Jazz Education
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.
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.
Learning melodies and songs by ear helps improve in all fundamental areas of music. Including this skill as part of a practice routine makes practicing enjoyable, concrete and practical. The process associated with learning melodies by ear allows the musician to practice all the music skills that matter most, which are technique, sound, phrasing, timing, rhythmic accuracy and musicality.
There are two misconceptions about jazz that prevent many teachers from incorporating improvisation into their curriculum. One widely held belief is that students need to have all of your scales and chords memorized before they can try to improvise. A second misconception involves -thinking of improvisation with the end in mind, rather than as a skill developed over time. As a result of these long held beliefs, music educators are often reluctant to explore the art of improvisation with their students.
As a middle school music educator, I found that the middle school/junior high school years provide an excellent opportunity to introduce kids to jazz improvisation. Most middle school and junior high level jazz ensemble music arrangements involve only a few chord changes making it a favorable time for students to learn the art of improvisation. In today's post, I'm sharing som