Jesse Elder

Jesse Elder is a Brooklyn based jazz composer, pianist and band leader.  His teaching focuses are introductory piano, jazz piano, composition, arranging and vocal accompaniment.  Jesse is a 3 x winner in the national "ASCAP Young Jazz Composer's Competition".  His ensemble has performed at venues such as the Blue Note, the Jazz Standard, Small's, Fat Cat, BargeMusic and Top of the Rock, among others.  Jesse studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, Oberlin Conservatory & New School University.  He has taught students of all levels for many years at Oberlin, New School, and as a faculty member at the New York Piano Academy.

AS A TEACHER OF COMPOSITION

Jesse will not impose his methods on students, but will instead work closely with them to help them find their own voice, and to nurture it through useful exercises.  The student will be able to discover and/or further explore their personal relationship to sound, melody, harmony, rhythm, counterpoint, theory, philosophy, and other compositional elements.  They will be able to strengthen their ability to work with all of these elements and to combine them organically into one complete picture.  The lessons will ultimately result in a collection of original compositions of ever increasing quality and sincerity.  It will become apparent to both student and teacher when all of the necessary knowledge has been gained, after which time they will be able to compose on their own, with confidence and joy, having all of the recourses necessary to find any answer that they seek.

AS A JAZZ PIANO TEACHER

Jesse will help students with jazz theory, history and piano techinique.  The student will become comfortable, or more comfortable with the piano through technical excersizes and through learning tunes.  The student and teacher will listen to recordings of the great jazz pianists throughout history and will study their approaches carefully.  The student will learn to master jazz harmony one step at a time, starting with basic chords and scales in all twelve keys.  All information will be applied to the learning of standard jazz compositions.  The results of the lessons will depend upon the student's dedication to practicing the material given.  Mastery of jazz piano and the discovery of ones own voice within this context is the ultimate goal.

AS A TEACHER OF VOCAL ACCOMPANIMENT

Jesse will teach intermediate level jazz pianists partnered up with vocalists in a group lesson setting.  Jesse has accompanied vocalists professionally for about 5 years.  He has been holding down a steady gig with vocalists five nights per week for the last two years and has gained a lot of knowledge and experience as a result.  The pianist will learn many techniques that specifically apply to accompanying vocalists including learning how to comp and play bass lines while paying attention to register and dynamics, how to transpose on the spot, approaches to interacting with lyrics, etc...  Vocalists will be able to build repertoire, learn how to write out and transpose parts, and learn how to collaborate with pianists.  Group listening sessions will also be a part of the classes.  We'll find a handful of recordings by master vocalists of tunes that we are learning and will discuss what we hear, what we can learn from it and how to apply it.  Performance opportunities may result for both singers and pianists when they are ready.

If a student wishes to become a jazz pianist and composer, taking both jazz piano and composition lessons is highly recommended, either by alternating every other week, or by taking two lessons per week, depending on the students ability to find time to practice, compose & study.

Get Started with BML to set up a lesson with Jesse.