In the past 20 years, teaching and sharing ideas, all over the globe, has definitely a fundamental part of my music journey. Besides workshops and masterclasses that I do in the country of my residence, the Netherlands, I’ve been privileged to be able to engage in teaching activities while on tour. All workshops and seminars entail active participation of the students.
“Ms. Carter’s love for music, encouraging manner, gift for teaching and vast experience made the workshop a fun and inspiring event. Ms. Carter gave us clear and useful tools to work with and created a fun atmosphere where we could imagine and elaborate on given melodies. ”
(Leslie Jones, coordinator at the American College of Greece)
As well as ‘general’ masterclasses, seminars, or workshops and vocal technique, I have also specific themes available (which can be taught in Spanish, Dutch, or English) :
Beginner’s Improvisation: teaching singers–at all levels of experience–to enjoy the art of scatting (using scat syllables or lyrics), applying a melodic approach.
Fundamentals of the Blues: learning about the beginnings of blues and working with the basics of the blues forms through the harmony, as well as lyric and melodic form. Students also eventually learn to spontaneously compose their own blues–and in any language!
Transforming the Standards and Song-Crafting: discovering the wide variety of styles and ideas available to revamp songs from the American Songbook as well as suggested methods for learning and performing them. Song interpretation is always covered, of course.
With song-crafting we explore different ideas and techniques that can be used to create an arrangement on a song, even without knowing how to play an instrument.
Working with Combos: learning how to recognize the form of the songs, and a better understanding of the universal markings such as intros, repeats, codas, etc.
Students practice communicating their ideas with their band and giving cues, while in performance.
Vocal Seminar: in seminars, which usually are from 3-5 days, I cover all of the above, and much more.
Additional Workshops:
History of Vocal Jazz – a musical timeline of the jazz vocal style from its early beginning up to the present.
Jazz Timeline: for general audiences – a musical journey from the origens of jazz and blues up to the present.
Big Band Workshop – done in collaboration with a big band, where the students are given ideas about technique and performance with a large jazz ensemble. It’s usually followed by a concert of the students with the big band.
(More photos: http://deborahcarter.com/?gallery=master-classes-workshops )
“Deborah Carter has an innate ability to enlighten young musicians and rev up their enthusiasm and thirst for learning and experimenting with music, as well as helping them cultivate a deep love and appreciation for it.” (Jazzmundi Foundation)