Small Bands Repertoire

Our tutors provide music for the groups to work on which can vary enormously and cover many different styles of jazz. As a taster, to show the range of material covered, here is a selection of tunes the bands played in one week...

Sing On (The Eureka Brass Band), Jana's Delight (Don Pullen), Tin Tin Deo (Dizzy Gillespie), Southern Smiles (Keith Jarrett), Ramblin' (Ornette Coleman), Bock to Bock (Wes Montgomery), Thunder Walk (George Benson), Home at Last (Hank Mobley), Sonnymoon for Two (Sonny Rollins), Dedication to Thomas Mapfumo (Don Cherry), An Gliomach (trad Irish), Holy Family (Albert Ayler), In Deep (Bill Frisell), Walking on the Moon (Andy LaVerne), I Mean You (Thelonious Monk), Moon Alley (Tom Harrell), Just Squeeze Me (Duke Ellington), Rio (Victor Feldman), Moonglow (Irving Mills), Birk's Works (Dizzy Gillespie), Celeste (Ralph Towner and Norma Winstone), Caravan (Juan Tizol), Sidewinder (Lee Morgan).  

 

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Preparing Repertoire for our Jam Sessions

Before discussing repertoire lists, can we say that if you don't already have the "irealpro" app then you should consider getting it as soon as possible. This is a very useful tool for jazz musicians and singers and will be a great help when playing at jam sessions.  It gives you the chord progressions for a vast number of tunes and can transpose them immediately into any key. It also has backing track options, enabling you to practice the repertoire by yourself, to prepare in advance. It is available for apple and android systems and you can find it on our "Recommended Resources" page. 

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When getting a jam session together it can really help expedite matters if the participants have a common repertoire of tunes they already know, or at least have done some work on beforehand. There are probably as many repertoire lists of jazz tunes as there are jazz musicians. Therefore, and only for the reason that we all work from the same list, we suggest the two repertoire lists below as useful starting points for beginner and intermediate players. Please note, it is in no way mandatory for you to know all (or any) of these tunes in order to come on the course. It is simply so that you can find some common ground to jam on.

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There is no requirement to purchase the video lesson bundles, you can just use the list of tunes and find your own parts/charts/resources. However, these video lesson bundles provide everything you need all in one place and are a great resource to prepare yourself in advance. Each set list includes... 

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• a complete set of band parts for every tune on the list
  (perfect for handing out at our jam sessions!) 

• a 1hr stand-alone video lesson for every tune in the set providing a complete breakdown of the music and working through each section separately, giving you a clear strategy of how to improvise a solo over each tune. 

• extra handouts with warm ups, exercises and theory explanations helping you understand the music and how to practice it. 

• custom-made play along practice tracks at varying tempos, looping different sections plus complete arrangements.

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We think you will find these video lesson bundles a great resource, providing everything you need to thoroughly prepare a set of tunes which you can confidently improvise on and enjoy jamming with your fellow summer school students. ​

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For more information and to purchase please click HERE. 

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