The B-Line Trio offers a variety of sessions for performance venues, universities and schools. Below you will find sample descriptors of “break-out” sessions - clinics and master classes offered by Andy, Brian, and Brian individually.
A Typical Residency:
-Clinic Performance (the group performs and discusses improvisation, creativity within fixed chamber music instrumentation, and arranging)
-Break-out Clinics / master classes (see below)
-Individual lessons (mallet keyboard improvisation, solo marimba, drum-set, other)
-Featured Performance
-Club / Coffee Shop / Public Space Performance
-Clinic Performance (the group performs and discusses improvisation, creativity within fixed chamber music instrumentation, and arranging)
-Break-out Clinics / master classes (see below)
-Individual lessons (mallet keyboard improvisation, solo marimba, drum-set, other)
-Featured Performance
-Club / Coffee Shop / Public Space Performance
Clinics and Master Classes
Dr. Brian McNulty
1. Improvisation on Mallet Instruments - Beginning improvisation can give students building blocks to play jazz and other improvised music, as well as helping young students develop confidence on their instrument. I will apply beginning improvisation exercises to mallet instruments in an interactive session. I will also discuss different ways to practice other essential building blocks like scales and arpeggios.
2. Elements of Style - We'll investigate some stylistic traits of important jazz vibraphonists by looking in detail at their transcription. We'll discuss how transcription can be a springboard towards creating your own ideas and developing your technique on the vibes.
3. What I've Learned as an Organist - Although I started as a percussionist, I've studied organ seriously for the past 4-5 years, and I've learned musical and technical tools that have been directly applicable to my percussion playing. Lecture will include discussion of practicing and learning contrapuntal music (pitched and non-pitched), utilization of articulation and dynamics (especially in Baroque music), and improvisational techniques.
Dr. Brian McNulty
1. Improvisation on Mallet Instruments - Beginning improvisation can give students building blocks to play jazz and other improvised music, as well as helping young students develop confidence on their instrument. I will apply beginning improvisation exercises to mallet instruments in an interactive session. I will also discuss different ways to practice other essential building blocks like scales and arpeggios.
2. Elements of Style - We'll investigate some stylistic traits of important jazz vibraphonists by looking in detail at their transcription. We'll discuss how transcription can be a springboard towards creating your own ideas and developing your technique on the vibes.
3. What I've Learned as an Organist - Although I started as a percussionist, I've studied organ seriously for the past 4-5 years, and I've learned musical and technical tools that have been directly applicable to my percussion playing. Lecture will include discussion of practicing and learning contrapuntal music (pitched and non-pitched), utilization of articulation and dynamics (especially in Baroque music), and improvisational techniques.
Dr. Andy Smith
1. Clave in Music: Not Just Patterns - Typical resources
addressing Latin drum-set styles performance focus on patterns associated with particular styles. Years of in-depth experience assimilating Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and myriad African-derived music styles has led me to the realization that the understanding of the concept and nature of clave is the key to constructing Latin styles on the drum-set from jump-street to an advanced and creative personal stylistic rendition. I will make tangible sense of clave to even the uninitiated through examples from Ghanaian music, traditional and contemporary samba, rumba and others. I will connect this understanding to practical examples of styles such as samba, songo and Latin jazz in general. Attendees will be given hand-outs with transcription, notated examples of “what-to-play” and suggested resources.
2. Contemporary Brazilian Drum-set- Since studying with Frank Giguere as a teen and then Ed Uribe and Victor Mendoza at Berklee, I have been passionate about musica brasileira, the great samba styles from Rio, maracatu from Recife, and the numerous styles of the sertão such as the popular baião as well as xaxado and frevo. Recently, I traveled to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to study contemporary Brazilian drum-set as it is being played by the great modern drummers like Edu Ribeiro, Celso Almeida, and Cleber Almeida. I have delved deeply into this music exploring it while performing in my own band Batuquê Trio, and writing a dissertation on the subject. My clinics include historical context demonstrating the application of traditional rhythms to the drum-set, and a 21st century look at what is happening now.
1. Clave in Music: Not Just Patterns - Typical resources
addressing Latin drum-set styles performance focus on patterns associated with particular styles. Years of in-depth experience assimilating Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and myriad African-derived music styles has led me to the realization that the understanding of the concept and nature of clave is the key to constructing Latin styles on the drum-set from jump-street to an advanced and creative personal stylistic rendition. I will make tangible sense of clave to even the uninitiated through examples from Ghanaian music, traditional and contemporary samba, rumba and others. I will connect this understanding to practical examples of styles such as samba, songo and Latin jazz in general. Attendees will be given hand-outs with transcription, notated examples of “what-to-play” and suggested resources.
2. Contemporary Brazilian Drum-set- Since studying with Frank Giguere as a teen and then Ed Uribe and Victor Mendoza at Berklee, I have been passionate about musica brasileira, the great samba styles from Rio, maracatu from Recife, and the numerous styles of the sertão such as the popular baião as well as xaxado and frevo. Recently, I traveled to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to study contemporary Brazilian drum-set as it is being played by the great modern drummers like Edu Ribeiro, Celso Almeida, and Cleber Almeida. I have delved deeply into this music exploring it while performing in my own band Batuquê Trio, and writing a dissertation on the subject. My clinics include historical context demonstrating the application of traditional rhythms to the drum-set, and a 21st century look at what is happening now.
Brian Mueller
1. The Five Pillars of Musicality - This clinic, intended for beginning to intermediate players, focuses mainly on what I call the Five Pillars of Musicality. The five “pillars” are as follows: The Notes, including ideas about reading, practicing, and memorizing music; Sound, including mallet choice, tone production, beating spots, and stroke types; Dynamics, which covers developing and controlling dynamic range, shape, and shading; Tempi, including developing consistency and control, and working on musical pacing; and finally, Emotion, which involves imagery, extra-musical input, and seeking passion in practice and performance. These topics are not presented as a hierarchy but rather as five essential components that inform the realization of a musical piece, passage, or phrase. The interaction of the five pillars in creating a musical whole, forms the central message of the presentation.
2. Reaching for Higher Ground: Taking your Practicing and Performance to the Next Level - This clinic focuses on solo marimba, but the topics can be applied to any facet of percussion playing. It is geared toward an intermediate to advanced audience. The central message focuses on being physically, musically, and mentally aware of as much detail as possible during practice and performance. Depending on the needs and interest of the audience, emphasis can be placed on any one or more of the key topics which include: fundamental technique and motion behind the instrument; sound production; physical practice techniques; visual and kinesthetic practice techniques; mental practice techniques; performance psychology; enjoying the learning process.
3. Creativity and Musical Exploration at the Marimba: Thinking Outside the Bars - This presentation, intended for an advanced audience, focuses on developing melodic and harmonic aspects of music. Topics include melodic exploration; chord voicing, progressions, and harmonization; using dynamic shading and tone color to create a “three-dimensional” musical picture that differentiates bass, harmony, and melody; melodic pacing and phrasing; thinking about larger musical concepts first and then boiling them down to idiom and technique rather than the other way around; and exploring various useful textures and exercises that allow for increased freedom at the marimba. The importance of transcription and / or score study will be emphasized, and concepts will be reinforced with audio examples as well as performance and discussion of original arrangements of various tunes.
1. The Five Pillars of Musicality - This clinic, intended for beginning to intermediate players, focuses mainly on what I call the Five Pillars of Musicality. The five “pillars” are as follows: The Notes, including ideas about reading, practicing, and memorizing music; Sound, including mallet choice, tone production, beating spots, and stroke types; Dynamics, which covers developing and controlling dynamic range, shape, and shading; Tempi, including developing consistency and control, and working on musical pacing; and finally, Emotion, which involves imagery, extra-musical input, and seeking passion in practice and performance. These topics are not presented as a hierarchy but rather as five essential components that inform the realization of a musical piece, passage, or phrase. The interaction of the five pillars in creating a musical whole, forms the central message of the presentation.
2. Reaching for Higher Ground: Taking your Practicing and Performance to the Next Level - This clinic focuses on solo marimba, but the topics can be applied to any facet of percussion playing. It is geared toward an intermediate to advanced audience. The central message focuses on being physically, musically, and mentally aware of as much detail as possible during practice and performance. Depending on the needs and interest of the audience, emphasis can be placed on any one or more of the key topics which include: fundamental technique and motion behind the instrument; sound production; physical practice techniques; visual and kinesthetic practice techniques; mental practice techniques; performance psychology; enjoying the learning process.
3. Creativity and Musical Exploration at the Marimba: Thinking Outside the Bars - This presentation, intended for an advanced audience, focuses on developing melodic and harmonic aspects of music. Topics include melodic exploration; chord voicing, progressions, and harmonization; using dynamic shading and tone color to create a “three-dimensional” musical picture that differentiates bass, harmony, and melody; melodic pacing and phrasing; thinking about larger musical concepts first and then boiling them down to idiom and technique rather than the other way around; and exploring various useful textures and exercises that allow for increased freedom at the marimba. The importance of transcription and / or score study will be emphasized, and concepts will be reinforced with audio examples as well as performance and discussion of original arrangements of various tunes.