Music player is not currently functioning in Internet Explorer version 9. Please use Firefox or Chrome until we find a solution.

Jazz Study

Anton is an exceptional player & inspirational teacher... and a lot of fun! He is organized & prepared, and so well versed in so many aspects of jazz performance and education... What more could a student want in a teacher?! — Susan Muscarella, Director, The California Jazz Conservatory

Anton Schwartz possess the perfect blend of musicianship; a top-flight saxophonist, an inspired composer, and a professional with a keen sense of the music industry and the jazz community-at-large. His teaching combines these gifts into…

…a unique presentation of sophistication, clarity, and personality; before you know it you've got the keys in your pocket! — Joe Gilman, Musical Director, The Brubeck Institute

I've really enjoyed your approach in the weekly workout sessions. Your teaching style strikes me as a rare combination of clarity, curiosity, creativity, and practicality. — Michael Gold, saxophonist

Anton is a superb teacher. He listens to my playing and singles out specific areas for me to focus on, which has improved my improvisation dramatically. He is engaging & enthusiastic... — Terrigal Burn, pianist

Anton Schwartz, Jazz Educator

Anton is passionate about helping professional and recreational musicians overcome hurdles in their musical pursuits. He has taught extensively at the California Jazz Conservatory, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, the Lafayette Summer Jazz Workshop and the the Brubeck Institute. He has been Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University and the Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony and has given clinics at dozens of jazz institutions, including the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars, Seattle JazzED, KPLU School of Jazz, and the Bellevue Jazz Festival Rising Stars program. He also teaches privately in Seattle and Oakland.

Anton brings the precision of a scientist—he has degrees in Mathematics from Harvard and Artificial Intelligence from Stanford—and the soul of an artist. He is a highly accomplished performer and recording artist; see his biography for more information.

Here are the most recent postings on Anton Schwartz’s jazz blog:

To stay posted four times a year on Anton’s teaching activities, as well as pointers and thoughts about learning jazz, sign up for his jazz education email list .

Individual Lessons

75 minutes • $90

Anton teaches lessons out of his studios in Seattle, Washington and Oakland, California, as well as via Skype (see below). He works with intermediate and advanced students of diverse instruments who have an interest in some or all of the following:

  • Improvising fluidly over chord changes
  • Powerful expression through music
  • Internalizing advanced harmony
  • Fluency in the many idioms of jazz, plus funk & blues
  • Phrasing
  • Saxophone technique, including sound production, articulation, altissimo and inflections.
  • The physics of musical sound
  • Efficient practice methods for a busy lifestyle

Anton particularly loves working with musicians who have studied scales and chords but are frustrated in their efforts to use those devices to make great solos.

Skype Lessons

60 minutes • $60

Like in-studio lessons (above) but via two-way video on Skype or FaceTime.

Combo Lessons

90 minutes • $120

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 Jazzschool, The Brubeck Institute and the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and has taught entire courses and workshops on a great number of the components that go into successful ensemble playing.

Anton is an accomplished & effective clinician.

He gives workshops frequently at a variety of institutions.
Below are some of his upcoming teaching engagements.

Upcoming Events

Subscribe: Tap an event for more info RSS | iCal

Mar 30 Saturday
Jazz Night School - Seattle, WA

Clinic

“Beyond the Blues Scale”

Show More Info

10am-3pm with a 30-minute break for lunch
Designed for players accustomed to using a single scale for each song they improvise over, this interactive workshop introduces participants to the rich experience of improvising over changing harmony. The leap from jamming over a chord or a blues scale to playing meaningfully over moving chords can be overwhelming; this workshop breaks it down through progressive exercises that allow students to hear and feel the changes of harmony, paving the way for students to play over chord changes as a natural expression of emotion rather than an intellectual exercise. Participants learn to improvise over a 12-bar blues like a jazz musician, bringing out the unique sound of each part of the blues form, rather than treating it all as an undifferentiated whole.
Prerequisites: knowledge of major and minor scales and facility on a melodic instrument.
Apr 13 Saturday
Jazz Night School - Seattle, WA

Clinic

“Improvising with Pentatonics”

Show More Info

10am-12:30pm
A theoretical and practical look at pentatonic (five-note) scales and their role in jazz, paying particular attention to the many ways we can use them to great effect in our solos. We lay out the theory behind them from the ground up, show how they may be used in myriad harmonic contexts, and discuss exactly how it is that such a simple harmonic tool (they are the basis of some of the simplest folk melodies around the world) can be used so powerfully in modern music to create so many so many colors and degrees of tension and dissonance.
Prerequisites: A basic understanding of chords and seven-note scales is required; familiarity with advanced harmony (altered, lydian, etc.) is desirable.
Price: $50; $85 when combined with the “Improvising with Triad Pairs” workshop the same day.
Apr 13 Saturday
Jazz Night School - Seattle, WA

Clinic

“Improvising with Triad Pairs”

Show More Info

1pm-3pm
A particular sound can be achieved by constructing musical phrases using a six-note scale and grouping the six notes into two triads. It’s a sound most closely associated with John Coltrane, and first discussed extensively by Walt Weiskopf. In this workshop we discuss this technique of triad pairs and how it departs from the pre-1960 jazz vocabulary. We explore its harmonic foundations and it various uses, and learn tips for integrating it into our improvisations.
Prerequisites: An understanding of chords and seven-note scales is required; familiarity with advanced harmony (altered, lydian, etc.) is desirable.
Price: $50; $85 when combined with the “Improvising with Pentatonics” workshop the same day.
Jul 15 Monday
Lafayette Summer Jazz Workshop - Lafayette, CA

Faculty

July 15-19

Show More Info


You may also browse a list of workshops Anton has offered in the past.

 

 

Random Roots App

NEWS FLASH!

I'm proud to announce that the Random Roots app is now available on the App Store for iPhone/iPad. It's the culmination of a year's work, and it's a game changer for players looking to deepen their musicianship and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their practice.

To learn more and download it for free, visit randomroots.app.

—Anton

Random Roots App

NEWS FLASH!

I'm proud to announce that the Random Roots app is now available on the App Store for iPhone/iPad. It's the culmination of a year's work, and it's a game changer for players looking to deepen their musicianship and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their practice.

To learn more and download it for free, visit randomroots.app.

—Anton