Learn Imrpovisation

Combo #1  Monday nights is full except for we are searching for additional horn players  

Combo #2  Tuesday nights is full except for we are searching for a trumpet player or vibraphonist  

Join 15 year Juilliard Jazz professor Mark Sherman in a group format working through all the greatest jazz tunes in a quintet or sextet format. Enlarge your palette of language skills for jazz improvisation, and live performance interpretation. Learn to negotiate chord changes using Mark’s user friendly system. Improve your ability to “interplay” with other players. Take part in a live performance in a New York venue twice a year.

Sessions run in 12 week semesters for $700 per semester.

For tuition payments use VENMO or ZELLE at msherjazz@aol.com 917-549-7798

For additional questions or info. email msherjazz@aol.com

Additionally Private Instruction with Mark or his staff is available for intermediate, and advanced students of jazz improvisation. For enrollment questions use the contact from below.

For tuition payments use VENMO or ZELLE at msherjazz@aol.com

For additional questions or info. email msherjazz@aol.com

 

Testimonials:

Mark Sherman has helped me to demystify the magic of jazz improvisation more than any other teacher I’ve ever had. And I know and play with many musicians who feel the same way. Especially in a private session but also in a combo workshop, Mark has a knack for immediately recognizing the very next thing you need to learn, no matter your level or instrument. His method is to simplify what most students find confounding by having them focus on a single “element” at a time — a repeatable harmonic shape or rhythmic phrase. Soon you are able to recognize these elements in the great recordings you’ve listened to for years, complexities melt away, and eventually you learn to combine several elements into a thoughtful organic performance over an entire tune. As an older student, I especially admire Mark’s endlessly encouraging and non-judgmental demeanor. He’s not only a great teacher but also a friend, and an especially superb multi-instrumental musician to play along with. 

— John Papanek, Tenor Saxophone student

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I have been taking Mark Sherman’s workshop since 2018 and i have learned so much from being in his class. It is one class, i will probably take as long as he offers to teach it. This is not a class whereby the teacher watches the students jam. In Mark Sherman’s workshop, one “learns” the art of improvisation from the core.

Firstly, Mark has a very clear method of teaching the basics of the jazz language and that enables anyone learning from him to systematically build a solid foundation to improvise. This is not about stringing one lick to another but rather developing one’s ideas from a deeper place.

Secondly, Mark’s philosophy is “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” His workshop is a lab where one learns to incorporate conceptual ideas and marry that to practical playing.  I think part of the problem as learning musicians is not understanding how to practice the elements correctly and efficiently and Mark teaches this “how to practice” constantly in his workshop.

Thirdly, Mark  teaches his students how to interpret chord changes in various ways. Which means, we learn varied approaches to the same song providing more ideas and concepts to improvise.

Finally, Mark makes playing in group situation a very fun but challenging place to incorporate his methodology into real playing. We learn our roles as part of the group and how to communicate through the music . Participants of the class may be at levels experience wise, but Mark conducts the group beautifully.

— Emiko Hayashi, jazz pianist.