Beede Music Service

Introduction: I specialize in teaching techniques of improvisation to classical and jazz pianists. Backed up by my extensive, 42-year background composing and playing music for modern dance and ballet as well as 30 years of playing jazz and rock in casual and professional bands. I use Indian classical and "Greek modes" to teach melodic improvisation and "cyclic sequences" as taught (by Nadia Boulanger and others) to many of the great American classical composers in the early 20th century to familiarize classical and jazz pianists with the landscape and structures of the written music they are playing. Learning these patterns of melody and harmony gives the classical musicians a wider experience of the music they play as well as jazz musicians. These exercises help in memorization and can give the classical pianist the wherewithal to pull themselves out of memory slips, create their own music and to experientially understand the landscape of the music they perform.