@Sage Harrington Nice to see you again Sage :-)

More tunes : I love the Herbie Hancock tunes, such as Watermelon man, Watermelon Man, Speak Like a Child, Dolphine Dance.

@Eva Slongo Yes, that’s a good idea, Eva. I think it will make everything much easier to combine in a coherent and manageable way for everyone, whatever their level. We can focus each month on the two standards of the month — the Tuesday and Monday standards — and use those as the basis for both sides of the work: on one hand the violin technique, fingerings, frames, left- and right-hand work, and on the other hand the jazz articulation and ghost notes with Mathilde. What do you think, @Mathilde Bayle 🙂 I also always give them a short daily routine for left hand, right hand and sound production, so they can gradually improve their general technique alongside the repertoire. For the scales, I like to approach them in two ways: classically, for sound production and bow control, and in a jazz-oriented way, connected to the harmony, to develop harmonic awareness. We can then directly apply this to the standards of the month — for example, by working on the scales and harmonic material that actually fit those standards. Since I’m also present myself at almost all the lessons and guest lessons, it’s very easy for me to follow what is being worked on and to connect my technical work directly to it. That way, both of our systems can really complement each other naturally. 🌞 But I have to say that quite a few people were also really happy to tackle Tico Tico the last 15 minutes of the 1h30, because it’s a more technical theme while still being very playable and fun to work on. It’s great for practising frames and fingerings in a musical context, without it feeling as dry as some Mazas or Kreutzer studies 😅

No problem Pierre 🌞

@Paul Epstein This one, I didn’t write down at all. I played each phrase or lick many times, starting at 50%, then 75%, and finally 100%, and gradually connected everything. For this one, I even deliberately didn’t want the chord chart in front of me. I really wanted to learn the whole thing completely by ear, without writing anything down or look at chord changes. I’ll probably transcribe it on paper later, though, just so I don’t forget it. But this week we’re in France for the Gypsy Jazz sessions, and after that I’ll also spend three days in the Netherlands with Tim. So if I do write it down, it will probably be towards the end of August or in September. 😊🎻

@Saskia Wieberdink Thank you Saskia, just give yourself time and you will surely be able to do it 🌞👌💪

I usually start by listening to many different versions and singing along while I’m cooking or doing something else. Then I play the tune with iReal Pro to play on the chords, and quite often I also look for tutorials or analyses of the standard on YouTube not necessarily violin tutorials. I find it just as interesting to watch pianists, guitarists, saxophonists or other instrumentalists explain or approach the tune. And I must admit that I always double-check with the score as well, if there is one, not to play from the score, but to see how it was originally written and what was initially intended. Of course, in jazz you almost never play a melody exactly as written. Just as in classical music, there is always interpretation involved : phrasing, articulation, timing and, above all, playing the melody in the right style. With solos, though, I work differently. I transcribe them by ear while playing, and then I write them down as well so I don’t forget the transcription later. I usually slow the recording down in Soundslice and work through it little by little, using a really good version, or simply a version that I particularly like.