After a very long hiatus since my last blog post, I can happily take up the blogging reins again and start galloping, with joy that is. After our life changing move to our new little cottage, I seemed to be at a loss for words and had no inspiration to write about anything while I was adjusting to my new surroundings. My life is finally back on track now and the pure joy bubbles up in my inner being, simply to be alive, healthy and happy.
My music career has taken a different turn for the better and I am finally moving into the right direction with my teaching abilities. I will be presenting beginners jazz workshops during the July school holiday to teach classically trained teachers and students the ropes of playing jazz.
A few weeks ago, I attended a workshop at The Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at The University of Kwazulu Natal presented by Professor Mike Rossi, an American saxophonist teaching at UCT. He is a well known performer in Jazz circles and has a lifetime's experience of performing and teaching. Professor Rossi and his contemporaries are promoting jazz pedagogy in South Africa and are trying to incorporate teaching Jazz at our primary and high schools. It has long been part of the school curriculum in several first world countries. Why Jazz? That is food for thought for another blog post coming up soon. This blog is also due for a new look, so watch this space!
At the above mentioned workshop it came to my attention that there are quite a few people around who are really keen to take the plunge into discovering the joys of playing jazz music. Their worst fear seems to be the improvisation, which forms an integral part of the jazz genre. Common questions at the workshop were: "Where does it come from? How does it work? What if I make a fool of myself?" I decided then and there that I should fill the gap and offered to teach them the how to's. With blood, sweat and tears I worked my way as a mature student through four difficult but happy years of Jazz studies at DUT which was formerly Technikon Natal. I did not work and study so hard for so long just to let my hard earned knowledge slip away into nowhere land!
If you are from Durban and surrounds and you are interested in joining one of my workshops or learning to play the piano, please email me at jazzundergroundattic@gmail.com for further details. Dates and venues still to be confirmed. I have been running a private studio called The Music Experience for many years now and I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge and the joys of mastering a musical instrument with you.
Do yourself a favour and read about the joy and happiness music brings to humans in this article published in The New York Times on the 13th of June 2013.
Photos courtesy of Pixabay.
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