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Orientation Courses for Bachelor Degree (COS)

The Taller de Músics, a pioneering school in teaching jazz and modern music in Barcelona, offers a bridging course intended for students with a heterogeneous profile (including students with classical training) who wish to prepare for the Bachelor of Music in the modalities of Jazz and Modern Music Performance, Flamenco Performance, Composition, Musical Pedagogy, Production and Management and Sonology. From previous level tests, a personalised itinerary is composed with the aim of enabling students to pass the entrance tests. By means of a very refined tutorial action, the course prepares the students to face and enjoy the four courses of the Bachelor of Music. 

Orientation Courses for Bachelor Degree (COS)

STUDENT PROFILE

Students with a heterogeneous profile (also those with classical training),and with an interest in music, specifically the specialities of Interpretation, Composition or Musical Pedagogy.

Currently, 60% of the students who access the higher studies of jazz and modern music in Catalonia do so through this preparation program of the Taller de Músics. COS has also been a determining factor for students who have decided to enter music universities in European cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin or Liverpool, as well as the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

ITINERARIES

Initial evaluation and tutoring

Tutoring is an essential element in this course of orientation to higher musical studies. The tutor, who knows the initial evaluation of the student, monitors his or her progress with regard to the knowledge acquired and the development of practical contents. They also monitor the organisation of regular tasks, the ability to cooperate with peers and teachers and the process of self-learning. In addition, the tutor is responsible for data collection, coordination and tutorial action with the student and his/her teachers.

Area of specialisation

It consists of a set of 4 or 5 subjects that vary depending on the specialisation of the student:

Specialisation in Jazz and Modern Music Performance:

  • Musical Language and Ear Trainig
  • Instrument/voice
  • Instrumental Ensemble
  • Jazz Techniques

Specialisation in Flamenco Performance:

  • Musical Language and Ear Trainig
  • Instrument/voice
  • Instrumental Ensemble or Flamenco Choir
  • Theory & Flamenco Harmony
  • Flamenco Percussion (Compás y soniquete)

Specialisation in Composition:

  • Musical Language and Ear Trainig
  • Instrument/voice
  • Composition and Orchestration
  • Jazz Techniques
  • Complementary Piano

Specialisation of Pedagogy:

  • Musical Language and Ear Trainig
  • Instrument/voice
  • Instrumental Ensemble
  • Jazz Techniques
  • Musical Pedagogy

Specialisation of Management & Production:

  • Musical Language and Ear Trainig
  • Instrument/voice
  • Instrumental Ensemble
  • Jazz Techniques
  • Management and Production

Specialisation of Sonology:

  • Musical Language and Ear Trainig
  • Instrument/voice
  • Instrumental Ensemble
  • Jazz Techniques
  • Sonology

The subjects that make up each specialisation prepare the student to pass all the entrance exams to higher education.

SUBJECTS

Collective class for students of the same level who form an instrumental group and who, under the supervision of a teacher, work on musicality, improvisation and the use of melodic and harmonic material. Through this subject, the student discovers and develops his own sound and its projection. We learn to develop the differential musical elements of each student, as well as the relation breath-sentence, the individual and collective pulsation, or the improvisation in modal and tonal contexts in habitual forms of jazz and other modern styles.

It also develops the ability to use various tools for the creation or development of own ideas. They also learn to accompany melodies and improvisations and to exploit melodic-harmonic materials that are integrated into their own sound and that of the group. We work on the recognition of forms and structures in tonal contexts typical of jazz and the adaptation to styles, seeking an approximation in the competencies that are developed in the Superior Title. We work on the professional aspects of interpretation and improvisation: structure and form of the theme, reading, memorization, and transcription of solos.

This subject is the fundamental technical support for the integration of the student into the curriculum of the Course of Orientation to Higher Studies. The classes are individual, and the teacher helps the student not only to overcome the difficulties that arise during their academic journey but also to provide tools for self-learning. Progress with the instrument is also monitored in the context of the Instrumental/Improvisation Set course.

The instrument classes work on the following aspects: Technical skills of the instrument in the field of jazz and modern music; knowledge of the harmonic and/or melodic, rhythmic and expression resources of the instrument; reading at sight; studies and repertoire. The instruments that can be studied are piano, guitar, electric bass, double bass, drums, percussion, saxophone, clarinet, flute, trumpet, trombone, tuba, violin, cello and voice.

This course studies the relationship between the different harmonic sounds integrated within the tonal system, in the context of the popular music generated in the 20th century (jazz, Latin, Brazilian, rock, etc.). The subject has a theoretical point of view where cognitive contents are developed, and a practical point of view (composition exercises applied to the theory studied) where procedural contents are developed.

The main purpose is the training of students, not only with the ability to understand the music they play, but also able to create it themselves and develop their own ideas. Writing techniques are developed for different modern instrumental formations including the Big Band. This involves formal analysis, writing for the rhythm section, harmonization for three, four and five wind instruments, re-harmonization and orchestration for Big Band with practical exercises.

We work on the analysis of various levels of written and sound musical expressions, as well as the recognition and transcription of various categories of sound events. Some of the students’ exercises will be performed by instrumental ensemble students, middle cycle saxophone students or, in the case of Big Band exercises, these will be performed by the Original Jazz Orchestra of the Taller de Músicos (OJO).

It is in this subject where the student knows the elements of musical notation and the terminologies of jazz and modern music, becoming able to make appropriate use, both for reading and writing transcripts or ideas themselves. The student will also be able to identify auditive and transcribe correctly forms, instrumentations, tonalities, cadences and rhythmic elements of specific musical fragments, as well as studying the fundamentals and structure of musical language and its application in interpretative, creative or research practice. In this subject, we work on rhythmic comprehension, ear education, music theories, listening, formal analysis and transcriptions.

Faculty

Teaching Team

Valentí Adell

Pedagogical Director
COS Coordinator

Manel Vega

COS Coordinator

Néstor Giménez

COS-ESEM Coordinator

Pau Solsona

COS-ESEM Coordinator

Marta Martín

Flamenco Coordinator

Faculty

Search for faculty by using the Faculty Directory. This directory is searchable by name, subject, instrument or filterable by program.

Academic Calendar 2023-2024

Level tests and recovery exams

1ST QUARTER
Level tests:  September 6, 7 and 8, 2023

  • September 6: Musical Language, Harmony and Jazz Techniques
  • September 7 and 8 : Combos

2ND QUARTER
Level tests: February 9 and 12, 2024

  • February 9: Musical Language, Harmony and Jazz Techniques
  • February 12: Combos

COURSE CALENDAR

Calendar [PDF]

1ST QUARTER
September 
18, 2023 – February 2, 2024

  • Christmas Holidays: December 23, 2023 – January 7, 2024
  • Holidays:  September 25, October 12, November 1, December 6 and 8, 2023
  • The school will remain closed on December 7.

2ND QUARTER
February 
19 – June 19, 2024

  • Easter: March 25-April 1, 2024
  • Holidays: May 1 and 20, 2024

ACCESS TO STUDIES

Courses are four-monthly (a four-month period corresponds to a complete subject level). The continuation from one quarter to the next is not obligatory. You can register at the Secretariat of the Taller de Músics during the weeks prior to the beginning of each term.

GENERAL REGISTRATIONS

1ST QUARTER

  • Reservations: June 1-20, 2023
  • Registrations: July 3-21, 2023

2ND QUARTER

  • Reservations: January 8-26, 2024
  • Registrations: February 6-8, 2024

Requested documentation:
DNI, NIE or Passport/certificate from other music centres/course fees. Criteria for awarding places: in strict order of registration.

Cancellation of registrations:
Refund of the amount paid (less 15% of administrative expenses) within the same registration period.

Late registrations:
Once the course has begun, new students will be admitted according to the criteria of the pedagogical direction. Consult the Secretary’s Office.

Where we are

Taller de Músics Music School
Requesens, 3-5
08001 Barcelona
t. 93 329 56 67
m. 608 381 118
[email protected]

How to get here
Bus: D50, V11, H16, 55, 120
Metro: L2 Sant Antoni (exit Villarroel)

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