Yamaha Education Blog

I had a wonderful day yesterday with Jazz Experience's Richard Michael and Jazz FM broadcaster, Helen Mayhew. (A big thank-you to you both.) Our task for the day was to shortlist the entries down to nine ensembles - three under-15s, three under-17s and three under-19s - who will then go through to the Jazz Experience finals, kindly hosted by Cheltenham Jazz Festival, on 1 May 2010.

The whole point of Jazz Experience was:

1. in the workshop phase: to help teachers who were interested in jazz, but found it impenetrable to find a way in, both to develop their own skills and knowledge and to give them the confidence to increase jazz and particularly improvising activities with their young people
2. in the competition phase: to attract young musicians from all over the UK to perform in an ensemble that improvises. Through this, my personal goal was for young people and teachers to experience the incredible personal and musical benefits which come from improvising with others. This process would then provide a funnel to engage more people with jazz and improvising, which would then enable us to present some of the UK's most outstanding young jazz ensembles and musicians at the final event

The competition was open to young people under-19 on 1 September 2009 from any institution or organisation within the UK. We were staggered by the very high quality of entries for the competition, which came from schools, music services, community organisations, regional youth jazz groups, conservatoire junior departments and venues. We had entries from as far north as the Shetlands to the deep south-west of England. Many of the performances were approaching a professional standard, which has been very exciting (and which Helen Mayhew has noted with particular interest, for possible future Jazz FM programmes!).

The preliminary judging panel has now made its selection of the nine finalist ensembles, who must now confirm their availability to attend the finalists' event in May, before we can announce them in mid-March. We are delighted that we have such a wonderful geographic spread, as well as ensembles from all kinds of institutions.

During the judging, we were looking for evidence of musicality, good internal and external communication and creativity. Those ensembles which exhibited all these qualities strongly are the ones we've chosen for the finals. However we were struck by some highly accomplished and talented performances by individual musicians or maybe the rhythm section in some of the ensembles. These are highly talented musicians and we hope they take this further, even if, on this occasion, their ensembles haven't made it to the finals.

We will be contacting all the ensembles and will provide feedback where appropriate. You are all stars! I hope to visit some of the ensembles which were of very high quality but who were pipped at the post on the day - which is particularly true in the under-19 category. I want to encourage and support these ensembles and their musicians to continue their studies and will be able to share our feedback with them in due course, which I hope they'll find helpful.

World-class music education in the UK

The UK has a much-deserved world-class reputation for music education and our conservatoires offering full-time jazz degree courses (which Yamaha supports through its parliamentary jazz scholarships) help nurture some of the UK's most gifted and talented young jazz musicians. We're delighted that we've had outstanding entries from several of the conservatoire junior departments. But in our finals, these sit alongside equally strong entries from ordinary schools, specialist schools, music services and community music organisations too.

Everyone who has taken part in our competition will have won: they have worked hard to gain new experiences, new learning, maybe new friends and new confidence as performers. We're very proud of all of them - whether they are new to jazz and improvising or more seasoned performers. My experience is that music - and in particular improvising - provides us with a lifelong journey, which all those who sing, play or compose are on. We may be at the beginning of the journey or much further along the road. The joyous thing is that none of us ever gets to the final destination. So there's no end to what we can learn from this, no matter how long we've been on the journey.

But all of us who travel the road together will improve as musicians and grow as human beings. This is a powerful testament to the fact that music education in the UK is very strong and highly effective. It just works! I would like to thank all the teachers and music leaders whose passion, inspiration and plain hard work demonstrate this so clearly and continue to enrich the lives of their young people.

Bill C Martin
Education liaison manager, Yamaha Music UK

Pictured here: Julian Joseph and Richard Michael, two of the Yamaha jazz Experience competition judges.

I'm delighted to announce today that, in addition to the prizes for the three winners of the Yamaha Jazz Experience ensemble competition of prestigious London gigs at Ronnie Scott's, the 606 Club and the Bull's Head jazz club in Barnes, we will also provide a prize fund of £9,000 worth of Yamaha gear.

We're now receiving lots of video entries for the ensemble competition, from the UK's secondary schools, youth jazz orchestras, colleges, junior conservatoire departments, music services, various music organisations and venues. I've extended the deadline from 29 January to 12 February, since a number of entrants have had a delayed start to the term because of the arctic snow conditions which, as every year, took us by surprise!

So it's not too late to enter if you haven't already done so. Your ensemble's musicians must be aged between 11 and under-19 and must perform a blues and one other piece of your/their choosing which features jazz-style improvising. You must video it and send it to us with the completed application form. Competition rules and application forms are available here.

So what happens next? Well, on 1 March I have the privilege of working with two past winners of the Parliamentary Jazz Awards - presenter of Jazz FM's 'Yamaha Jazz Jam' Helen Mayhew and jazz-educator Richard Michael, who will shortlist the entries down to nine finalists. These nine ensembles will then perform at our finalists' event on Saturday 1 May at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, when our judging panel of world-class British jazz musicians and educators - Julian Joseph, Peter Ind, Andrea Vicari, Liane Carroll and Richard Michael - will choose three winners, who will be announced at the end of the concert and will be awarded their prizes.

Yamaha has a long history of supporting the UK's most gifted and talented young musicians, as they prepare to leave full-time music education and take their first steps into music careers. Our scholarship programmes began with classical and we've added rock and now jazz to this. But improvising remains a difficult-to-teach subject and I wanted to bring the power of some of the amazing artists and educators Yamaha works with to help improve access into jazz for those still at school. That's why we began the Jazz Experience project last March with a nationwide teacher improvising workshop tour, to help teachers who were interested but needed some help and guidance to improve their own skills and understanding.

A testament to the success of this phase of the project is that we now have a significant number of entries for the competition phase already in, from some of the teachers who came to our workshops last year. I'm thrilled by this as this will provide a legacy for many years to come. I'm very excited by the tremendous response we've had to the competition and wish everyone the best of luck.

As the closing date (29 January 2010) for the Yamaha Jazz Experience ensemble competition for 11-18s is less than 2 months away as I write we thought we'd test the water with a prize draw for anyone confirming their intention to submit one (or more ensembles). We're delighted to announce that Helena Summerfield, of Manchester Music Service, has won a Yamaha Pocketrak recorder, which will help her record the progress of her ensemble's work towards the competition.

So far we've had around 30 ensembles register, with many more already working hard on their two pieces and getting ready to video and send their efforts to our judges for the shortlisting process which will take place towards the end of February.

We've had entries from state schools, independent schools, local youth groups, venues, arts centres and music services, covering the entire country from Shetland to London and the south-west of England! We already know that teachers and music leaders across the country are coaching their ensembles on their two pieces and I have to say I can't wait to hear and see the videos!

If you work with 11-18s and you aren't already taking part, you should do. Besides the immense musical rewards of working with improvising in an ensemble, the developmental learning that takes place for young people who engage in improvising is enormous. For more details go to the Jazz Experience page on this site or you can find the competition entry information on the Yamaha Education Info website.

Other beneficiaries of Yamaha's support for jazz education are our Yamaha Parliamentary Jazz Scholars, who launched their CD at the 606 Club this week. The CD is the covermount on the December issue of Jazzwise magazine, if you're like to hear their incredible results. It's exactly the kind of thing which will most likely inspire younger musicians, like those taking part in our competition. Pictured here: one of the six scholarship winners, guitarist Alex Munk.

The UK government's Department for Children, Schools & Families announced in September a national year of music, to celebrate and show case the music of under-18s from all over the UK. The celebration is linked with some exciting new research findings which, thanks to technological improvements in brain research, have provided new, empirical evidence that learning and making music benefits us in all kinds of ways. The research, published by Prof Susan Hallam, of the Institute of Education at London University, cites a range of benefits and enhancements, including:

improved concentration, enhanced creativity, better memory, determination, self-esteem, social skills, life skills and confidence

I was a deathly shy, introverted and timid child and began learning the piano when I was about 5 and basically played to myself, my teachers and my family. When I began to take part in school concerts and put bands together in my early teens at Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School in Sidcup, Kent, I learned how to communicate with greater confidence. Later on, when playing in bands, I discovered that it was helpful if a spoke to the audience every so often, to tell them about the music. Public speaking was a major challenge for me but music taught me how to do it.

In later life I suddenly realised that the way in which I'd learnt music is almost totally transferable to learning other things. I'd learnt that if you practise something in the right way you can't help getting better at it. I've applied this musical process to a range of things, including graphic design, web design, sailing, photography and using various software. I don't think this would have happened if I weren't a musician.

Let's celebrate what music has done for us in 'Tune In - Year of Music'. 

Tell us briefly your own story here, about how music has changed your life. Tell us your age, where you're from and your story. If you also copy your comments you've made here and email them to us, headed 'Year of Music prize draw' with your name, email, phone number, town and occupation we'll enter you into a free prize draw for a signed Yamaha guitar, which will be drawn in March 2010! (UK residents only.)

In early July I joined East Sussex Music service's primary curriculum leader, Alexandra Dalton, in Eastbourne for its first electric violin improvising summer school, which welcomed 14 young string players of grade 5 standard and above from the county's schools. Yamaha has a great range of 'Silent' violins and electric violins which we've already seen used most effectively as a way to (re)motivate teenaged string players and provide a range of new creative possibilities which can challenge, stimulate and broaden their approach to string playing. So I was delighted that we were able to support this event with the loan of a range of 4- and 5-stringed Yamaha electric violins for the use of participants who didn't have access to an electric violin.

Award-winning jazz singer, Liane Carroll, who has been wowing audiences at clubs and festivals both inside and outside the UK for many years, has just confirmed that she will join the judging team for the Yamaha Jazz Experience competition, which culminates in a finalists' event at Cheltenham Jazz Festival on 1 May 2010.

Liane joins Jazz Experience workshop leaders, Julian Joseph, Andrea Vicari, Richard Michael and Peter Ind, which means that the 11-18s in participating ensembles will get the benefit of a superb jazz panel to provide them with valuable feedback on their performances and award the three winning ensembles valuable Yamaha prizes as well as gigs at London's Ronnie Scott's, The 606 Club and The Bull's Head jazz club in Barnes, South West London. 

Competition details on the Jazz Experience page.

I've just read David Prever's excellent blog on Jazz FM's site where he refers to a blog entitled ‘Can Jazz be Saved’ written by Terry Teachout, about a decline in jazz in the USA.

My thoughts on the future of jazz, in the UK, are that maybe the 'jazz' word has become a problem, not for current jazz musicians and audiences but for those who don't know what jazz is. A bit like the 'folk' word in UK roots music. This has nothing to do with the quality of the some of the excellent music that the label, jazz, encapsulates but - to put it into marketing terms: the jazz 'brand' image has an image problem! If a successful multinational company owned the name 'jazz' I'm sure it would be pulling its hair out by now and changing it, rather as happened with the Skoda brand, for example.

We use labels as a short-hand way of describing something. The label, chair, means something that you can sit on. And while there are lots of kinds of chairs, the basic concept remains constant enough for us not to have to describe a particular chair every time we want to refer to one!

But the breadth of music that the word 'jazz' can now be used to describe, which has grown and grown for almost 100 years, is now so broad as to require further explanation in almost every situation. Because of this the public gets confused: "If I go to a jazz gig, what will I get?" And because it's so variable I believe that many decide not to risk it, especially if, like me, they've been disappointed by one or two jazz gigs where the music seemed so incommunicative and formulaic. And because of that experience, they may then miss out on the vast range of jazz performances that are truly engaging, enlightening and entertaining.

But there's also another problem: the jazz community must decide whether it wants to be primarily in 'preservation mode' or in 'development mode'. Of course both are inextricably linked and are on the same timeline but it's a matter of direction. Preservation mode looks backward; development mode looks towards the future - the journey that jazz music and musicians are on, now.

Following the success of the acclaimed Yamaha Jazz Experience teacher improvising workshops in March and April 2009, we are excited to announce the launch of the second phase of Jazz Experience: a national UK-wide jazz ensemble improvising competition for musicians aged 11-18.

Yamaha prizes and gigs at Ronnie Scott's and the 606 jazz clubs will be awarded for the 3 winning ensembles at the finalists' event at Cheltenham Jazz Festival on 1 May 2010. Judges will include Liane Carroll, Peter Ind, Julian Joseph, Helen Mayhew, Richard Michael and Andrea Vicari.

Each ensemble should prepare a blues and a piece of their own choosing, featuring real improvising. The judges are looking for good musicianship, creativity, communication and rapport. So why not have a go? If you are in the 11-18 age group, based in the UK, your school, college or other organisation can enter any jazz ensembles that it coaches. You can read the Jazz Experience competition 2009-2010 details for yourself and send the link to your teacher, music leader or the person who coaches your ensemble.

If you are a music leader, teacher or someone who coaches or who is about to start a jazz ensemble, this competition is made for you! Entries must come from you, as the person who coaches the ensemble, and you may be from a school, college, arts or community centre, music club, music service, local or regional youth jazz orchestra, etc. Read all about the Jazz Experience competition 2009-2010 details and get working with your ensemble. We look forward to seeing and hearing you play!

The hugely successful, high-powered and influential partnership between Yamaha and Classic FM, in association with Jazzwise magazine, Jazz Services, the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group & PPL, continued into its third year with a wonderful event last night at Portcullis House, Westminster, when another six scholarships of £1000 each were awarded to six outstanding young jazz students, nominated by the heads of jazz at six of the UK's leading conservatoires. The annual scheme is designed to support young, emerging jazz musicians by providing valuable funding and important marketing support through performance and recording opportunities.

This year the six jazz scholars to benefit from the scheme are: Alex Munk, a guitarist studying at Leeds College of Music; drummer, Daoud Merchant, a student at Guildhall School of Music & Drama; drummer, Gethin Jones from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama; pianist Kit Downes, a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music; Mark Perry who studies trumpet at Trinity College of Music andSam Wooster who studies trumpet at Birmingham Conservatoire.

All six scholarship winners performed live at the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group's annual Summer Jazz event in the Atlee Suite, Portcullis House, House of Commons on Wednesday 1st July, where award-winning jazz broadcaster, Helen Mayhew, presented the scholarships to the six award winners.

Guests at the event included members of parliament from both Houses who are interested in jazz, along with invitees from the jazz community, press and venue operators. Additionally all six scholarship award winners will be featured alongside some of Yamaha's most highly respected and established jazz artists on 'The Yamaha New Jazz Sessions 2009' promotional CD, to be recorded and cover-mounted on Jazzwise magazine's Xmas and New Year double issue, with the chance to perform live at the CD launch at London's internationally renowned 606 Jazz Club on 25 November 2009. Last year's acclaimed 'Yamaha New Jazz Sessions' CD, produced by Andy Ross at Astar Studios, included tracks by Julian Joseph, Gwilym Simcock and Jason Rebello and, with 15,000 copies circulated,  and was one of the most significant jazz albums of the year.

Congratulations to the award winners and we will follow their careers with interest in the coming years.

South Shields, 30 April 2009

The penultimate Jazz Experience workshop saw Richard Michael and Tim Garland working together to provide another greatworkshop, this time hosted by Ernie Young at the South Tyneside Music Service's home in South Shields.

The morning began with a small number of teachers taking part but as other ensemble activities elsewhere in the building finished, during the morning the numbers increased nicely and included a great horn section, pictured here! 

Both Richard & Tim gave some excellent sessions to help the assembled educators sharpen their improvising. The pair also demonstrated expertly various ways that interesting harmonisations could transform even a simple nursery song!

Tim's global acclaim - through his work with Acoustic Triangle, Lighthouse Trio, Bill Bruford and Chick Corea - meant that Jazz Experience came with high expectations and weren't disappointed!

Richard's fluid, creative but approachable approach to improvising, along with his broad musical knowledge and passion borne of his 35-year love affair with jazz and improvising, meant that all participants went away with lots to think about, to try out for themselves and a whole host of ensemble coaching ideas that they could apply straight away when they got back into school.