Jazz Pedagogy
Richard Grennor, Ed.D.
Teaching Jazz Band: Jazz Band Set-Up & ...
Teaching Jazz Band: Jazz Band Set-Up & Rehearsals
Jazz Pedagogy
Richard Grennor, Ed.D.
Teaching Jazz Improvisation: The Two Bar Jazz ...

Once the students have mastered the blues and minor pentatonic scales as discussed in the previous post Teaching Jazz Improvisation: What Notes Do I Play? Teach the students to perform as a group ten 2-measure blues riffs, which the entire ensemble learns to perform together as a part of a warm-up.

Teaching Jazz Improvisation: The Two Bar Jazz Riff
Jazz Pedagogy, Lesson Ideas
Richard Grennor, Ed.D.
Teaching Jazz Improvisation: What Notes Do I ...

The middle school/junior high school years provide an excellent opportunity to begin to introduce kids to jazz performance and improvisation. Most middle school and junior high level jazz ensemble music arrangements involve only a few chord changes making it an excellent time forstudents to practice the art of improvisation. Here are a few jazz improvisational exercises that are not usually taught and sometimes forgotten.

Teaching Jazz Improvisation: What Notes Do I Play?
Lesson Ideas
Richard Grennor, Ed.D.
Benefits of Music Instruction for English ...

Music and English language arts have three fundamental learning processes in common. First, music and language learning are auditory and involve the ability to hear and manipulate sounds (Butzlaff, 2000; Hansen, Bernstorf, & Stuber, 2014). Second, music and literacy uses a system of written symbols as a means to communicate information to others (Hall & Robinson, 2012). Finally, music and literacy involve encoding and decoding systems used to process and construct meaning (Hall & Robinson, 2012; Hansen et al., 2014; Jancke, 2012; Rautenberg, 2013; Tierney & Kraus, 2013). In today's post, I’m sharing four benefits of music instruction for English Language Learning (ELL). 

Benefits of Music Instruction for English Language Learners (ELL's)
Lesson Ideas
Richard Grennor, Ed.D.
My Favorite Documentaries for Music Class ...

Today, I'm writing about two of my favorite music documentaries my middle school music students enjoyed watching during African American History Month. The two movies are Keep on Keeping’ On and Thunder Soul. These films provide a great platform for meaningful discussions in the instrumental music class.

My Favorite Documentaries for Music Class During African-American History Month

Professional Development

5 Ways to Help Your Musician Succeed in Taking Remote Music Lessons

5 Ways to Help Your Musician Succeed in Taking Remote Music Lessons

The beginning stages of learning a musical instrument is the most challenging time for most students. Given the current health crisis resulting in school districts keeping learning remote, music students are confronted with new challenges when learning a new musical instrument. During these tough times, beginning music students can easily become frustrated and want to quit. We all need encouragement when we are down. We can help our young musicians to be strong by sharing with them obstacles that we have overcome in our own life journey. Life’s challenges are opportunities for us to grow to our fullest potential.

In this video, I will share some straightforward strategies parents can do to help their beginning instrumental music students succeed when taking virtual music lessons.

3 Keys to Successful Remote Music Lessons

3 Keys to Successful Remote Music Lessons

In order to avoid exposure to the coronavirus, we’ve all have had to limit our activities by staying home more often than usual. For music teachers and their students, in-person instrumental music instruction by nature can be a bit risky. I think we all would agree, music lessons are an important part of any musician’s success, no matter their age and ability. However, the current health crisis does not mean that students must stop getting the instruction they need to improve their craft. For those of us passionate about music instruction, virtual music lessons offer a safer alternative for students to sustain their progress in instrumental music while maintaining safe social distancing practices.

In this short video, I will share a few simple steps that can help make online music lessons as meaningful as in-person lessons.