Cory Chapman

MUSED 350
Topic Paper
Dr. Palmer
Learning to Teach Jazz with No Experience
When tasked with this assignment, I immediately thought it would be a great opportunity
to tackle one of my biggest weaknesses as a musician and an educator; the world of jazz music. I
have never studied jazz repertoire or theory, and have never performed as a part of a jazz
ensemble. I have also never been in a jazz pedagogy course, and the idea of teaching this style
of music is very daunting to me because of the idea that my students may be more
knowledgeable than me. I will need to teach a jazz ensemble during my student teaching next
semester, and I believe that setting will be my greatest challenge. That is why I chose to
interview four area high school music teachers, and one professional percussionist about how
they learned to both teach and perform jazz. I asked the teachers one set of questions, and the
performer another set, since the questions about the classroom would not resonate with the
performer. I think that my data collection field was large enough to give me a good base of
information and knowledge, and all of these educators are experienced and successful. I asked
them the following questions:
1.) How did you prepare to lead your first jazz ensemble?
2.) What are some good resources for me, having no experience, to learn and be
successful in this arena?
3.) Was/is it difficult to build interest among the students for this type of ensemble?
4.) Does your rhythm section take lessons?
5.) How do you teach improvisation?
6.) Do you have a lot of students in jazz band that are not in your concert band(s)?

By asking these questions, I hoped to gain some insight in to how they approach their task of
teaching jazz to young people. Of the performer, I asked a series of questions regarding how he
himself learned to play jazz, and how he would recommend that I prepare myself by learning to
play as well. In the next section, I would like to introduce the participants in this study through a
description of their experience, because I have decided not to use names.
I interviewed a group of teachers with a wide array of experience when it comes to jazz.
The only teacher population I seem to have neglected is new teachers, but I wanted to ask these
questions of professional educators whom I respect and value. The first teacher I interviewed is
a man with 35 years of experience in teaching. He has taught at three different high schools, and
had very little experience playing jazz in a college ensemble. That was his only experience with
the style. His primary instrument was trombone. He has taught jazz bands at two different
schools, and his participation in this study was a tremendous help. The second educator I
interviewed is in his 12th year of teaching in the public schools, and only taught jazz for a couple
of years due to lack of interest and participation. His rural school setting and culture of FFA and
sports seems to have defeated the program in a couple of ways. He had no prior experience
playing in jazz groups, and his primary instrument was euphonium. The third educator I asked
for input is a woman for whom I have tremendous respect and admiration. She is in her 9th year
of public school service, all in the same building. She has taught a jazz band almost the entire
duration of her teaching career, also with no prior experience in the style. Her undergraduate
degree was in Music Education, and her graduate degree is in Percussion Performance. The final
educator interviewed is a young woman who is in her 8th year of teaching, and has taught an
after-school jazz band for the last three years. I was very interested in her input because she was
still so new to that world, and I think I can connect most with her. Her primary in her

undergraduate work was horn. The performer I interviewed has undergraduate and graduate
degrees in Percussion Performance, and performs with an in-state symphony orchestra, as well as
performing in musicals and other gigs around the state and region. He had no experience with
jazz in his undergraduate program, but did a lot of independent study during his graduate work in
the area. I hope that this conveys a wide sample group, and lends validity to the data I was able
to gather, and the plan I have developed based on this data. I will answer the questions I asked
above using the input of these teachers as a group, rather than individuals, because I received a
surprising amount of consensual responses.
The biggest thing anyone told me about preparing to lead a jazz group, and just learning
about the style as a whole, was to put down the books and listen. I had thought I would need to
read up on jazz theory, and the background and history of the genre, but they all told me just to
listen to a lot of jazz as much as I could. They all were in agreement in telling me that was the
best way to inundate myself with the music and learn about the stylistic elements of jazz. I have
listened to a lot of older jazz and swing music, as it really appeals to me. I really enjoy listening
to the crooners of the past, and listening to the big bands of the mid-20th century. There are even
modern groups that I really enjoy listening to, but I never really listened to learn, I just listened
for enjoyment. Since receiving this input from my participants, I have started paying more
attention to the music when I listen to it, and try to really latch on to stylistic elements that
transcend each time period and are consistent in the music. I was also told not to be afraid of the
students knowing more than I do about the content, because their jazz classrooms are, or have
been in the past, much more relaxed and open than their concert band classes. They have a more
collaborative feel, and I was able to observe that at a couple locations this semester. It really
relaxed me a little bit and made me less nervous about teaching jazz next semester and down the

road at my own program. They were adamant that I listen and look through technique books as
much as I can, and just try to stay a little ahead of the students. The performer I interviewed told
me I should consider having auditions, especially for the rhythm section, if I have enough
students interested to facilitate that process without hurting numbers or instrumentation.
When I asked about resources, I also received a sort of unanimous response. They seem
to all agree that the best jazz method books for both beginners and intermediate players are the
Standard of Excellence jazz series. A couple of the teachers walked me through some things in
the books, and let me take some home to thumb through and read. I think its great for someone
like me, who enjoys structure, to be able to see a method book scaffold the experience like they
do in the concert band versions. I also got some direction to head over to JW Pepper and look
through their available jazz music. A couple of teachers told me they use their jazz arrangements
of pop tunes to gain more interest in the program, and then sort of pull out the rug and do more
standards and things like that as well. I think its a great idea to build interest by doing things
people know, and make jazz more accessible, so I think I might take a similar approach, without
hurting the integrity of the style. The performer also recommended getting method books with
recordings so students can begin to hear the style they need to perform with, as well as a specific
method book called Essential Styles for Drummer and Bassist, which he gave me to look
through. That seems to be an immensely helpful book for the rhythm section, and I already
ordered it for myself.
One of the more contentious questions I asked the teachers was about the difficulty in
building interest. Three of the teachers have been successful in keeping a jazz program alive and
thriving, while the other gave up on it after a few years with no growth, and an observable
decline in participation and interest. Two of the teachers with current jazz programs are able to

have a jazz ensemble meet during the school day as a class, while the other does it after school. I
was told that the best way to approach this need for a jazz group is to first start it as an after or
before-school activity, as it may be difficult to get an administration to sign off on a new class
without proof that there is a need and desire for it. The two who currently operate jazz bands as
a class both started outside school hours. Those three teachers currently teaching jazz told me
that they dont see any difficulty in keeping kids interested because they have students that just
really love playing music and would do it no matter what. The teacher without a program
indicated that his program suffered a lot from the lack of a music culture in the community as a
whole. His retention suffers in all groups because of this, not just his jazz group. Students get
more interested in sports, which the school is well known for, or they get too busy on their farms
or with FFA groups and the like. I would like to think that I could overcome a situation like that
by building a strong interest in all types and styles of music with my students, and that they
would want to participate in more than just a concert ensemble. The performer I interviewed
only had one thing to say, which I think resonates a bit with me personally. He said a lot of his
private students are hesitant to play jazz drums in their lessons because it is unfamiliar to them.
They would rather continue work on mallet and snare technique and repertoire, and he has to
steer them out of that comfort zone a bit to create a comprehensive percussionist who is versatile
and prepared for any performance opportunity. I think that speaks a lot to why I have been
hesitant to step into a jazz classroom as a participant or as a teacher, as it is uncomfortable and I
feel so at home in front of concert bands and other more traditional settings. That goes against
how I should view it, and I have come a long way in this past year as far as my views on
challenges in the classroom. I need this experience and opportunity so that I can give the same

opportunities to my future students. I cannot, and will not, teach a one-dimensional classroom or
program.
The next question I asked received a more unanimous response, once again. Here is how
every teacher I talked with responded to the question about lessons Get your students to take
lessons! They were more adamant about the rhythm section students taking lessons, as a good
rhythm section is the foundation to any jazz ensemble. All of the drummers and bassists in the
programs I dealt with are taking lessons. The guitarists were split, and for the most part the
piano players are also in lessons. I think that sets up a solid place to start with any group ability
level. I also heard from one teacher that he encourages his lead trumpet to also take lessons, as
his wind players get their style from the lead trumpet. Obviously, as an educator I cannot force
my students into taking lessons, but I can become acquainted with the area lesson teachers and
recommend they study with those teachers. I can also hold auditions if there is enough interest to
warrant them, and that may spur some students to take that next step and start studying privately.
I cannot speak to any personal knowledge about the effectiveness of lessons as a middle or high
school student, because I never received a private lesson until I reached college, but I have seen
them be very effective with students I have worked with in the past, so I would definitely
encourage a lot of my students to take advantage of the local teachers and their knowledge. The
percussionist in this study told me he tries to take on as many students as he can, and if I stay in
the area I will likely recommend my percussionists to study with him. I have started taking jazz
drumset lessons with this teacher myself so that I can more effectively teach my own students.
A big part of the jazz experience which has always made me uncomfortable is
improvisation. I have never really done any improvisation before, and I feel more comfortable
with my music out in front of me so that I can read it and play it as written. That is why I am so

glad I started asking teachers how they teach improvisation to their students in the jazz
ensembles. This is where I was told I will need the most knowledge in theory. This is also
where the students will need the most teaching in theory. It seems to be common to just start
with chords and play things on ^1, ^3, and ^5, and then scaffold to more pitched in the chords
and in the key. One warmup I saw which did a good job with improvisation was passing around
2-bar solos with the circle of fifths. The teacher talked about scale degrees and chord tones, and
every student participated in the exercise and played really well. They had clearly been doing
this routine for a long time, and he said its a process that takes time for the students to get
comfortable with it. I think I can do a good job creating a safe environment in my classroom
where students can experiment, because I have had tough conversations with students in the past
about bullying and teasing their classmates. He said if students really arent comfortable with
improvising, you can write out solos for them, and change them up over time so that they dont
get too comfortable with one written pattern, and then once there has been some significant
theory teaching the student can collaborate with you to write their own solos out. That will
eventually help them to be able to think about them without writing them down, and thats the
end goal. I had not ever really thought about the process like that, but I like it enough that I will
likely try it out in a safe environment during student teaching. I have also started trying to play
more of the vibraphone in the percussion studio, and brought out my old recital piece from last
year, which was a blues vibraphone piece. Im trying different things in the chords, and it has
been really fun experimenting and discovering, and I want to share that with my students. I have
also started doing some improvisation in the lessons I mentioned before with the percussion
teacher as well, and he uses somewhat the same method as I just mentioned.

When I asked about how many students are in jazz band but not in the concert band, it
seems to be that only two or three in each setting were in that situation. Most of the students
come over from the concert side just to play more often and more varied repertoire. The teacher
without a jazz program actually tries to program some jazz arrangements of things now and then
so that his students at least get exposure to the style, which I think is great. Several students play
secondary instruments in the jazz group because they play non-traditional instruments for the
jazz setting, like euphonium players switching to trombone or saxophone. The students who are
playing jazz but not in the concert band are sometimes in that situation because of scheduling,
because as we all know they always seem to schedule AP English or Math during band class! I
think its great to keep options open for those students, and also to include students who cant do
the other bands, because I want to keep music more accessible to all students, and having a
variety of ensembles helps to accomplish that mission.
Moving forward, I will be taking the lessons learned from this topic paper with me into
the classroom during student teaching, as well as into my future classroom as a professional
educator. These teachers have been instrumental in helping me to form my first impressions of
jazz teaching. I will definitely be continuing my listening and lessons, and developing a strong
theory curriculum to coincide with my jazz lessons. I also think jazz music gives me a lot to
teach from a historical perspective, which I love to do. I think this experience has helped me
work on building up a professional network to go to for assistance if I should need it in the
future, and I will be using this as an artifact for InTASC Principle #10: Collaboration.