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

Music Education

Benefits of Music Instruction for English Language Learners (ELL's)

Benefits of Music Instruction for English Language Learners (ELL's)

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). 

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

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

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.

Composing Biographical Rap Songs

Composing Biographical Rap Songs

Today I'm writing about one of my favorite projects that my middle school general music students enjoyed, “Composing Biographical Rap Songs.”  When I have used this project, the students were always super excited about the prospects of writing and recording their own rap songs.

Top 4 Apps for Practicing Every Musician Should Have

Top 4 Apps for Practicing Every Musician Should Have

When I was studying music in college, I had spent a lot of money purchasing expensive music making tools from tuners and metronomes to play along recordings to helped me develop as a musician. Modern technologies such as smartphones, ipad's and tablets allow for these powerful music making tools as well as others to be close at hand for only a few dollars. In today's post,  I'm sharing some of my favorite practicing and performance apps.