Services
Masterclasses
Sessions for musicians who want a voice rather than another technique, taught from a working practice and pitched at what you are actually stuck on.
Masterclasses for musicians who want to develop a voice rather than a technique. The material comes from a working practice of composing, producing and performing, so what you learn is what actually gets used on a stand or in a studio.
Sessions run one-to-one or in small groups, in person in Manchester or online. They suit players who can already hold their instrument and want to know what to do with it: how to build a solo that goes somewhere, how to write from a rhythm rather than a chord chart, how to make an idea sound like yours.
Suitability
Who this is for
- Instrumentalists and vocalists at intermediate level and above
- Music students preparing for auditions, recitals or degree submissions
- Composers and songwriters wanting to widen their rhythmic vocabulary
- Jazz players who want a genuine route into African rhythmic traditions
- Music teachers looking to broaden their own practice
- Conservatoire and university cohorts, as a visiting masterclass
Scope
What a masterclass covers
- Improvisation, building a solo with shape, tension and an ending
- Composition from rhythm: writing outward from a cycle rather than a chord chart
- Afro-jazz language, and how the two traditions actually meet
- Harmonic movement, reharmonisation and voicing choices
- Groove, feel and time, where the beat sits and why it matters
- Arranging for small ensemble, including horn and percussion writing
- Practice design: how to work on something so it changes
Process
How the sessions run
No stage is a surprise, and nothing starts before it is agreed in writing.
- 01
Where you are
A short conversation, and something for you to play or send. The point is to hear what you already do, not to test you.
- 02
What to aim at
We agree one or two things worth changing over the block, specific enough to be measurable, not 'get better at improvising'.
- 03
The sessions
Playing-led, with the explanation arriving after the sound rather than before it. Usually 60 or 90 minutes, weekly or fortnightly.
- 04
Between sessions
Written notes and specific practice material after each session, sized for the time you actually have.
- 05
Review
At the end of a block, an honest look at what moved and what to work on next, with or without further sessions.
Benefits
What you get out of it
Taught from practice
Everything covered is drawn from live and studio work, not from a syllabus.
Your own voice
The aim is a musician who sounds like themselves, not one who sounds like their teacher.
Two traditions, properly
African rhythmic language and jazz harmony taught with equal seriousness, and with their histories intact.
Practice that fits
Material scaled to the hours you genuinely have, so progress survives a busy month.
Practical detail
Formats, timings and terms
The answers to the questions that decide whether this fits your diary and your budget.
- Formats
- One-to-one, small group (2–6), or a visiting masterclass for a cohort
- Session length
- 60 or 90 minutes
- Blocks
- Single session, or blocks of four, six or ten
- Where
- Manchester in person, or online worldwide
- Level
- Intermediate and above; all instruments and voice
FAQs
Masterclasses, your questions
Specific to this service. General questions about booking, fees and logistics are answered on the FAQs page.
Comfortable enough on your instrument that we can spend the session on musical decisions rather than mechanics, roughly intermediate and up. If you are unsure, send a short recording and you will get a straight answer.
Also relevant
Often booked alongside this
Workshops
Rhythm, ensemble playing and collaborative creative practice for schools, organisations and community groups, no experience needed.
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Talks & Lectures
Talks, lectures and research collaboration on music, migration, cultural exchange and wellbeing, for universities, conferences and organisations.
Read more
Book a masterclass
Tell us your instrument, roughly where you are, and what you would like to change. We will suggest a format and send current rates.