Saxophone

Bringing the student to the threshold of their own mind. 
This is the aim of all education.

The general aim of the course is for students to learn and become proficient on their instrument in order to play jazz music. Different techniques are explored in depth, with a view to giving the student the best possible preparation for the demands of the current professional music context. There is a particular focus on helping students become aware of their own sound and own personality. The bachelor course thus lays the foundations for students to gain an in-depth knowledge of their instrument.

The course sees the link between body and thoughts as the centrepoint of all artistic expression.

There is in-depth work (both individually and in groups, based on Pilates et "le geste musical" by J.F. Herreau) to help students become more conscious of their own bodies, and the intimate connection they have with their own sound, their ways of thinking musically and emotionally (awareness and exercises on the resonances of the body and the instrument, harmonics and how what implications these have for melody and harmony, managing air in relation to the instrument, etc.). Different approaches are used with the aim of allowing students to "own" the history of jazz and make it their own, and to understand the different trends in the modern jazz scene, in order to be able to develop their own personal way of expressing themselves, and also find their place in the professional world. The first part of the course also emphasises active listening to the great figures of jazz (by all possible modern means: recordings, videos, concerts and masterclasses), alongside retranscription and analysis of works (with a focus on the cycle of perception - singing the piece - playing the piece - then analysing it). A range of possible approaches, (specific technical exercises developed in close collaboration with the student to help them overcome difficulties) are used to guide the student, in the end, to move closer to the original models, and, finally, to move away from them in order to find their own musical personality, following their own path, which of course is the aim of every true artist and every human being.

Thematic projects (saxophone ensembles, quartets, quintets etc) are set up in order to perform in concerts both in the conservatoire and elsewhere, thereby leading students to immerse themselves in the "real" world, and understand how projects are developed and performed. There is also an emphasis here on helping students learn about the economic and social realities of the musical world. 

We work to help students develop a harmonic-rhythmic vision of melody throughout a gradual learning process, while also exploring in depth the different "colours" of the instrument, and what role these play internally, and implications they have for the intervals, melodies, harmonies, etc. etc. We support students so they can understand this system and eventually make it their own, in their own way, and finally, so they are able to make space to simply let go.