TREFOR OWEN CONTACT DETAILS
Phone 07423 016888
E-mail = tojazzgtr@ aol.com
JAZZ GUITAR TUITION
Trefor Owen’s approach to teaching has been described as follows:
“Your unique approach to teaching the rigours of facility building through applied practice is ground breaking”.
JAZZ GUITAR TUITION FOR BEGINNERS AND ADVANCED LEVEL
My approach to jazz guitar tuition is practical in nature, that is, at a beginners level. I introduce a method that will enable a student who already has some facility to play a jazz standard with melody, chords and improvisation within a few lessons and will enable him to play live in front of an audience as soon as possible. It is only then that the student knows whether the practice procedure that is being used is working!
Most students who study with me already have some playing experience therefore have basic facility on the instrument.
As regards the advanced students, we discuss where they are at musically then make a decision as to the direction of the lessons.
I choose the jazz standards for study very carefully and for ease of playing i.e. melody, chords and improvisation, and also to enable the student to gain knowledge of music theory and allow facility building to slowly gain momentum.
Having a good practice procedure in place is essential. This ensures that a good facility is established to make certain that no bad habits materialise. (Facility in this context means to have the ability to execute an improvised line, melody or chord sequence in a live situation).
At a beginner’s level, if a pick is used I recommend playing all single lines, (scales, arpeggios etc), with down strokes!
ONE TO ONE LESSONS
A one hour private lesson is £40.00. Two hours £65.00
Special deal: Pay £160.00 for four lessons and get one free. Average lesson duration is one & a half hours.
DISTANT LEARNING
The cost of individual distant learning studies, (plus P&P), is £10.00 to £15.00.
Payment for one to one & distant learning lessons can be made by Cash, Visa, MasterCard or Cheque.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT TREFOR OWEN
07423 016888 or E-mail = tojazzgtr@ aol.com
For details on one to one lessons click here: Private tuition
For details on distant learning packs click here: Distant Learning
Click here – See what the students say
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Trefor Owen, who has a unique approach to improvisation, is one of the foremost jazz guitar teachers in the U.K. He has over thirty years’ experience teaching at the highest level both in Britain and the USA. For eight of those years Trefor was an Associate Lecturer at the highly acclaimed Leeds College of Music. Also, for the last twenty four years he has been a visiting lecturer at Liverpool Community College, and for seven years has taught at Wigan and Leigh College.
Amongst his numerous college and private students there are many jazz guitarists, and also rock guitar players wishing to introduce new ideas into their style of music and some of whom wish to progress to jazz. Trefor has bridged the gap from “Rock to Jazz” by capitalising on their existing knowledge – the Pentatonic and Blues Scales together with his unique chord method the Hendrix Chord System.
He has pioneered a method of utilising the Pentatonic and Blues Scales to improvise over jazz standards by identifying pivotal notes of the Major, minor and dominant seventh chords.
His Hendrix chord system is used to facilitate (from a working and practical point of view), all the altered and extended chords that the guitarist will encounter. It is the perfect introduction to the “Locked Knuckle Technique” which is a method of left-hand fingering based on forming Major, minor and dom7th triads, (root, third and seventh), in which the root note is always fingered with the second finger. In addition the Hendrix chord gives easy access to the m7b5 chord, (half-diminished), which is the most misunderstood chord in harmony. This method gives the guitarist the facility to form many chord forms out of one basic fingering pattern, thereby “Establishing Economical Chord Forms”, thus giving economy of movement.
(Not all chords can be fingered with the second finger on the bass note, but many can).
Trefor Owen has written over twenty studies, each one relating to specific areas of learning jazz guitar. Each study is self-explanatory and can be obtained as a “Distant Learning Package”. At each one to one tutorial session every student is given the opportunity to obtain a study relevant to the material covered.
Trefor is a great believer in having a “Base to Build From” which establishes a solid foundation for the improviser and can help to eliminate guesswork, and become a useful safety net. A safety net, or fallback system, becomes useful when things go wrong on the bandstand and will help the improviser, who must have the ability to play the time and the harmony from the front, to re-establish the harmonic framework. Also, a “Base to Build From” will give musicians the confidence to bring new ideas into their playing.
Trefor Owen is a director of the North Wales Jazz Society which, since its formation in 1990, has presented numerous world renowned jazz artistes. With co-director Maureen Hopkins, for eight years until 2008 he organized the North Wales International Jazz Guitar Festival/Summer School, and the NWJS continues to present the highly popular Jazz Guitar Weekends at Glyndwr University, Wrexham. See http://www.northwalesjazz.org.uk/
He has also formed a JAZZ GUITAR CLUB which is held on the second Thursday of the month at Bijou, Massie Street, Cheadle Village, Cheshire. See http://cheadlejgc.wix.com/jazz http://www.myspace.com/jazzguitarclub
TREFOR OWEN
IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE STUDENT HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED SOME FACILITY ON THE INSTRUMENT.
(e.g. Minimum requirement to understand this course: Barree Chords, some scales).
AREAS OF STUDY
INTRODUCTION
Introduction to jazz guitar. An overview.
(Included with each study).
STUDY 1
FINGERBOARD ORGANISATION
The C A G E D System
How to find any chord or scale on the guitar fingerboard by simply
memorising five Major chord forms.
STUDY 2
FACILITY
Getting the most out of a practice session. Constructive practising.
Correct right and left hand technique and developing independence.
STUDIES 3 to 6.
the alternative approach to improvisation.
a base to build from.
STUDY 3
THE MAJOR TONALITY
The preparation and conditioning of the Major seventh arpeggio as an improvisational device. The Major 7th arpeggio is the base for the Major Tonality.
STUDY 4
APPROACH TO IMPROVISATION - Part 1
Identifying the main character notes of chords and applying the Major Tonality as an improvisational device.
STUDY 5
THE JAZZ MINOR
The development of the Jazz minor and its application to the dom7th, minor and mi7b5 (half-diminished) chords.
STUDY 6
THE DIMINISHED
The development of the diminished arpeggio and scale and their application to the dom7th, minor and mi7b5 (half-diminished) chords.
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JAZZ GUITAR TUITION BY TREFOR OWEN
AREAS OF STUDY
STUDIES 7 to 14.
GUITARISTS! BE GOOD ACCOMPANISTS!
THE ART OF ACCOMPANIMENT.
STUDY 7
ECONOMICAL CHORD FORMS
FOR THE SIX STRING GUITAR
A method of left-hand fingering which introduces the "Hendrix Chord" as a basic form to facilitate all the altered and extended chords and can be used as an introduction to the "Locked Knuckle Technique" which is based on forming Major, minor and dom7th triads, (root, third and seventh).
STUDY 8
KNOW YOUR CHORDS
Chord grouping.
Converting chord symbols into numbers.
Building a Repertoire.
STUDY 9
CHORDS & CHORD DIRECTORY
Basic and regular chord forms and fingering.
A practical approach to chord grouping.
STUDY 10
INTRODUCTION TO BASS-LINE COMPING.
Introduction to bass line comping using the 12 bar blues chord sequence.
STUDY 11
ADVANCE BASS-LINE COMPING.
Building bass-line modules and their application to chord sequences.
STUDY 12
7 STRING GUITAR
Easy conversion from 6 to 7 string guitar.
STUDY 13
DEVELOPING THE BOSSA NOVA RHYTHM
Chord voicing and accommodating the melody
.
STUDY 14
JAZZ HARMONY PACK
Harmonisation of the Major and minor scales.
Minor scales.
Chord families
Popular chords
Chord grouping.
Chord substitution
JAZZ GUITAR TUITION BY TREFOR OWEN
AREAS OF STUDY
STUDIES 15 to 22.
aids to improvisation
STUDY 15
THE 12 BAR BLUES & RHYTHM CHANGES
Introduction to the harmonic sequence of the12 bar blues and
rhythm changes. Improvisation on the12 bar blues.
STUDY 16
DOMINANT SEVENTH CHORD
From the improvisers point of view applying improvisational devices to
functioning and non-functioning dom7th chords.
STUDY 17
VISUALISATION
The guitar is a pattern instrument.
Use it to your advantage through visualisation of the guitar fingerboard.
STUDY 18
SYMMETRY
Creating tension in improvisation with the use of symmetric movement.
STUDY 19
ADVANCED IMPROVISATION
Creating tension and expanding your musical vocabulary. Also the application of the secondary relative minor in improvisation.
STUDY 20
AUGMENTED FORM
Augmented chord form and the whole-tone scale.
STUDY 21
RHYTHM CHANGES ADVANCED STUDY
Chord substitution and improvisation.
STUDY 22
THE HALF-DIMINISHED CHORD.
The most misunderstood chord in harmony.
STUDY 23
SIGHT READING
Approach to sight reading.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
tel 07423 016888.
E-mail = tojazzgtr@aol.com
