The Dao of Jazz : Harnessing Flow
10-week course : VOD + LIVE Inaugural Offer - 50% off £2̶0̶0̶0̶ £1000 - £25/hr
Weekly 2 hrs of Video-on-demand + 2 hrs live group session (also recorded for VOD)
Each signup also gets a 1hr 1-on-1 session with Ed
Limited to 30 spaces, 3 x groups of 10 - US, UK/EU, SEA timezones -
-OR-
10-week course : 2hr weekly Video - £250
Starts September - Detailed Course Description below - Email ed@thabo.uk
As Children, we saw a world full of wonder, incomprehensible at first. Slowly we developed the tools to explore it - walking, language, society - and it revealed itself to us in all its splendour. These tools we gained through daily struggle, trial and error, learning from our failures with endless motivation to try again and do it better.
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For most, at some point, that joy of discovery and courageous agency was challenged. For some, and often at great cost, it was protected. For many, it was not - and once lost it is hard to regain.
For every child to find their 'talent' in Music, there are dozens who are convinced, through negative experiences and trauma, that it does not exist. That they are 'not talented', that they are 'not smart', that they 'can't sing'. These are lies.
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You do not need to be a Musician to learn Music, you just need to want to learn. You do not need to be a Musician to inspire this in others, you just need Compassion. Everybody can learn, everybody can sing, everybody is talented in different ways. The only thing in the way is Fear.
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This course will give you the power of Flow to overcome Fear. With Learning through Play, you will develop not only the courage to expand your comfort zone and broaden your own musical horizons, but also the confidence and compassion to help others do the same.
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Consisting of Four accessible and fun music Games, embedded with mindfulness and Creative discovery, Music is Easy was developed around recent ground-breaking developments in the Neuroscience of Flow-State. If you are interested in reading more about this applied to Neurodiversity and Learning, please check out my Blog here.
Game 1 : C is to the Left - a cognitive diagnostic framework built around the Piano keyboard, serving as an introduction to 12 Tone Equal Temperament - the foundation of Western Music - and a powerful and multi-layered analytical device to identify and support learners of all Cognitive Neurotypes, both typical and diverse.
Game 2 : The Word Game - a compositional practice game for melody and harmony, where players write Music using just the letters used in music - for example BED, EGG, or CABBAGE - without any stave codification or secondary systems, and practice playing them within an engaging framework of mini-games, including "Speed Words", "Play it Backwards" and "What's that Song?". In addition, The Word Game guides learners to self-discover through necessity the value of vertical displacement in notation, manifesting the visual elements of melodic patterns - the device at the centre of reading and writing music in Western Standard Notation. When the Words attempted become too long or challenging, or octave displacement is discovered between learners (ie. he went up, she went down) - learners transition to The Word Game Level 2 - Vertical Words, and sight-read free-floating letters on a page instead of a stave. This will inevitably become again too complicated for letters, at which the stave and noteheads are introduced motivated by the Agency of the Learner as a valuable and understood tool, thereby becoming intuitive through use.
Game 3 : The Rhythm Game - a compositional practice game for Rhythm, where players effortlessly create rhythms using arbitrary composition techniques, and learn to feel them by counting, clapping, dancing, and playing it on their instrument.
Game 4 - The Meow-Coaster - an exploratory singing Game, where players will be guided to explore Pitch and Volume by making funny noises and mimicing everyday city scenes, then given the tools to confidently use their voice to make a variety of pitches, simply by Meowing beautifully up and down a roller-coaster, manifesting in effortless accurate pitching, air support and vocal freedom.
Designed to be played together, with no previous knowledge of Music necessary, these Games will guide you and your children, friends, family, band members, CoD squad, DnD Party, through finding notes, writing music, clapping rhythms, and unlocking your voice, all without sheet music.
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This introductory course consists of 10 weekly video lessons, as well as weekly live sessions for you to get help with the course material tailored to your needs and situation.
With emergent learning built into the 4 Core Games of Music is Easy, you will be given they keys to a Toolbox of Games and Exercises that can be used by and with learners of any age, any instrument, any ability, and any Neurodiversity.
Book 1 : Foundation sets out the Games, Book 2 : Freedom elaborates these into a comprehensive pathway to Mastery of the Fundamentals of Western Music.
Tha Dao of Jazz : Harnessing Flow
As an early-adopter special, this course will be available at a 50% discount at £2̶0̶0̶0̶ £1000. There will be limited spaces in the first sets of courses, with a total of 10 spaces available in each of three timezones - these will be scheduled by agreement depending on numbers, and we will accomodate US, EU and SEA timezones.
Book your spot by emailing ed@thabo.uk
Course Outline and weekly Module Descriptions
Week 1 : C is to the Left Part 1.
Cognitive Diagnostics – Understanding and supporting Neurodiversity – we are all Neurodiverse, but some are more diverse than others In this lesson, you will learn to use C is to the Left, Game 1 - Book 1 : Foundation as a cognitive diagnostic toolkit. Through multi-sensory puzzles, you will be given the tools to understand yours or another's neuro-cognitive characteristics. Aptitude for pattern recognition, reading, phonics, rhythm, complex systems will all manifest through the first task of Drawing the Piano keyboard accurately. In addition, the concept of Layering and Chunking is implemented, with the final task of the lesson incorporating all previous layers of information. By understanding Cognitive Neurotypes, activites can be directed and delivered so as to support progression both in areas of aptitude, and to develop areas of mal-aptitude, most powerfully by connecting the two in a framework of Agency of the learner - by wanting to overcome their weaknesses, the Brain will do so.
Week 2 : C is to the Left Part 2. Systems of Systems
– Applying this to instruments The Piano keyboard is essential for understanding 12 Tone Equal Temperament (also known as 'Western Music'), and the lack of understanding of this pattern is a key shared challenge to understanding of all other Western Instruments. In this week's video, the challenge of applying the Pattern learned in week 1 is now extrapolated to other instruments. Having the abstract pattern of 12TET layered and chunked into a picture of a Piano will provide the basis for an understanding of the interactions of different instruments with this system. Further, it provides an Educator the opportunity to observe a Learner's capacity to consider systems-of-systems, with an interface between tangible physical and physiological systems - the act of playing the Piano - into abstract cognitive concepts - the application of Letters to the Keys - back to physical/physiological systems in a different setup - finding that pattern on Guitar. Each instrument group approaches this concept in a different way, with a corresponding difference in the physical/physiological approach to note creation.
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Week 3 : The Word Game Part 1.
– What, When, Why and How we Practice
Week 4 : The Word Game Part 2.
– Self-Discovery through Practice
Week 5 : The Rhythm Game Part 1.
– The Impossible or Easy Paradox
Week 6 : The Rhythm Game Part 2.
– Scaling difficulty and practice motivation
Week 7 : The Meow-Coaster Part 1.
– Using the voice confidently as a tool
Week 8 : The Meow-Coaster Part 2.
– Developing the voice with our instrument
Week 9 : The Rule of 5
– Flow State
Week 10 : Moving out of the Practice Room
Frequently Asked Questions
Q : When will the Course start?
A : September 2024 / by agreement with Cohort of 10 max
Q : Who is this Course for?
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A: Self-motivated Learners, Neurodiverse Adults, Parents and Educators supporting young people, especially Neurodiverse
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Q : What Outcomes can I expect from this course?
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A : The 5 objectives for Learners on this course are
1. To overcome Fear with Flow.
2. To have the Courage to broaden their own musical horizons.
3. To have the Confidence to help others broaden theirs.
4. To have the Tools to overcome Creative blocks and boundaries.
5. To be excited to share their Music with the World.
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Q : What will the Course look like, week by week?
A : The 10 weeks of the course will follow the progression of Games in the Method, delivered as video lessons by Ed to 3 Recipients - an intermediate / beginner, an advanced Musician, and a Music Educator. These Videos will be 30-60mins each, with a likely average of 2 hours for all 3.
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Each week, course recipients will be given a Video lesson to work with over the week, with a 2-hour live Group Session to reflect on their understandings and seek further guidance, sharing the experience with Ed and other course recipients. These sessions will also be recorded and available as on-demand video content for people in that cohort.
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All recipients will also have one free 1-to-1 session with Ed, redeemable at a time of their choice - with the option to secure further 1-on-1 sessions for a fee.
The progression of Lessons through Books 1 and 2 of the Dao of Jazz firstly give Learners the ability to take a step back from thinking, then progress through layers of Mindfulness, Mastery and an evolving self-discovery of principles of Musical development, finally resolving into an experience of Flow in Practice and a framework by which to consciously harness that Cognitive State.
Q : How will the course be delivered?
A : Private videos, downloadable via Youtube, with weekly group video calls on Discord or other video conferencing services subject to consensus / request.