome.

Percussion 

—Phil Belanger 

This class will be a fun exploration of the world of percussion and rhythm. It is open to everybody – beginners and beyond. Starting with a few general exercises, we will then add some of the most commonly used percussion instruments—shakers, tambourines, cowbells, guiro, etc, and also the hand drum family—djembe, cajon, congas, and bongos.

We will play some of the main foundation rhythms from Brazil and Cuba, as well as classic swing rhythms for the snare drum and drum set.

If you have brushes and a snare drum, please bring them to class.

Late Morning Classes

Special classes – open to all students registered at the BC Swing Camp

(note: the classes listed below take place in the late morning, following your main course;
they are open to as many participants who wish to join in; and Do Not require pre-registration)

Swingin’ in Harmony Jazz Choir 

—Matthew Smith 

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of singing in harmony, and the jazz tradition offers us some sublime harmonizing opportunities! In this session we’ll be taking advantage of the sounds and rhythms that make this music so satisfying as we enjoy the pleasure of filling the room with harmonizing voices. You can expect approachable, accessible arrangements of some of the great jazz standards—with a few surprises in the mix as well!

Previous experience with choral singing—or singing in general—is welcome, but not required. If you enjoy singing but don’t yet feel comfortable doing it in front of others, singing in a group setting can be a great way to get to know your singing voice. Experienced solo singers can gain a lot from the experience of singing in a group as well. Let’s harmonize!

Swing Blues 

—Rueben Gurr 

This class will focus on swing with a blues feel. All instruments and singers are welcome. With simple, easy to negotiate charts, we will sing, play, arrange and even compose a little through cool variations on the twelve bar form, as well as some classic jazz standards. During the week there will be “mini clinics” in jump blues, reggae, and R&B, for all instruments, including vocal harmony ideas.

Horn charts, lyrics, harmony parts and choreography will be supplied as well, although there will be plenty of room for improvisation. Our focus will be on the groove, but soloists will have more than their moment in the sun. There will be a session on how to “swingafy” a tune and lots of ideas for those who wish to solo through the changes. All levels are welcome.

Beginning Swing Dancing: 
The Engine of Swing

Late afternoon:

Where does the energy come from in swing dance? We're going to take some basic moves and break them down into detailed lead and follow techniques as you use your partner's momentum to make it easy and fun to swing dance. All levels are welcome.

The Jazzy Side of Songwriting

—Kristina Olsen 

Special late morning class:

This is a five day seminar that will build from one day to the next, with plenty of writing assignments and lots of fun creativity exercises.

East Coast Swing Drop-In!

East Coast Swing is a basic six-count dance that is often called jive, jitterbug or swing. Chances are that if you’ve done a little swing dancing, it’s East Coast. East Coast is a good dance for beginners and casual dancers because the basic step is not hard to learn, and the moves require only a general understanding of leading and following.

We’ll be teaching a basic repertoire class.

Each day we’ll review the basic step, then teach a few moves and/or variations with a strong emphasis on good leading and following skills. Since this is a drop-in class, we’ll tailor the material to whoever shows up, so whether you’re a total beginner or a solid intermediate dancer, this class should have something to offer you.

Introduction to Lindy Hop Series

—Tanya Lewis & Toby Chernoff

Late afternoon:

In the ballrooms of Harlem when Swing was King, swing dancing was Lindy Hop.

Lindy is the original 8 count swing dance that grew out of the music of the 20s, 30s and 40s. It was the physical manifestation of the controlled madness that was the music of the swing era.

It isn’t only a crazy dance, though; it’s as versatile as swing music itself. With its intimate connection between lead and follow and its distinctive together-and-apart basic step, it lends itself to carefree abandon, to adventurous improvisation, and to playful interplay. It can be fast or slow, big or small, crazy or intimate; it can be danced by all ages and fitness levels, and if you see Toby and Tanya dancing with each other, chances are they’re dancing the Lindy Hop.

This class will be aimed at people with no experience in Lindy Hop, but because this dance is a lot more demanding than East Coast, this is a series class. In other words, in order to attend any class after the first one, you need to have attended the previous class—you can always drop out, but you can’t drop in.

So sign up to learn the original swing dance! Like swing music, it can be challenging at first, but it’s a heck of a ride once you get the hang of it!
 

These are the afternoon sessions from 2019.
If you would like to suggest a topic please get in touch.
rosemary@uniserve.com.