Way Down Yonder in New Orleans: Ten Weeks of Louis Armstrong
By special request, it is my pleasure to announce the next Learning Club™ deep dive: Way Down Yonder in New Orleans, Ten Weeks of Louis Armstrong.
“Louis Armstrong transformed jazz. He played with a strength and inventiveness that illuminated every jazz musician that heard his music. Louis was able to do things on the trumpet that had previously been considered impossible. His tone and range and phrasing became criteria by which other jazz musicians measured themselves. He established the basic vocabulary of jazz phrases, and his work became the foundation of every jazz musician who followed him.” Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes.
The eleven songs in this Learning Club™ (it was impossible to choose just ten) were all favorites of Satchmo and are favorites of mine as well: “Ain’t Misbehavin’”; “A Kiss To Build A Dream On”; “Cheek to Cheek”; “Hello Dolly”; “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” ;“Lazy River”; “Rockin’ Chair”; “Saint James Infirmary”; “Saint Louis Blues”; “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”; and “When You’re Smiling”.
As always, we will use the songs as a jumping off point to study guitar playing and improvisation. In this Learning Club™, we will take a look at a variety of concepts: melody, rhythm, groove, accompaniment techniques, harmonizing, chord melody, using different chord substitutions and extension choices to create different musical effects, and much more.
(This is a past presentation of a Learning Club™ that was live in 2021!)
By special request, it is my pleasure to announce the next Learning Club™ deep dive: Way Down Yonder in New Orleans, Ten Weeks of Louis Armstrong.
“Louis Armstrong transformed jazz. He played with a strength and inventiveness that illuminated every jazz musician that heard his music. Louis was able to do things on the trumpet that had previously been considered impossible. His tone and range and phrasing became criteria by which other jazz musicians measured themselves. He established the basic vocabulary of jazz phrases, and his work became the foundation of every jazz musician who followed him.” Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes.
The eleven songs in this Learning Club™ (it was impossible to choose just ten) were all favorites of Satchmo and are favorites of mine as well: “Ain’t Misbehavin’”; “A Kiss To Build A Dream On”; “Cheek to Cheek”; “Hello Dolly”; “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” ;“Lazy River”; “Rockin’ Chair”; “Saint James Infirmary”; “Saint Louis Blues”; “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”; and “When You’re Smiling”.
As always, we will use the songs as a jumping off point to study guitar playing and improvisation. In this Learning Club™, we will take a look at a variety of concepts: melody, rhythm, groove, accompaniment techniques, harmonizing, chord melody, using different chord substitutions and extension choices to create different musical effects, and much more.
(This is a past presentation of a Learning Club™ that was live in 2021!)
By special request, it is my pleasure to announce the next Learning Club™ deep dive: Way Down Yonder in New Orleans, Ten Weeks of Louis Armstrong.
“Louis Armstrong transformed jazz. He played with a strength and inventiveness that illuminated every jazz musician that heard his music. Louis was able to do things on the trumpet that had previously been considered impossible. His tone and range and phrasing became criteria by which other jazz musicians measured themselves. He established the basic vocabulary of jazz phrases, and his work became the foundation of every jazz musician who followed him.” Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes.
The eleven songs in this Learning Club™ (it was impossible to choose just ten) were all favorites of Satchmo and are favorites of mine as well: “Ain’t Misbehavin’”; “A Kiss To Build A Dream On”; “Cheek to Cheek”; “Hello Dolly”; “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” ;“Lazy River”; “Rockin’ Chair”; “Saint James Infirmary”; “Saint Louis Blues”; “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”; and “When You’re Smiling”.
As always, we will use the songs as a jumping off point to study guitar playing and improvisation. In this Learning Club™, we will take a look at a variety of concepts: melody, rhythm, groove, accompaniment techniques, harmonizing, chord melody, using different chord substitutions and extension choices to create different musical effects, and much more.
(This is a past presentation of a Learning Club™ that was live in 2021!)
My Learning Clubs™, with their ten-week duration, are the perfect way to really dig into the songs and make a lot of improvement while having a lot of fun. The interval and regular sessions provide you a sustained look at the material. The formula provides real results: with consistent practice, so you can make consistent and measurable progress.
Here’s how it works:
When you sign up, you receive access to a wealth of downloadable material for you to learn and practice the songs to get ready for the weekly jams. You get pdf chord charts for each of the ten songs, video lessons where I demonstrate how to play the songs, and sound recording play-a-long files of each of the songs so you can practice playing the melody and improvising with me.
Best of all, each of the ten weeks features a live, one-hour jam session over Zoom that I lead.
The virtual jam room always opens up 30 minutes before the session, so you can say hello to other participants and “do the hang.” I sometimes play a recording, tell a story or make myself available for questions before the jam session starts.
During the sessions, we focus on the songs. Repetition leads to mastery. So we play them over and over in different ways, putting them under the microscope and having a ball while doing so.
I am really, really excited about the new Learning Club™ and about this new way of approaching guitar study!
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up today and let’s get into Louis Armstrong!
Songs covered during this Learning Club are: “Ain’t Misbehaving”; “A Kiss To Build A Dream On”; “Cheek to Cheek”; “Hello Dolly”; “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” ;“Lazy River”; “Rockin’ Chair”; “Saint James Infirmary”; “Saint Louis Blues”; “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”; and “When You’re Smiling”.
Note this is a past presentation of a Learning Club that was live in 2021!
