Butler Vocal Jazz Camp 2013

Wow.

Our Vocal Jazz Camp 2013 final concert in Schrott Performance Hall was over a week ago; Friday 26 July.  What sticks out for you?  What do you remember most?  Better yet; what new things will you keep doing?

Take a moment to share your memories and best wishes with friends and family below! What do you remember?  – Dr. B

“To be is to do” – Socrates
“To do is to be” – Sartre
“Do Be Do Be Do” – Sinatra

Dear Campers:

While you’re writing about all you’ve learned before our concert, and all the things you still want to learn, here are some links where you can check out Cameron Bailey’s (our drummer) band’s music: www.youtube.com/iexistband
www.facebook.com/iexistband
www.twitter.com/iexistband
iTunes: I-Exist
Spotify: I-Exist
Website: www.iexistband.com

Here’s some of the media that Daniel McCullough (our bassist) has created:
An early voice reel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlQZseEFyJM
His work with the American Pianists Association : http://www.youtube.com/user/apaPianists
A little promo he made for a finals concert : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcbd-a0Auck
Here’s a promotional video he made for the Schrott Center : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Cr0NI-A5o
The “Virtual Tour” of Butler video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCvNPXcBNK0
A little stop-motion for an art class : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoqvgE1nag4

Want to learn more about jazz? Subscribe to http://www.JazzontheTube.com! 

You have ONE MORE REQUIRED BLOG by next Friday!  Yes; come back to this site to read what your fellow campers have to say and leave us with your own, final thoughts: what did you learn?  What do you want to learn next?… 

Work and enjoy our final day together.  Break a leg on our gig at 5 PM tonight.  See you back on this blog next Friday, August 2nd.  This has been great fun!

“They know enough, who know to learn” – Henry Adams 

It’s Day 3 for VJF: Just jump in and go:

What I’ve learned since my last blog…
What I want to learn…

Including the facts, my feelings, and my ambitions for the future…

Quotes of the day:
“I think, therefor I am” – Descartes
“I write, therefore I think” – Prof. B
“So Decartes walks into this bar…” – Unknown

Please see a counselor or a staffer for suggestions on how to get the most out of your blog writing.  Quality blogging accelerates your learning.  Sharing your discoveries, insights and questions helps others reflect on what’s possible, and gives credence to their discoveries!  Your blog needs to include facts (what’s happening?), feelings (yeah; about those facts), and the future (what’s upcoming up next?).  Include things you’ve learned, and things you really want to learn.

Highlights of our camp life yesterday and this morning:

TUESDAY EVENING:

• Adventures in music theory (two levels)
• Quality time to practice, blog and research
• Eating together (pulled pork sandwiches!),

WEDNESDAY:

• Warmups w/ Ms. Gordon: I LOVE TO SING: Singing is a whole body experience!
• Introduced to Jason Mraz’s I WON’T GIVE UP.  We’re dedicating this to our hero, Ms. Hubbard!  It took about 37 minutes to introduce all six steps of this piece.  Lots of success already.
• Tackled lots of loose words, phrases, rhythms and pitches on I SING YOU SING and THE LOOK OF LOVE.  Good work, but more is needed…
• Rehearsal with our rhythm section began and ended with improvs – all campers soloed.  Very cool, very musical conversations.
• Got off-book on a portion of BLUE SKIES, so we could get on-mic.  It’s easy to forget about keeping two fingers between our lips and the mic’s bale.
• Soloists have to move in 1/4″ (a bar early) for a good EQ and to give the Audio Engineer time to make our mic hot.
• When we’re not the soloist (i.e. accompanying), we move our lips away from the mic  1/4″ (a little early) or we’ll bury the soloists.  Burying the soloists is not a good thing.
• We rehearsed all but two of our pieces w/ the band!
• We did some multitrack recording with Mr. Lee Cheng!

After we blog today, we’ll:

• Continue vocal techniques with Ms. Gordon and Dr. B
• Tackle SATIN DOLL and WHEN I FALL IN LOVE in our breakout (chamber) choirs
• Wrap up our day w/ a rehearsal in Schrott with our rhythm section.
• Commuters will dismiss, dorm folks will go to dinner and evening activities.

So far, we’ve…

• applied Dr. B’s Six Steps to most of our music (1. Text, 2. Rhythms, 3. Text in Rhythm, 4. Pitches, 5. Text in Rhythm w/ Pitches, 6. Memorize)
• experimented with many jazz styles (Blue Skies, I Sing You Sing, The Look of Love, I Won’t Give Up, 12 bar latin, circle singing,
• learned about the roles of the rhythm section instruments: the bass (the rhythmic and harmonic foundation of the jazz band), the drums (sets the style), and the piano (supports all of the other instruments, can also solo)…

Soon, we’ll explore more of the history of vocal jazz.  Perhaps we’ll learn enough to introduce our own charts at Friday’s 5 pm gig.

Life is good when we Work hard and Play Hard.

Welcome to Butler Vocal Jazz Camp’s 2013 Blog!

Please see Mr. Lee Cheng or Dr. B for guidelines and suggestions on how to get the most out of your blog writing.   Taking time to reflect on what you’re learning helps accelerate your learning, and sharing what’s happening helps others reflect on your discoveries!  Be sure your blog includes some facts (what’s happening?), your feelings (about those facts), and the future (what’s upcoming up?).  Be sure to include things you’ve learned, and at least one thing you really want to learn.

Highlights of our camp activities thus far include

MONDAY EVENING:

• checking in,
• touring the Butler campus,
• eating together (pizza!),
• taking theory and voice placement tests,
• discovering what we have in common!

TUESDAY:

• We began vocalizes, sectionals and rehearsals with Dr. Brimmer & Ms. Gordon
• We had our first full rehearsal with our rhythm section: Nathan (piano), Cam (drums), Daniel (bass).
• We had our first music technology session with Mr. Lee Cheng,
• After we blog today, we’ll:

• Do an improv session with our amazing staff
• vocal techniques with Ms. Gordon and Dr. B
• wrap up our day w/ a rehearsal in Schrott with our rhythm section
• Commuters will dismiss, dorm folks will go to dinner and evening activities.

So far, we’ve…

• begun to tackle sight reading any composition (Dr. B’s Six Steps: 1. Text, 2. Rhythms, 3. Text in Rhythm, 4. Pitches, 5. Text in Rhythm w/ Pitches, 6. Memorize and bring to rehearsal!
• experimented with four jazz styles (Blue Skies, I Sing You Sing, The Look of Love, 12 bar blues…
• Soon, we’ll explore the jazz ballad, more improvising on the blues (continuing with 12-bar blues), and the history of vocal jazz.

Work hard.  Play Hard.