Teaching Jazz Standards

The issue of teaching jazz standards is fraught with questions. What are “standards?” What makes a composition a standard? Why do jazz musicians use them as vehicles for improvisation? How are greater standards distinguished from lesser standards? How does one select particular standards to suit the needs of students? This chapter provides strategies for learning and internalizing the core jazz repertoire. It provides historical context to the development and evolution of the jazz standard canon, looking to the songbook folios of the great American tunesmiths and to original and seminal recordings as sources for the study of this music. Emphasis is given to the practical issues of selecting age- and skill-level-appropriate tunes; memorizing melodies, chord progressions, and lyrics (as applicable) in multiple keys; and devising improvisational exercises specific to individual compositions.

Jazz Trombone

Regardless of the genre, there are numerous shared aspects of trombone playing: beautiful, stylistic sound quality; technical solidity; accurate, flexible intonation; and the ability to demonstrate sound musical judgment. Listening and imitation are especially crucial for young trombonists because the trombone is a technically difficult instrument to master, and that cannot be done without good models. The embouchure is relatively easy to form and develop, but the slide takes far more work to play in tune and without glissando. More than any other wind instrument, the trombone requires a player with an excellent ear. This chapter deals with the parts of the big band trombone section and its functions as a unit, followed by a discussion of trombone technical challenges in jazz (particularly with articulation), equipment, and important recordings.

Jazz Saxophone

The saxophone is the most iconic instrument in jazz. Ask random people which instrument comes to mind when they think of jazz music, and it would surely be the saxophone. Saxophones play throughout charts and are required to navigate a variety of textures and roles, including beautiful unison melodies, technical harmonized solis, chordal comping, and slow-moving background chords, as well as to fill out the body of the band during full ensemble tuttis. This chapter introduces techniques and articulations specific to jazz saxophone style. Jazz-specific techniques such as subtone, tongue stopping, and half-tonguing are presented alongside teaching strategies and exercises. Other techniques discussed include methods of decorating or personalizing notes with scoops, fall offs, and terminal vibrato. Jazz saxophone pedagogical materials are presented in addition to a listening list of great historical saxophonists. The chapter concludes with a debate on the merits of mouthpieces, reeds, and saxophones marketed as jazz-specific items.

Jazz Vocal

Vocal techniques in classical and jazz have much in common; however, even experienced vocalists need to learn the aspects of jazz singing that make it unique. This chapter aims to dispel the myth that jazz singing is completely different from classical singing while pointing out the subtle differences between them. Similarly, aspiring jazz singers need to study all the things that instrumental jazz musicians do and then incorporate words. Topics covered in this chapter include (a) teaching the differences in timbre and vibrato that create the unique jazz vocal sound; (b) centering jazz vocal intonation; (c) avoiding some of the most common pitfalls of jazz diction; and (d) a progressive discussion of types of vocal improvisation, from strategic variation in rhythms and melodies to scat singing. The chapter concludes with a list of important classic jazz standards that have lyrics, including suggestions for teaching those standards according to age and experience.

High School Improvisation

What is the essence of jazz improvisation? Performing jazz musicians will answer in many ways, but there is one guiding principle, which is widely accepted, especially when teaching beginners: express the tonality of the piece. Tonality includes the basic key, and any other keys in the composition, and the chords within those keys, which need to be addressed in a recognizably tonal fashion. The active process of improvisation is tonicization. To tonicize a piece with improvisation is to play closely related scale tones, chord tones, and melodic and harmonic structures which amplify those chord progressions and express the form of the composition. This chapter outlines a sequential process whereby jazz teachers can provide students with the tools to successfully express the tonality of compositions that use II min7 → V7 → I Maj7 (II-7 V7 I∆7) chord changes and their alterations with major, minor, dominant, bebop scales and chord tones. Exercises for learning these scales and chord tones are presented, as well as a step-by-step process for showing students how to apply those scales, chord tones, and bebop permutations appropriately to II-7 V7 I∆7 chord progressions and 12-bar blues progressions with increasing levels of sophistication.

High School Woodwinds and Brass

When rehearsing the high school jazz ensemble, it is important to guide high school students toward becoming musicians who can make independent musical decisions. Doing so will ultimately make the jazz ensemble experience more enjoyable for both the students and the director. This chapter provides the jazz ensemble director with musical exercises, teaching strategies, and a discussion of the roles of each section within the jazz ensemble. The musical exercises and teaching strategies will assist directors with enhancing the listening skills of their students. Exercises include how to teach, improve, and maintain intonation, groove, balance, blend, and articulations. Strategies include teaching students to understand how to listen to themselves, within their respective sections, and to other sections in the ensemble—including how to interact with and connect to the rhythm section.

Beginning Improvisation

An improvised jazz solo is constructed from rhythmic and harmonic vocabulary. It requires the player to have an internal sense of melody, harmony and form that he or she relies on to create musical ideas in real time. This chapter outlines an approach to teaching beginning improvisors that can develop these concepts. It articulates principles of improvisation that students must learn before progressing to advanced theoretical concepts, which include communication; phrasing; tension and release; and the ability to simultaneously create, perform, and respond to music. Throughout the chapter, exercises, activities, and repertoire are provided that effectively lay the groundwork for learning to improvise in the jazz idiom.

Beginning Rhythm Section

How does one take a concert band snare drummer, classically trained pianist, orchestral bass player, and self-taught guitar player and turn them into a jazz rhythm section? The drummer has never had so many drums and cymbals to worry about, the pianist may be playing with a group for the very first time, the bass player has to learn to “walk” a bass line, and the guitar player has to play in foreign keys. This chapter addresses the teaching of the rhythm section with regard to (a) rhythm section notation, (b) bass, (c) piano, (d) guitar, (e) drum set, (f) auxiliary instruments, and (g) rhythm section rehearsal strategies. It presents a sequential approach to teaching the beginning rhythm section: (a) walking bass lines, (b) voicing chords, (c) comping patterns, (d) playing setups and fills, and (e) interpreting and realizing instrument-specific rhythm section notation markings.

Jazz Drums

It is no secret that music educators are faced with unique challenges when engaging young musicians who play drum sets. Many educators aren’t drummers themselves, which can create fear and uncertainty and ultimately lead them to avoid, rather than embrace, the wonderful and exciting world of jazz percussion. This chapter provides conceptual and technical approaches to understanding the role each component of the drum set contributes to the ensemble, as well as the role of the drum set in its entirety. It also touches on how dynamics can change the function and style of a groove as well as creative ways to encourage students to move beyond pattern playing. In particular, discussion and examples are provided regarding setup, sound sources, keeping time, functioning within the rhythm section, transitioning from timekeeping to improvising, and various rhythms and grooves.

Jazz Bass

The role of the double bass in any jazz band is fundamental to the success of the whole ensemble. The bass line carries both the rhythm and harmony from beat to beat in a way that establishes both a solid pulse and a clear formal structure that allows all of the other elements of jazz to be meaningfully felt. This chapter is designed to introduce a double bassist to jazz playing. It begins with fundamental information about instrument setup, posture, and technical approaches that allow for full expression unhindered by physical pain and injury. Next, the chapter introduces approaches to learning music and bass lines by ear and presents a progressive sequence of skills that allow a bassist to embellish simple traditional bass lines creatively and personally by understanding root movement and connecting chords with walking iconic bass lines.