Philosophy
In my lessons, I am primarily concerned with who I am dealing with and what the wishes and goals of my counterpart are. Whether you are a beginner, advanced or aspiring professional musician, whether you are a trombonist or not: I will support you wherever you want!
Where can you find me?
I teach at the music schools Prova in Winterthur and Musik im Dach in Bern. Private and online-lessons as well as other cities on request.
Lessons: Trombone
The trombone is a rather bulky instrument at first sight. Just finding the different notes seems to be an impossibility, how should one be able to improvise in different keys?
In fact, it takes quite a bit of perseverance and fascination with the challenge of forming tones and fiddling with the slide to get to the point where breathing, tongue, lips and hand are in tune with each other. The good news is that most intrepid people bring the necessary curiosity with them, whether in childhood or even later. In my lessons, I strive to keep that curious fire blazing and to support you individually on your path to mastering the trombone.
First and foremost, I am interested in training the connection between the ear and the instrument: it sounds really good when there is an idea of the sound. This can be worked on in various ways: with children and young people, for example, in the form of freely improvised chorales, "elephant talks" or "backpack packing". Later we train your ear through question-answer exercises or even the use of the singing voice. If you're interested in jazz improvisation, we'll start with a solid foundation: beginning with breaking down chord symbols, we'll work our way through triads to quads and the various church keys, expanding your improvisational repertoire. This way, however, should always be in a playful connection with unbiased improvisation by ear, for example on simple blues pieces or completely free. Learning to play jazz also means learning to listen to jazz. Playing solos by ear is also an essential part of my lessons for advanced jazz trombonists. Playing together with others is the last fundamental part of my teaching philosophy. Whether in duos or larger bands, in my eyes nothing motivates more than the musical exchange with others. It is obvious that this also requires a solid ability to read music.
Lessons: music theory, ear training, band coaching
Not only trombonists are welcome in my lessons: I'm happy to share my knowledge on music theory, analyze jazz standards with you or give you tips on your improvisation skills. Are you part of a band and would you like some input from an outsider every now and then? I'm happy to offer my experience as a bandleader and sideman of various projects and bands and to support you in your rehearsals - whether selectively or regularly is up to you!
Masterclasses, Workshops
In the context of the Jazz ChilEuropa-Festival in 2021 and 2022 I got the opportunity to give two masterclasses for Chilean music students on the topics "How to be a better bandmember?" and "Creating through limitation". The latter is available for free download as a PowerPoint presentation below:
«Creating through limitation» - A helpful concept for composing, practicing, improvising – and life itself!
In collaboration with Moritz Mussgnug and Georgina Jones from the "ETH Students Project House", we realized two workshops of around 3 hours each for students of the ETH Zurich on the topic of "Co-Creation" together with drummer Lukas Mantel and electric bassist Elias Kirchgraber in the fall of 2022. The students had to observe to what extent parallels can be found between the interaction of improvising musicians and a brainstorming session. In simulated short co-creation sessions and various exercises, we then implemented what we had observed together with the students.
If you are interested in a masterclass or the co-creation workshop, please do not hesitate to contact me!
In my lessons, I am primarily concerned with who I am dealing with and what the wishes and goals of my counterpart are. Whether you are a beginner, advanced or aspiring professional musician, whether you are a trombonist or not: I will support you wherever you want!
Where can you find me?
I teach at the music schools Prova in Winterthur and Musik im Dach in Bern. Private and online-lessons as well as other cities on request.
Lessons: Trombone
The trombone is a rather bulky instrument at first sight. Just finding the different notes seems to be an impossibility, how should one be able to improvise in different keys?
In fact, it takes quite a bit of perseverance and fascination with the challenge of forming tones and fiddling with the slide to get to the point where breathing, tongue, lips and hand are in tune with each other. The good news is that most intrepid people bring the necessary curiosity with them, whether in childhood or even later. In my lessons, I strive to keep that curious fire blazing and to support you individually on your path to mastering the trombone.
First and foremost, I am interested in training the connection between the ear and the instrument: it sounds really good when there is an idea of the sound. This can be worked on in various ways: with children and young people, for example, in the form of freely improvised chorales, "elephant talks" or "backpack packing". Later we train your ear through question-answer exercises or even the use of the singing voice. If you're interested in jazz improvisation, we'll start with a solid foundation: beginning with breaking down chord symbols, we'll work our way through triads to quads and the various church keys, expanding your improvisational repertoire. This way, however, should always be in a playful connection with unbiased improvisation by ear, for example on simple blues pieces or completely free. Learning to play jazz also means learning to listen to jazz. Playing solos by ear is also an essential part of my lessons for advanced jazz trombonists. Playing together with others is the last fundamental part of my teaching philosophy. Whether in duos or larger bands, in my eyes nothing motivates more than the musical exchange with others. It is obvious that this also requires a solid ability to read music.
Lessons: music theory, ear training, band coaching
Not only trombonists are welcome in my lessons: I'm happy to share my knowledge on music theory, analyze jazz standards with you or give you tips on your improvisation skills. Are you part of a band and would you like some input from an outsider every now and then? I'm happy to offer my experience as a bandleader and sideman of various projects and bands and to support you in your rehearsals - whether selectively or regularly is up to you!
Masterclasses, Workshops
In the context of the Jazz ChilEuropa-Festival in 2021 and 2022 I got the opportunity to give two masterclasses for Chilean music students on the topics "How to be a better bandmember?" and "Creating through limitation". The latter is available for free download as a PowerPoint presentation below:
«Creating through limitation» - A helpful concept for composing, practicing, improvising – and life itself!
In collaboration with Moritz Mussgnug and Georgina Jones from the "ETH Students Project House", we realized two workshops of around 3 hours each for students of the ETH Zurich on the topic of "Co-Creation" together with drummer Lukas Mantel and electric bassist Elias Kirchgraber in the fall of 2022. The students had to observe to what extent parallels can be found between the interaction of improvising musicians and a brainstorming session. In simulated short co-creation sessions and various exercises, we then implemented what we had observed together with the students.
If you are interested in a masterclass or the co-creation workshop, please do not hesitate to contact me!