This clinic will provide students and band directors with practical tools to create an authentic jazz piano sound in their ensembles. Topics will include: the pianist’s role in the rhythm section, navigating a notated piano part, jazz piano voicings, comping rhythms, and the balance between reading the music and using your ears. Through live demonstrations and audience Q&A, the clinician will share practical skills and concepts that participants can immediately apply in rehearsal and performance.
David Springfield
- Biographical Information
David Springfield is Professor and Director of Jazz Studies at Valdosta State University, where he teaches jazz piano and directs the VSU Jazz Ensemble. He holds degrees in Trombone Performance and Jazz Studies from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under renowned mentors including John Marcellus, Rayburn Wright, Bill Dobbins, and Fred Sturm. An active educator and clinician, Springfield has worked with honor bands across the Southeast and served for over a decade as the jazz instructor for the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. He has presented at international conferences of the Jazz Education Network (JEN) and the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC). As a composer and arranger, Springfield has written for jazz ensembles, concert bands, symphony orchestras, and chamber groups. His music has been performed by acclaimed artists and ensembles such as Branford Marsalis, Phil Woods, the Count Basie Orchestra, and the Boston Pops Orchestra, and is published through Kendor Music and Sierra Music Publishing.