Learn to play the blues!

A group of middle school band players enjoyed workshops with local jazz musicians today.

The group started the day with the field trip series performance of Blues, Bop and Hip Hop. The audience enjoyed listening to popular jazz pieces and learned about the history of jazz music. 

Inverness Middle School students get tips at a workshop.

Following the performance, the musicians led students from the Inverness Middle School band through workshops where they learned how to improve their own playing skills.

“There are three things unique to blues music,” explained Ron Delp, a pianist and leader of the Ron Delp Trio, a jazz band based in St. Petersburg. “While most music is written in 8 bars, blues is 12 bars long.”

He continued to explain what a blues scale is, and dominant chords. Most students had never played the blues before.

Students broke into three groups, brass, rhythm and winds, and learned a new blues piece, and then came together and performed it as a group.

Students get tips from pianist Ron Delp

They also performed pieces they’re currently working on at school and received invaluable feedback from the professional musicians, including Delp. Other musicians were Patel Conservatory Jazz Instructor Tom Ziegelhofer, Jim Burge of the Ken Loomer Big Band and the Jazz Cellar Underground Orchestra, and Mike Ruven and Jeff Henson of the Ron Delp Trio.

It was amazing to see the students’ progression and improvement in the short amount of time they spent with the musicians. Even small tips like learning how to hold the instrument correctly made a big difference.

“I had a great time,” said Ziegelhofer. “I didn’t know what to expect with the different age groups we had, but they picked it up pretty well.”

If you know of a group interested in spending a Day at the Center to learn more about the Performing Arts, or, to learn more about music classes including private lessons or our Jazz Ensemble, call 222-1002 or visit www.patelconservatory.org.