• expressing emotions powerfully through music
• improvising fluidly over chord changes
• playing by ear
• fluency in the many idioms of jazz, plus funk & blues
• phrasing
• advanced harmony
• saxophone technique, including sound production, articulation, altissimo, inflections & effects.
• the physics of musical sound
• efficient practice methods for a busy lifestyle

Lessons are normally 75 minutes long and cost $90.

Anton works with jazz combos at his studio, on either a one-time or a periodic basis. He listens to their playing, points out areas of strength and weakness, coaches them to improve the weak areas during the lesson and suggests ways for them to further develop on their own. He has worked with beginning to advanced groups since 1995, at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, The Brubeck Institute and the Jazzschool, and has taught courses and workshops on many of the components that go into successful ensemble playing.

These group lessons are normally 90 minutes long and cost $150.

To stay posted on Anton's teaching activities, as well as occasional pointers and thoughts about learning jazz, sign up for his jazz education mailing list.

"Recipes for Success as an Independent Jazz Artist"
July 31, 2011, Sunday, 11am-4pm
A practical look at how to build your career in music. Whether you have you have several CDs and years of gigs under your belt or you're just getting started and have never recorded, this workshop is guaranteed to let you understand the music business - and your place in it - in ways you never had before. Subjects include building your fan base, social media, getting gigs, dealing with club owners, selling and distributing your music, the role of a CD, conventional and digital sales, radio airplay and promotion, getting reviews and interviews. We'll have fun while we cover plenty of territory, with lots of good anecdotes and inside information!
For more information & registration visit jazzschool.com.

"Playing the *@$^%* out of Someday My Prince Will Come"
November 13, 2011, Sunday, 11am-1:30pm
Originally from the 1937 Disney film, Snow White, and appropriated for jazz first by Dave Brubeck (1957) and most famously by Miles Davis (1961), “Someday My Prince Will Come” has become a staple of the jazz repertoire, and is among the most frequently played jazz waltzes. We delve deeply into the song, examining its harmony in ways that will directly help us improvise over it, discussing the chord progression on both a micro level (how each chord leads to the next) and a big-picture level (how they all work together to form a coherent song). Suggestions are given for ways to mentally simplify the song's structure, as well as ways to embellish to the chord changes. Students optionally improvise over the song and are critiqued, with recommendations given for a direct path to improvement.
Prerequisites: facility on a melodic instrument or vocals, improvisational experience, and knowledge of basic jazz harmony.
Bring your instrument (optional).
For more information & registration visit jazzschool.com.

"Playing the *@$^%* out of Night in Tunisia"
November 13, 2011, Sunday, 2pm-4pm
This Dizzy Gillespie composition is central to both bebop and latin jazz repertoires, and one of the most commonly called tunes at jam sessions. We examine how to improvise over it in such a way as to sound like you're making the chord changes but not "simply playing the changes." Additional tips are given for creating a compelling performance of this unique piece. Students optionally improvise over the song and are critiqued, with recommendations given for a direct path to improvement.
Prerequisites: facility on a melodic instrument or vocals, improvisational experience, and knowledge of basic jazz harmony.
Bring your instrument (optional).
For more information & registration visit jazzschool.com.

"Altered Dominant and Dominant 13-flat-9 Chords - The How, When & Why of Using Them"
January 29, 2012, Sunday, 10:30am-1:30pm
These two chords provide rich colors that are essential to the palette of intermediate and advanced jazz players. This workshop takes a deep look at the chords and their accompanying scales, examining how each is constructed, *why* they are constructed that way, and how they may be used to maximal effect. Their sounds are contrasted within the context of jazz (e.g. when should one be used rather than the other?), listening to examples of their use. Additional topics include: different types of "outness"; and lydian dominant, the "sister" of the altered sound. This workshop is appropriate for students without prior exposure to the subject, as well as students familiar with melodic minor and diminished harmony who wish to deepen their understanding. Guaranteed to show you ways of thinking about these chords that you haven't seen before.
Prerequisite: an understanding of basic theory and the mixolydian scale.

"Sus Chords - The How, When & Why of Using Them"
January 29, 2012, Sunday, 2pm-4pm
This workshop takes a deep look at suspended dominant chords. We discuss how they operate and listen to examples of their use. Topics include: traditional versus modern use, sus-flat-9, sus-add-3, relation to II-V-I progressions, techniques for improvisation.
Prerequisite: an understanding of basic theory and the mixolydian scale.

— Other recent workshops —

"Beyond the Blues Scale"

"Improvising with Pentatonics"

"Improvising with Triad Pairs"

"Happy Endings: The Art of Ending a Tune"

"How The Saxophone Works"

"Jazz Saxophone: Making it Swing"