On Friday, February 11th, the PULSE department had a spectacular time at the Loft updating our community of peers, supporters and friends about the growth within our department as well as some exciting additions to our curriculum. Since our last presentation, we have officially launched our Improvisation and Practical Skills units, and the first chapter of our Jazz Improvisation elective!

For the Improvisation unit, we start by asking Berklee students, “what is improvisation?”  The video from these interviews showcases the different perspectives of improv as well as the similarities!  This level one unit is a great intro to improvisation, and includes video and text resources for call & response, improvised solo, comping /accompaniment, and dynamics & articulations.

Additionally, we have a Jazz Improvisation elective featuring jazz musician and City Music instructor, Mike Tucker.  This master class in jazz improvisation is structured by chapters, and a new chapter will be released each month for a total of twelve chapters (that’s one year of study)!  Each chapter focuses on one song and explores a concept.  For example, Chapter One uses the tune “Sonnymoon for Two” to teach the blues scale, and so on.  Check out the website for upcoming chapters!

The Practical Skills unit goes in depth to address such questions as: Do you think about how you present yourself on and off stage? Do you have a mentor that inspires you? Or maybe a peer that gives you motivation? What career in music makes the most sense for you? We interviewed professors, students, professionals, and technicians to get PULSE users the best information on the life of the working musician.

Interested in learning more about the PULSE Music Method?  Check out our new Getting Started video below.  Please email your comments and questions to the team at community@berkleepulse.net

Latest posts by Nazli (see all)