#23 Jazz - Updated 6/16
TOPICS (Just click on the title you want to view)
Louis Armstrong----The 'Blues' ----Books, Apps. ----Curriculum, Activities, Lessons -----Duke Ellington ----George Gershwin
Jazz humor ----Improvisation ----Movement & Dance Activities ----Musicals ----Jazz Projects ----Jazz Recorder
----Swing, Scat, Bebop
----Songs, Musicals----Videos
----Websites
----Worksheets
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THE 'BLUES'
6/16 Backup Track for 12 Bar Blues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gCNUfhRlLA---------------------
01/16 WHAT ARE THE BLUES?
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/pbs_org14_blues_arts_4/the-blues-definitional-lessons-what-are-the-blues/
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06/15 Backup Track for 12 Bar Blues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gCNUfhRlLA
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10/12 FIRST GRADERS: Greg & Steve has a Three Piggy Blues on their Playing Favorites CD (I think) that is fun. ---- Todd in Phoenix
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I have a book called "Satchmo's Blues" by Alan Schroeder that I have used, but I haven't used it with kindergarten, so it might be too long for them. Good pictures and a story based on Louis Armstrong's recollections about getting his first trumpet.
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01/07 "Children of The Blues" By Art Tipaldi. ISBN number 0-87930-700-5 It is a collection of stories by grown kids ( musicians themselves) about life with some of the greats. It is for a true blues lover. I have met Art Tipaldi a few times, and he is an expert. -- Janet Ryan in Conway Massachusetts
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01/07 CD: “Wrapped Up in Blue” is a collection of original blues music. Another CD: “Passion and Fire” has about half original blues and some jazz and blues standard type stuff.
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jrasu
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04/03 I just got done with a wonderful unit on the Blues with my 5th and 6th graders. We had a blast. Here are the things I did. I researched the Blues at our local public library for weeks before we started. I got loads of CD's, albums, books and pictures.
Day 1 : They walked in hearing Hound Dog sung by Elvis. That excited them! I gave a brief history of the blues and then they listened to Eric Clapton sing Hound Dog. His version is closer to the original. Finally...we listened to "Big Mama" Willie Mae Thorton sing Hound Dog. We heard how one song started and evolved over the years. So much of Elvis' music and music of early rock and roll was taken straight from the Blues. We performed the Music Room Blues from MK8 12/3. We improvised and laughed as we sang.
Day 2: They walked in hearing The Thrill Is Gone by B. B. King. We looked at pictures of him and learned about his life. They know him from a commercial on TV. We played Blue Eggs Over Easy from MK8 5/4 on our recorders and listened to a few other Blues songs. I told them that we would write our own Blues songs.
Day 3: They walked in hearing Boom, Boom...the one you hear on the Ford truck commercial. They thought this was very cool. We played A Cage Full Of Blues from MK8 6/3 on our recorders and listened to more Blues.
Day 4: More listening...we started our classroom Blues songs. These are the titles they came up with: The Vegetable Blues, I Hate My Homework, The Broken Down Bus Blues and I Got Soap In My Eye. You should hear them! They are great!! We collaborated together and really had a blast singing these.
Day 5: We reviewed all the Blues pieces and songs and discussed.
Day 6: I gave them a blank piece of paper and told them to write everything they knew about the Blues while they listened to selections I played. It was great. I got to incorporate writing into my classroom and they got to listen to more music. Those who did poorly on their writing in the classroom got to take their papers home and work on them and hand them in later.
It was a great experience...one that I will repeat again! (We also used Jelly Bean Blues from MK8 12/4 Plank Road Publishing: http://www.musick8.com/
--Contributed by Kristin Lukow
BACK to Jazz topics
*****************************************************************************BOOKS, APPS
07/13 There is also an ipad ap called A Jazzy Day that introduces instrument groups - it's an interactive story. I was afraid it would be too babyish for my 5th graders, but they paid close attention. It's a little pricey - $4.99; I think I got it when it was free. ---- Carol ParnellOf course, I also include time on the basic elements of music and singing with each lesson. I only spend about 10 of our 30 minute class period on jazz. I was very excited to find this resource. The kids really enjoy watching live videos of the musicians. It moves quite well into my lesson plans. ---- Lisa
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12/12 Jazz for Juniors by Randy Sandke A story/cd about animals and their love for jazz.
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07/11 My fifth graders love the relay races in Jazz in 80 Minutes. My sixth graders do a jazz talk show. ---- Karen Stafford
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06/10 BOOK: "About 80 Years of Jazz in About 80 Minutes". It is good for listening [and written for 2d - 4th grades.] I am supplementing the lessons and games with some internet pictures and video clips of performances off DVDs and Youtube. --- Donesa Mann Music Grades 3-5
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06/10 CHOP MONSTER JR. is a great book. I like how it starts out with developing the idea of "swing" and "syncopation." To me, that would be a basic essential for ANY jazz unit.--- Martha Stanley
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10/08 “Teaching Jazz To All Ages” by Doug Goodkin; My 6th graders love it and have been working on improve for 3 days now and are asking to do even more!!!
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06/07 NOW’S THE TIME: TEACHING JAZZ TO ALL AGES - by Doug Goodkin - includes Orff arrangements
bhttp://www.douggoodkin.com/Publications/nows_the_time.shtml
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01/07 JAZZ IT UP! by Susie Davies-Splitter and Phil Splitter -- This collection features 10 songs by Australian music and jazz educators, Susie Davies-Splitter and Phil Splitter. Students will sing, improvise, and move to these jazzy tunes. The songs use a variety of elements of jazz - call and response, scat singing, improvisation, rhythm and blues - all with cool, jazzy accompaniments. Activities are provided for each song at a variety of levels, so that the songs can be used for Grades K-6. The songs can be performed with the performance/accompaniment CD, or the students can play many of the accompaniments using the Orff arrangements that are provided. The collection includes reproducible vocals making this a very economical way to purchase vocal jazz music.
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06/06 The Flying Jazz Kittens - Volume 1 Book/CD with activities and songs K-3 by Sherry Luchette. It's focused on experiencing jazz/blues. Teaching kids how to feel 2 & 4 instead of 1 & 3, learning how to scat, writing your own blues, playing blues on the barred instruments, etc. It's not intended to be a curriculum but a resource, but I think she has some GREAT ideas (and she's a jazz bassist, so she really understands and knows her jazz!). Her website is: www.luchettebass.com.-- Lisa Wiggins
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06/06 Buy Chop monster!!!!!!! Its available through MK8....there is a great blues piece which you can use with recorders just playing B ...there is great scat singing ideas......you'll love itas an instant resource! -- Sue Michiels
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10/05 Use Chop Monster (Cd and teacher text) which MK8 sells. (http://www.musick8.com/ ) It gets the kids to join in. My kids love the popcorn and the blues numbers. Because of these they really enjoy Peanuts by Dizzy Gillespie which is shown as a music map in the TE. They love the scat and blues practices which they join in on too. I also use some of the jazz as a background for rhythmic work bordering on rap. I also use Doug Goodkin's "Now 's the Time: jazz for all ages" which is Jazz arranged for Orff instruments and is played by the children of the San Francisco School. It comes with two CDs and a TE. -- Sue Michiels
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06/05 The Jazz Fly by Michael GoLlub The CD is just wonderful! I prefer to let the recording read it to my students rather than me! Rhonda in WI
You can read more details and see pictures of this great book on MusicK8.com. Just go to:
http://www.musick8.com/store/alphadetail.tpl?productgroup=967
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A book/CD called ‘THE JAZZ FLY” is really great! by Matt Gollub tells a story and has a lot of jazzy feel. -- Gary Heimbauer
http://www.musick8.com/store/alphadetail.php?product_group=2737&uks=MP-BK436&findme=the+jazz+fly&srchfield=title&search_type=prod&searchcategory=All+Products#.Va8EIflDAaw
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08/04 “Jazz for Young People” by Wynton Marsalis
book/9 cd’s/17 units in 30 sessions/video/30 student guides
$299/--www.musicmotion.com
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06/04 It is Pure Jazz by verve UTV Records it has My Baby just cares for me - nina simone
Count Basie - Aril in Paris
Ella and Louis - Summertime
Glenn miller and ORch. - In the mood
Sarah Vaugn - Misty
Chet Baker - Everything happens to me
Miles Davis - 'Round Midnight
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto w/ Astrud Gilberto - The girl from Ipanema
Billie Holliday - God Bless the Child
Dinah Washington - What a diff'rence a day made
Benny Goodman - Sing sing sing
Ella - Mac the Knife
Nat King Cole - Unforgettable
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Diana Krall - Peel me a grape
Oscar Peterson - Night Train
Etta James - At Last
Louis - What a wonderful world
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06/04 If you do decide to purchase "Jazz for Young People" http://www.amazon.com/People-Curriculum-Teaching-Student-Guides/dp/1931908001 (Plank Rd. Pub.)it! See:
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Get "Jazz for Dummies" or "Everything You Wanted to Know About Jazz" or "The Idiots Guide to Jazz" - one of the books will have a CD with it and you'll have your own crash course to teach the kids! -- Contributed by RaeAnna Goss
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01/04 "Jazz Band Heaven." What a great book for a "read-a-loud." -- Contributed by Rita Oglesby
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01/02 I found a book of "classic piano rags" at my local Barnes and Noble (Dover edition, 17.95). includes complete piano music and (here's the juice!) original cover pages for all 81 songs!!! looking at the cover art was a big and disturbing eye-opener!
All the white folks depicted without exception looked refined and elegant, the women beautiful and the men dignified, but nearly all the black folks were buffoonish and unrealistic; even the ones that were supposed to be going to parties or dances seemed to be play-acting and silly. Joplin's own songs were peopled by this kind of grinning silliness. The exceptions to the rule? the photos of REAL black peoplefrom the giggling boys on the cover of Tickled to Death (Chas Hunter) to the quiet dignity in the face of Joplin himself.
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Play-along books that come in the set. I use Volume 24 - Major and Minor as well as Volume 1 - How to Play Jazz and Improvise. Another good one is Volume 42 - Blues in All Keys. There's a track on there in the key of E, and you can set up your Orff instruments in the E Blues Scale, start the CD, and let the kids experiment with improvising on the 12-bar blues! To set up in an E blues scale, follow these steps: 1. Remove all F's and C's 2. Move your B-natural over one space to the right, where the C used to be 3. Put your B-flat in the space between A & B The Blues in E also works well on recorders, because most recorder students are working on G, A, B, E, and D. Just add a Bb for flavor, and they too can jam on the blues scale. My kids have a lot of success with this!
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BOOK: "JAZZ STARS" which has photos and 3-5 page bios of people like Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, etc. I start with ragtime and take them through swing, bebop, etc. I even mention Latin Jazz and play the selection from when Tito Puente did a song on the Simpsons. The boys, especially, like that a lot!
I use a book called "Jazz Stars" which has photos and 3-5 page bios of people like Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald,
Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, etc. I start with ragtime and take them through swing, bebop, etc. I even mention Latin Jazz and play the selection from when Tito Puente did a song on the Simpsons. The boys, especially, like that a lot!
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The first thing you have to do is get your hands on the book, "I See the Rhythm". The illustrations by Michelle Wood are fantastic. It traces the story of African music for 500 years through all the forms of jazz and ends with rap/hip-hop.
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A really great resource I found (I think in the West Music catalog) is "Junior Jam Session." It is less than $20. It talks about how the blues scale is built and has Orff arrangements using the 12 bar blues pattern. I also use the tape as a shell for them to improvise. They like this and it is interesting to see who has a particular flair for it.
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In the 4th grade book, "Sir Duke" has pictures of jazz greats and also the song itself was written by Stevie Wonder as a tribute to those greats who influenced him. The kids love the song, and I brought in the 'real' version (which they love even more and still ask for). There is a great instrumental riff in "Sir Duke". Also you can tell about the musicians mentioned (Glenn Miller died in a plane crash in WWII and wreckage never found, etc.) Louie Armstrong (they've all heard "What a Wonderful World"). Also, in either the K or Gr. l book, Ella Fitzgerald does "A-Tisket A Tasket". The little ones love it, also. You could play it for the older kids without them knowing it was from the primary level! I have started using my texts like that, and not limiting the info or the music to a particular grade.
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WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD - Louis Armstrong
10/05 CHOREOGRAPHY: “WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD”
Each child has one scarf. Children sit in a circle, facing in, with their feet beneath their bottoms - kind of like kneeling, but sitting back on your heals. Make sure students know who their "partner" will be (this comes later, and then only briefly).
Intro: During the introduction all students are sitting as above, but are leaning as far forward with their head on the ground in front of them as their flexibility allows. Scarves are stretched out straight in front of them pointing towards the center. All students hold only the tip of the scarf. Slowly rise during the intro to a sitting position.
”I see trees of green” - all children with green scarves reach up with them into the air and squiggle from top to bottom. The arm extends upwards and as it comes back down, squiggle gently side to side with the scarf.
”Red roses too” - all children with red scarves do the same movement.
“I see them bloom” - all children do the movement.
”For me and for you” - children hold onto the tip of the scarf, but throw the other end over their shoulder so that from the audience, they see the colors of the scarves running down their backs.
“And I think to myself “- pull scarf back to the front of their bodies and hold to their heart.
”What a Wonderful World” - make several slow circular movements - as a if tracing a globe/world.
”I see skies of blue” - All with blue scarves stand up and move to center reaching up with the scarves as they come together in the center, then go back to their position and sit back down.
”And clouds of white” - all children with white scarves stand up in their position and holding the scarf fully open (left hand out to the side and right hand out to the other side) they turn slowly letting the scarf flutter around them. Then sit back down.
”The bright blessed day” - all children with bright colors do the squiggle movement as in the beginning.
“The dark sacred night” - all children with dark colors do the squiggle movement as in the beginning.
“And I think to myself “- scarf to the heart
“What a wonderful world” - scarf in circles as before.
“The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky” - take one end of scarf in one hand and the other in the other hand and slowly form an arc by bending left, then right, then left, then right, with the scarf gently (but tautly) arching overhead
“Are also on the faces of people going by” - bring scarf in front of face - stretch it out so as to cover your face, but you can see the faces through the scarves, just now they are in multi-colors.
“I see friends shakin' hands” - turn to partner and take the end of their scarf, they take the end of yours so now the two are holding the ends of each others' scarves. Shake them gently.
“They're really saying ‘I love you’” - slowly stand up. Turn to face out - The circle is now standing with their backs to the center.
“I hear babies cryin'” - hold scarf up to eyes as if wiping tears.
“I watch them grow” - bend down and slowly reach up with scarf to signify growing.
“They'll learn much more than I'll ever know” - slowly with arms extended out to sides and holding the scarf ends in each hand, turn around once on their spot.
“And I think to myself” - Still facing outwards and in a standing position, hold scarf to heart
“What a wonderful world” - still facing outwards and still standing, make a slow circle as if tracing a globe/world as before.
“Yes, I think to myself - turn to face inwards.”
“What a wonderful world” - all slowly walk towards center (circle is shrinking), reaching up as high as possible.
On the word "world", all let go of their scarves as their scarves fly up, as they step back (all scarves fall in the center) and move to original position.
“Oh, yeah" - children walk back to beginning position, sit down and lay their heads back on the floor. Scarves are in the center on the floor. We did it in my classroom with just one class to start with and for practice. On stage, we had about 75 participating. It was very lovely. ---- PattyO in AR
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Jazz for Dummies-$19.99 with CD
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jazz-$14.41
The Penguin Guide to Jazz on Cd-$19.16 This book is 1808 pages long. It's not exactly what I was looking for, but maybe someone else is.
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I use "Jazz for Dummies" and a small book called "Jazz Stars." Middle schoolers think it's cool that Jelly Roll Morton has a diamond in his front tooth and that Charlie Parker got nicknamed "Bird" because he picked up, cooked, and ate a dead chicken on the road.
For the jazz unit, I have a resource called "Junior Jam Session." It has a background tape for the kids to improvis on the Blues Scale. I set up the Orff instruments, teach them some possible "licks," then have them take turns playing for the class. There is also an Orff arrangement using the 12-bar blues pattern that works really well, is fun, and sounds good.
So anyway, I spend a little time almost every class talking about that stuff. On Friday, I play one of two games. The first is from a board game called "Play it By Ear." It is a CD game that I sometimes still see at toy stores. (Maybe Amazon has it?) I taped suitable clips to tape, then added some of my own. It has things like sound effects, politicians speaking, TV themes, pop songs, oldies, etc. I'll put them in two teams and play a game with them having to answer a question about the clip. It's really fun, sharpens their listening skills, and exposes them to a variety of music (Elvis, the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc)
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If you can, somewhere, get hold of an 8th grade Silver Burdett teacher's edition, you would find a very good summary of the various stages in the development of Jazz. By the way, why stop at Jazz? My kids like the fact that we trace music from the west coast of Africa clear to rock and roll. A good source of music is the CD, "Jazz for Dummies". It has recordings from way back in the early 1900's.
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There's a book called "I See the Rhythm", African-American pictures and poetry tied to work songs, jazz, etc.
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I love the book "Hip Cat", and my first-and-second-graders loved it, too -- you almost need a bongo playing to read it the right way; it's like beat poetry.
Hip Cat is a really good book. I read that one to my first graders on Read Across America Day last year with Miles Davis playing in the background.
Lisa Yves has a great CD called "Jazz for Kids" that I recommend thoroughly. Lots of old standards, including a FAB recording of "Sing, Sing, Sing" that, in terms of usefulness in the classroom, has yet to be surpassed in my opinion. And a number of cute originals too, geared toward teaching kids to sing jazz. My favorite is the "Alphabet Scat", but there's also a nifty little Brubeckish number that talks about 5/4 meter.
Charlie Parker Played Be Bop.
Try the picture book "Mysterious Thelonious" for Thelonious Monk--- it is so cool --- like one of his pieces graphed in color, and the words follow the melody of his "Mysterioso>"
Yes yes, this is one of my very favorite books. It is by Chris Raschka who was a visiting author at our school. He is also a musician, violist I think, and has also done Simple Gifts and Charlie Parker Plays Be Bob. This book was inspired by Monk's "Night in Tunisia." Before I show the book I play that piece and have the kids draw to it, then show them the book. Each step of the scale is a color and you can actually "sing" the book. It is a masterpiece!!!
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I use the book "Mysterious Thelouius" by Chris Raschka---a real gem.
BACK to Jazz topics
*****************************************************************************LOUIS ARMSTRONG
06/07 - Curriculum pdf - http://americanhistory.si.edu/smithsonian-jazz/education/louis-education-kit-----------------------
07/15 EXTENSIVE ARTICLE: http://amhistory.si.edu/jazz/education/TheMan&HisLife.pdf
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01/02 Have you read "Satchmo's Blues" with them? It is AWESOME!!!!! I read it to my kids and then I show them the book "What a Wonderful World" which is the lyrics to the song and they are illustrated. I show them the book while the song plays. Then we draw our own illustrations to it. One year, we sang it for a concert and had a powerpoint slide show with our pictures we drew as the background.
BACK to Jazz topics
*****************************************************************************CURRICULUM, ACTIVITIES, LESSONS
08/14 The blues can be very fun and easy to teach. I teach a composer of the month so I chose Duke Ellington for the month of April to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month. I use the Jamey Aebersold ideas on Itunes. Download C Jam blues and then teach the melody by ear to all the kids. It's really easy: GG GG, GG, G C (3x)I had them watch a video of Duke Ellington performing it on You tube which the kids liked too. It exposed them to improvisation on different instruments. ( Duke Ellington All Stars Octet)
Music Express Magazine also had a neat article with outlining "Take the A Train" with a listening map in the May/June 2014 issue.
Next, I have enough mallet instruments for all the kids, so I taught the melody to them. Then we played it with the Jamie Aebersold accompaniment and after doing the melody several times, all the students had a chance to improvise, one by one. We also did it all at the same time for 8-16 measures. Then the students are not so shy or intimidated to try ideas. (started with just a C and G, and then the next lesson included the C, D G Bb and C and high D. Kids loved it in grades 2-5.----- Tammy Carley , K-5 Elementary Music Teacher, Denmark Elementary School, WI
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Maybe you can make it interactive and have kids play a walking bass line to "ii V I" on the bass xylos, while others improvise over the progression? There are so many great listening examples. I've been playing the track "Moanin'" a lot by Art Blakey and the Jazz MEssengers...the improvisations are very easy to digest, and it is very straight ahead...classic hard bop. As a quick span of the decades you can start with Joplin (Ragtime), go to Louis Armstrong or Benny Goodman (Swing era), then to Charlie Parker (birth of bebop), then to Miles (Cool and Modal Jazz), then to early sixties Coltrane - Love Supreme or Naima or similar (Spiritual Jazz), then to Art Blakey (Hard Bop), then to Herbie "Chameleon" (Jazz Fusion), and then maybe end up with something more modern like Kurt Rosenwinkel - Electric Jazz guitarist? ---- Gary Heimbauer Very much worth $30.00
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06/10 Artie Almeida has a Jazz Pak . . . . very well done too!! It it says it is for grades 4-8 but I've used some of the activities with a little tweaking with younger kiddos.
http://www.musick8.com/store/alphadetail.php?product_group=2551 --- Todd in Santa Fe
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JAZZ MUSIC LESSONS: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=672
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06/10 THIS JAZZ MAN by Karen Ehrhardt. The text piggybacks the traditional "This Ol' Man" song, which my first graders had just learned in a mini "counting songs" unit I like to do.---Daniel Fee
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I SEE THE RHYTHM by toyomi igus, beautifully illustrated by michelle wood. (lower case letters their choice, not my typos!) The book is basically a time line of jazz music told in non-rhyming poetry and I use it by reading the appropriate pages at the beginning of each jazz lesson. It includes the roots of jazz in Africa, the blues, ragtime, New Orleans, right on through hip-hop and [Afro-American] rock 'n roll.--- Cheryl Daidone Music K-5 Fluvanna County, VA
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06/10 A GOOD NIGHT FOR GHOSTS - The newest magic Tree House book #42 is about Louis Armstrong's start in New Orleans. It's great reading if you want to recommend it to your classes--or if you could get their classroom teacher to do it as a read-aloud in preparation for a jazz unit..... Janice (in PA)
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06/09 Groovin' to Jazz HANDOUTS :
http://www.smithsonianjazz.org/class/groovintojazz/lessonplans.asp
Comparing Two Musicians, Two Improvisations, Two Songs, Three Songs
The Many Moods of Music, Piano Keyboard, Cool Jazz and Cool Art
Jazz Book List , Jazz Glossary
LESSONS: Groovin' to Jazz (ages 8-13)
http://www.smithsonianjazz.org/class/groovintojazz/lessonplans.asp
1. We Be Doin' it, Quincy Jones with Take Six, Bobby McFerrin, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Al Jarreau
2. Handful of Keys, Fats Waller
3. Summertime, Miles Davis
4. Scratchin' in the Gravel, Andy Kirk & Mary Lou Williams
5. April in Paris, Count Basie Orchestra, April in Paris, Tito Puente
6. Just A Closer Walk With Thee, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
7. Now’s the Time, Charlie Parker, Now’s the Time, Eddie Jefferson
8. Rockin’ Chair, Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden
9. Everybody’s Boppin’, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross
10. Hikky-Burr, Bill Cosby with Quincy Jones Mumbles, Clark Terry with Oscar Peterson
11. A Night in Tunisia , Turtle Island String Quartet
12. Birdland, Weather Report
13. Song of the Volga Boatmen, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, conducted by David Baker
14. Listening to Song of the Volga Boatmen
BLUES LESSON (Many audio clips + demonstration of 12 bar blues:
BLUES IN AMERICA: I.What is the Blues?
II.Evolution of Blues Styles, 1900 - present
III.Chicago Blues
IV.Cultural Implications of the Blues
V.Significant Blues Artists and Essential Recordings
LESSON ON JAZZ & MATH: http://www.pbs.org/jazz/classroom/tempo.htm
06/06 BLUES SCALE My Orff recorder teacher had us improvise with DE GAB Bflat DE I used that with xylophones and if you give them syncopation and encourage them to end on G and use the blues note it sounded great. Linda Z in FL
The formula for a blues scale is 1-flat 3-4-flat 5-5-flat 7-8. E blues probably will be the easiest for recorder and bells. -- If you just outline the twelve bars blues on the board and play only 1 and flat 3 with cool rhythms it sounds pretty darn good. (E/G) (A/C) (B/D). Add four if you want a third note in each chord. -- Artie Almeida
Today I put little tiny post it squares (I cut them up) on 4 notes of the blues scale: 1, flat3, 4, and flat 5. I had lots of other instrument parts going and one guy improvising on those four notes. After three passes through the 12-bar form I stopped the music. The kid was playing the same thing over and over again, but it sounded good. When I asked him about it, he grinned really big. He'd never played the piano before and he loved the little thing he'd made up so much he wanted to play it over and over again. Bless him, he'd found a fountain of joy in that tiny pattern he created! --Meredith Harley Inserra
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06/06 SIXTH GRADE LESSONS: This was done in 6th grade, which was a difficult class. They really got into this. These activities took place over a period of about 4 or 5 lesson periods. I hope I remember the sequence. The numbering does not necessarily indicate class periods. I've been away too long...
1) Learned the song "Joe Turner Blues" from Making Music Your Own (SB) grade 6. Talked a bit about what was blues, heard one BB King selection, sang Joe Turner Blues again, using recorded accomp.
2) Reviewed the song, then added clapping "fills" in the spaces at the end of each phrase. They were encouraged to use jazzy rhythms, syncopated (although they weren't really familiar with that term), but had to be sure to START and END exactly at the appropriate times. Also, their rhythms had to somewhat "make sense" and not just be a jumble of fast sounds. This was easy for them. We did these "fills" as a group as we sang the song with the record. Then, as an extension of this, I took 3 unpitched perc. instruments -- a wood block, a cowbell, and a small hand-held single bongo drum--and handed them to the first 3 kids. Each played a "fill" when their turn came, then quickly and quietly passed their instrument to the next kid waiting, so we just repeated over and over until EVERYONE got a turn to play 1 of the fills at the end of the phrases.
3) Showed them about 12 bar blues--Put the pattern of chord roots on the board--2 per measure--in the key of C it would be:
C C C C C C C C
F F F F C C C C
G G F F C C C C
I added a body motion. On C (the I chord) we placed hands on hips. For the F chord (IV) they placed their hands on their shoulders, then back to hips for C. For the G chord it was both hands in the air above heads, wiggle fingers, then back to F, then C. This adds a tactile dimension to the auditory of just HEARING the changes. We sang the plain chord root pattern (with hand motions) as the record performed the song--BORING!!!--I said yes, I agree, but it's going to get better so just hang on. Then we went to the Orff instr. and just played the straight chord root pattern to accompany the song. Listened to BB King again and tried to follow the chord root pattern as the recording played.
4) I LOVED THIS PART AND SO DID MOST OF THEM--We became "scat" singers. After reviewing the singing and motions for the chord root pattern from the previous day, I showed them that it could be really cool if we would use a nonsense syllable and jazz it up rhythmically instead of singing straight steady beats. But they HAD to change pitch and hand motion at the appropriate time, so they really had to follow. Of course I had someone at the board pointing to the chord chart, and that helped. So we would get a bunch of dooby-doo type of scat syllables, but they really changed with the pattern. Instead of just standing there with hands on hips or shoulders or whatever, I said (and modeled) that we would stand and MOVE, sway from side to side, moving like the music feels. Again, the only constraints were that they HAD to change at the appropriate time, and this wasn't just an excuse to stand there acting goofy. (Since I was a pretty strict teacher, the kids already knew that I wasn't going to tolerate a lot of foolishness, that we could have real fun on this but without the rude craziness.) Finally, the class was divided and half sang melody and half sang scat with movements for a really successful 2 part experience.
5) Another day, to the Orff instruments. I had pre-set them so that 1/3 of them had only the bars for a C chord, all other notes removed. 1/3 were set to play F chord, and 1/3 were set to play G. Those at the C chord instruments could play WHATEVER they wanted, on any note, improvising in jazzy rhythm, but had to START AND STOP at the right times. Then the F chord kids got to do their thing, but C's had to be ready to take over again. Finally the G's. the F's, and back to the C's. I had the bass xylo and bass metallophone play straight chord roots.
6) We had a donated trap drum set that seldom got used in class, so the kids were really bug-eyed when this came out of the storage. Going back to what we did early on with the 3 small hand held percs and the "fills" at the end of the phrases, EVERY KID got a turn--1 phrase long--to sit at the big drum set. Foot pedal for the bass drum thumped out the steady beat of the song. When we got to the end of the phrase, they could improvise a jazzy "fill" on all the various drums, hi-hat cymbal, etc., and then move out for the next kid to take over. WOW!!! Some were really good, some struggled, all loved it.
7) Final--pull it all together--we even performed it a time or two. 1 group of kids playing the jazzy chord structure on the Orff instruments (step 5). One kid--I chose who--did the trap drum set (step 6). 1 super reliable kid pointed to the chord chart to keep us on track. ALL of this group was also expected to sing, and sing well, the melody of the song, all 3 verses. This probably comprised about half to 2/3 of the class. The other group were the "scat singers" who sang and moved to the chord steady beat pattern using the jazzy syllables.(step 4).
More integration with the recordings of BB King as desired.
Now I know this only covers one area of jazz, but I always felt it was a very comprehensive experience in 12 bar blues, and I know the kids loved it. I also really believe it helped the kids hear the underlying chord patterns in the various types of music they hear. -- Louise Eddington
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06/06 FIFTH GRADE: My jazz unit for fifth does rely on a lot of hands on activities. I use the street game "Dinah's Dead" as a way to introduce improvising (with motion) as well as basic jazz rhythms in the poem. Play the chord changes of "Take Five" on bells (either one per student, or the whole works for those experienced players) Introduce the 12 bar blues as a step to jazz. My kids pick up on later jazz pieces using the same 12 bar pattern. We write our own lyrics. (statement, statement, response), Sing "Good Morning Blues". I use "E Jam Blues" (instead of "C Jam") since the blues scale will work on my xylophones. You could still add the "Got the Swing" syncopated rhythm with a few percussion. My kids would rather sing the blues licks, and so I use Ellington's original key of C and we sing with the band! Of course MK8's "Jelly Bean Blues", "Spring, Spring, Spring", and "I like to Sing Scat" are very fun. We hear the original "Sing Sing Sing" and listen to some Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong scat examples too. I do provide a list of artists that students sign up for one and do a poster which we hang in the halls and give verbal reports in class. Think Hands on! -- Kristi Keast
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10/05 PRESS CONFERENCE: You could take a jazz guy, like Duke Ellington or Charlie Parker, or whoever, and do a press conference with him! You pick an expressive child to be the composer/performer who will read from a script. (I write the script.) You assign each child in class a journalist identity: ABC news, NBC, CBS, CNN, The New York Times, La Monde, Pravda, The Chicago Tribune, The London Times, Rolling Stone, etc. Each of these "journalists" gets an index card with a question to ask the composer/performer. He calls on the journalists one at a time following the script. The journalists each ask him their question and he gives them the answers on his script. During this "press conference" the "journalists" have to take notes, just like real journalists and write their column or "copy" after the conference.
I require my 4th or 5th graders to write a nice sized paragraph with at least 3 facts they learned about this person. To write the script I just go online and look at various biographical sites. There's no shortage of biographies on line. And I "keep it real" too. If a composer/performer has made some bad choices in his/her life I don't usually shy away from it (unless it has to do with sex - I'm not gonna do any sex ed. in my class!!!). A "journalist" might ask, "Is it true you had a hard time with drugs when you were in your 30s?" This is a great "teachable moment" on the dangers of drugs!! Our 5th grade does the DARE program here so it fits right in.
After I create the script I print two copies of it. One copy is for the composer/performer. I take the other copy, cut the questions apart, glue them each to an index card, and laminate them. -- Meredith Harley Inserra
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10/05 LISTEN, CAKEWALK, PLAY ALONG, VIDEO 1)You can make fun listening maps of jazz classics and have s's add their own instrument parts to play along with the music as they listen. You can do what someone else suggested with listening maps by numbering the parts of the piece, then calling out a letter and having the student write down what number they are on to see if they are really following along well.
2)We did a "real" 1920s "cakewalk" to ragtime music with cookies instead of cakes. There's info on ragtime and jazz in Silver Burdett's Making Music Grade 5. I lay out about 30 numbers on the floor in a circle. I bought those foam sheets in different colors and wrote numbers on them. I turn on the music, just like a regular cakewalk, and the students have to DANCE around the circle. They don't have to dance with a partner, but they do have to dance to the music. Then I stop the music and the students have to find a number to stand on. One student is the judge in the center and the judge pulls the numbers out of a can. Whoever is on that number is judged whether or not they did a good dance. If the judge thinks the dancer did well they get a cookie. And we start again. FUN!
3)I have inflatable plastic instruments I use for various things. I have inflatable trumpets, saxophones, clarinets, as well as guitars. I can't remember what else I have at the moment. I also have wooden replicas of violins, trombone, flutes, banjo, saxophone, hmmm. I give them out, go over the music and have students "air play" with their instrument when their part comes up. They love it and I can tell if they're finding these parts as they listen. You can have students play along on the repeated syncopated patterns on rhythm instruments as they occur in the music. You can let students take a stab at improvising on instruments along with a dixieland piece or any other kind of jazz that lends itself to this kind of thing.
4)There are some cool jazz-themed movies and videos too. You can create an appropriate viewing guide with questions to answer as they view the video.
These are things I would do with grades 4 and 5, but some would work okay with older kids too. I teach K-5 only. These are all active things that kids enjoy. I've done things like this in my own classroom. Meredith Harley Inserra
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10/05 TALK SHOW: I did a project that I "stole" from PBS kids last year that my sixth graders absolutely loved. I divided them into groups and had them research a jazz great. (If you use the Internet, YOU select and open the browser to "safe" websites so they don t learn the dirty details about Scott Joplin and Billie Holliday, for instance. Also, have the kid-appropriate jazz resources available).
With this research, they developed a talk show. One kid played the MC, one kid played the jazz great, and the others were props, camera, sound, etc. The kids made up 10 questions based on their research, which the MC would ask and the "jazz star" would answer.
I even had groups come up with little commercials! I honestly videotaped them, then let another class (in this case, my other school) vote on the best "talk show", and they won "The Jazz daytime Emmy" (soda of their choice and snack of their choice!)
With fifth grade, I use jazz slang (available on quite a few websites.. again, picked and selected to avoid inappropriate ones), and the kids came up with a jazz slang poem, enhanced with pitch, percussion, and/or movement. The poem described a jazz recording. I believed I played "Take the A Train". With fourth grade, I let them develop their own blues song, taking the tune of "Joe Turner Blues". The ideas below are great, and I think I can add to my jazz unit now! My music series does NOT cover jazz well. Karen Stafford www.musiceducationresourcedirectory.com, www.musiceducationmadness.com
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10/05 I am in the middle of my jazz unit with my 4th graders and they are TOTALLY loving it and begging for more! It's all in how you approach it and what you teach. I start with Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" which gets them hooked because it's current and has such a great beat. You can hear them singing up and down the halls "You can feel it all ooooooover..." at all times of the day. I tell them lots of cool info about Stevie. That song introduces Basie, Miller, Armstrong, Ellington, and Fitzgerald, so the next lesson starts on them. They are loving the music and the background stories I tell them. Monday will finish round 2 with Count Basie, Glenn Miller, and Louis Armstrong. Tuesday I'll start round 3 with Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. They can't wait - they actually GROAN when music time is up. My suggestion to you - dig up some of the stories about these guys. Get the dirt, the scoop (look on-line or read books). Then get ahold of some good cd's - there's been a good list going on here lately. Forget the Marsalis videos -they bored me, too. Too slow. But don't give up on jazz for kids! I have kids coming to me all the time asking where they can buy cd's of all the music I play for them. They really do like it! It's all in how you present it..... Pat Price
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10/05 WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD (BOOK) I have had pretty good luck with my jazz unit in 6th grade--I start with Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World" I show them the little kid book while the music is playing and then we sing it and do a worksheet about him---I follow that with just short video clips from several different videos [that] keep their attention---eventually we go to the computer lab and go to www.jazzforyoungpeople.org (maybe it's .com--that material is at the other school) I have them do a worksheet along with the lessons--they LOVE that--if you can't get to a lab--you could show them the lessons in your room--just hook your computer to your TV. But we do a short lesson on Duke Ellington (there is a “To Tell the Truth” game in a K8 issue that 6th graders liked--I changed it just a little) --we learn about Ella (there is a good PowerPoint--I think it's on www.musiceducationmadness.com site) -- Jan Ringstmeyer
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10/05 WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD (BOOK) The 1995 STM has a recording of Louis Armstrong singing it and i use that as the background. I also have the CD with Tony Bennett and k.d. lang. That version is just beautiful! Cheryl Elder
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06/05 MUSIC CATALOGUE PROJECT: Music Catalogue Order Project (8th Grade) 16 students, divided into teams of 2 (one relatively strong student w/ one dud). Each team will have a catalogue kit containing:
2 music catalogues (everyone will have the same catalogue)
1 order form 1 report form
1 master rubric sheet stating objectives
1 calculator some paper for jotting down notes.
Requirements: each team will be given a budget of $1000.
At least one drum, 1 classroom game, and 1 teacher resource of some kind MUST be included in the order.
Beyond that, teams can order anything else they wish according to the following objectives: Grading: First, in order to protect the paper magazines, I three-hole punched them and put them in inexpensive 3-prong and two-pocket folders. I bought the folders at Wal-Mart for .10 each during school supplies sales. Then I could put listening guides, response sheets, etc., that I made in the pockets and the magazines stayed nice and reusable! I always spend time preparing them for any listening. I generally use Denise Gagne's Listening Log found in her wonderful listening series for each grade level. You can always personalize it using some of her content. The biggest thing to remember is preparation. You must preview everything. There is so much information given in one segment that the kids will miss key words and concepts if they aren't totally focused. By the third lesson, however, my kids knew that they had to listen and that I was not going to go back over it simply because they were talking and missed it. During the 12-bar blues unit, we learned the basics and then wrote our own "blues" lyrics and performed them for each other. This was a big hit. I pulled out all the authoharps, mallet instruments and even boomwhackers so everyone could be playing at least one note of every chord all the way through. Talk about focused. As you can see if you have gotten this far, I am totally sold on the material. You just have to be patient and plan, plan, plan. Don't try to get through the whole thing. I doubt that many music majors could get through the entire curriculum in one semester and do justice to it. - Contributed by Rita Oglesby Form a line. Person in front is the leader. Leader walks in a distinct way. Everyone behind him/her has to copy as you walk around the room. Leader moves to the end and new leader takes the class around the room.Follow up: FORM
HEAR YOUR OWN VIBRATIONS: Another fun activity to do with this number is distribute a piece of cotton twine to each student. have the student step on one end, and wrap the other end around their index finger. tell the kids to 'stick their fingers in their ears' and pluck the string. the vibration travels through the string and you can hear it--such fun! the bass part of this number is repetitious enough that some kids will be able to actually play it, by bending and straightening to alter the length of the string! "C Jam Blues" --a 12 bar blues piece by Duke Ellington is great to use with recorders & Orff instruments. You can also use a recording of "Wipeout"and play recorder/Orff instrument melodic patterns using tones of the I,IV, and V chords in the key of C.
ta ta ti - ti ta ta ta ta ta ta ta rest ta rest ta so fa fa fa fa fa mi mi mi mi re so^ do Rough translation (very rough): This is the dance, the dance of the crazy man. Group forms a circle and sings song several times. First time - walk in circle holding hands
We did not use any scenery. Costumes were long dresses, feathers in the hair, long beads, boas, etc. Guys had suits hats, instruments for props. Choreography, parents loved it! -- Susan Harris
07/05 I have also had wonderful success with We Hazz Jazz! One of my favorite musicals. My students loved the JJ choreography and we had a student who could play the Entertainer on the piano very well, so we added that with a cup routine.Its been awhile since I've done it but it is a show I would definitely do again! Dianne Park-President, San Diego American Orff Schulwerk Association
WE HAS JAZZ: I loved this program. I did it this past fall with my fourth graders. The absolutely had a blast with it, and they still remember many of the main people from the jazz era. The kids just loved this. I highly recommend it. The only problem I had was the script. It was a little long for my age group. I should have shortened it a bit, but for the age group requested about, it might work fine. You can always adapt. Musical: WE HAS JAZZ: suggestions)
The classroom teachers liked it also. There is A LOT of dialog and many parts to cover We performed "We Hazz Jazz" at my school. With 4/5 choir. It was terrific! Everyone loved it. I added a couple of songs (maybe I substituted) -used "Wadda, Wadda, Wadda 'cause I wanted to use those cool trumpets Teresa had a template for in the magazine. Made a paper trumpet for every choir student and we had a swingin' time. Also, we had a student who could play the "Maple Leaf Rag" like nobody's business, so we added that and sang the words from an octavo I had. We did the show almost as as written and had costumed characters. The kids loved being Billy Holiday (the little girl who did it wore her best white party dress and had a gardenia in her hair!), and assorted others. I highly recommend this show. It was fun, the choreography was great, solo opportunities, especially in the blues number. It appealed to all audiences. A school board member who saw it was extremely impressed with all the history learned. Do it!
Downfalls: I found the cast too big. If someone offers to help you with the cast, take them up on their offer! Trying to sort out entrances and exits, where each child stands and moves to was very overwhelming. They seemed to want to pack together Would I do this musical again? YES! The audience was on a high when they left the performance. I am sure everyone of them had the same goosebumps I had when the final song ended. I have done this with 5/6 grades. They loved the music. I added the song "Elijah Rock" to the work song section. I did not use the song "We Haz Jazz" at the beginning and end of the musical. we used "Dancin' on the Rooftop" from K8 Vol 2 #4 instead (gave composer credit on program). The classroom teachers liked it also. There is A LOT of dialog and many parts to cover.
06/06 BLUES SCALE My Orff recorder teacher had us improvise with DE GAB Bflat DE I used that with xylophones and if you give them syncopation and encourage them to end on G and use the blues note it sounded great. Linda Z in FL
The formula for a blues scale is 1-flat 3-4-flat 5-5-flat 7-8. E blues probably will be the easiest for recorder and bells. -- If you just outline the twelve bars blues on the board and play only 1 and flat 3 with cool rhythms it sounds pretty darn good. (E/G) (A/C) (B/D). Add four if you want a third note in each chord. -- Artie Almeida Today I put little tiny post it squares (I cut them up) on 4 notes of the blues scale: 1, flat3, 4, and flat 5. I had lots of other instrument parts going and one guy improvising on those four notes. After three passes through the 12-bar form I stopped the music. The kid was playing the same thing over and over again, but it sounded good. When I asked him about it, he grinned really big. He'd never played the piano before and he loved the little thing he'd made up so much he wanted to play it over and over again. Bless him, he'd found a fountain of joy in that tiny pattern he created! --Meredith Harley Inserra
try When the Saints MK8 recorder version.
"C Jam Blues" --a 12 bar blues piece by Duke Ellington is great to use with recorders & Orff instruments.
You can also use a recording of "Wipeout" and play recorder/Orff instrument melodic patterns using tones of the I, IV, and V chords in the key of C.
Lemon Drop (Ella Fitzgerald)
Ellington: photo, about his nickname: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/pages/aa_ellington_career_1.html
Duke Ellington: Links, Activities, resources, scrapbook, http://www.dellington.org/
There is a series of jazz ensemble charts called "Kendor Convertible Series" that comes in grades 1 - 4. Sounds like you might want to check out the grade one charts, meaning first year. They are called "convertible" because if you don't have full jazz instrumentation there are parts for other instruments. I think Kendor has a website.
Some arrangers to look for who write good sounding easy stuff: Larry Shutack and Mike Sweeney.
Also, there is a method book out now, published by Kjos that is really impressive. It's called the Jazz Ensemble Method, and it comes with about a dozen easy charts. Lots of band directors are using this with much success!
06/06 This site was listed in the Ohio Schools magazine (OEA) Excellent resource, free lesson plans, etc. from the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz 06/06 [This website] is FABULOUS! 8 detailed lesson plan units, complete with student handouts, tests, and answers as well as teacher information. You can pair it with a 2 disc jazz compilation or use some of the internet links. *Jazz Online--Jazz 101: This site gives info on the styles of jazz as well as a suggested "starter's guide" with to begin one's jazz collection. Smithsonian Jazz http://www.smithsonianjazz.org/ *Styles of Jazz--a map--Sarah PBS Jazz for Kids - http://pbskids.org/chuck/index.html#/jazz
Red Hot Jazz Archive A history of jazz before 1930 with links to films, essays, bands and musicians.
Making Music and Playing the Blues:
10/01 VIDEO: "Discovering Jazz" 24 mi. History of jazz from slaves to 50's.
clean and classroom appropriate. Barr Films, 1987, Musical Heritage Series.
-Accentuate the Positive Some tunes (from some of the greats)I would want to include would be: And some fun ones: Each track is in a different key. I select what I know will be an easy key for my students. PROCESS: The CD begins, I sing: "Do, Re, Mi-Mi, Mi - using synocapation." The students then repeat what I sing. After doing several jazzy motifs, I then stay on Do and sing a variety of rhythms only on Do. Then the fun begins. I point to individual students and they do their own rhythm only using Do. Once I see them loosen up, I sing a combination of sol and mi. Then, each student does his own rhythmic combination of sol - mi. When I see the fear is gone, I then do question and answer phrases. I sing a question phrase and give them the answer I want them to use. For example: I sing, "Sol-mi, sol-sol, Mi." They have already been told to answer with "Do, Do, Do-do, Do." I sing another, and they repeat the same answer. Then I give them a new answer: Do, Re, Do-re, Do. We do that and once I see they are comfortable: I sing the questions and every student makes up his own Do-re response. Yes, all at one time. It's "cool" and they love it. The next step is to give them scat syllables to use in place of the Do, Re, Mi, Sol. Before you know it, they are truly improvising vocal jazz. What fun! We actually did this in one of my shows. The parents were amazed. We have discussed this a few years ago on the list. Go to Music K-8 site:
Also, there is a nice "Alexander's Ragtime Band" 2-part piece that uses a
partner song.
arr. Besig/Price
Alfred #7727
"Junior Jam Session" by Laurie Zentz was utilized by Tony to give kids some
riffs to read along with the improv and chord progression. I've had great
luck with Lisa and Tony's idea in my 5th grade unit.
How about "Spring Spring Spring" I know your
camp is in the summer, but the little birdies will be singing!(Plank Road Publishing)
One thing kids love to do is scat singing. Greg and Steve have a fun
echo-style song, "Scat Like That." My kids love it. There is also one in
MK8. Check their index.
Chris Raschka has a couple of good books to use....Mysterious Thelonious
(about T. Monk of course) and Charlie Parker Plays BeBop.
How about "A BAG O' Tigers" from vol. 11-1 (Dixieland)
and "JitterBAG" from vol.10-1. Some of my 4ths added
the F#A line to make harmony with the written recorder
line in "Tigers." (for Recorders, Plank Rd. Pub)
How about two Music K-8 songs- Scat Cat and Ba Ba Do Bop? My kids all love
singing these two songs and learning about improvisation. Several parents have come to me and told me their child has taught them the songs. (Plank Road Pub)
Artwork by students to see (in honor of Ellington): "Student Gallery"; photos of Ellington are in "Scrapbook" Click on D.E. Centennial Celebration
PHOTO GALLERY: http://www.dukeellington.com/
YOUTUBE: show the Gene Kelley performance of “I Got Rhythm”
WHY TOES TAP with Wynton Marsalis
Why does Wynton Marsalis say "The rhythm is more important than melody in
a song."?
Which version of "Waltz of the Flowers" did you like best? (Circle one)
How are percussion instruments used differently in an orchestra and in a
jazz band?
Why does Wynton Marsalis say that "Duke Ellington’s arrangement of The
Nutcracker Suite is itself a SYNCOPATION of the original."?
What aspect of rhythm do you understand better after watching this video?
Explain.
MAIN POINTS OF DISCUSSION IN THIS VIDEO:
1. Stay within budget (including 10% for shipping) but come as close as possible to spending all the money allotted.
4. Report to the class orally what you will order, reason for including it, and how you feel it will best be used in the music classes.
I've prepared an assessment rubric which each student will fill out for each presenting team based on a number range of 1-4 (one being poor, 4 being excellent). 1/2 of each student's grade will come from the student's assessments (totalled and averaged); the other 1/2 from my assessment. The two assessments will then be added and averaged for the final grade. Partners will receive a "team" grade. But, if anyone throws attitude, behaves badly, or constantly disrupts others and is asked to leave the room, that student's individual grade will be docked 1 letter grade. So if at the end of the project after reports, a team ends up with a 3 (B), but one member was removed for misbehavior, that individual will only receive a 2 (C). Anyone being removed twice will result in their having to do the project solo (along with 2 letter grade deductions from their assessment total). This means the other team mate will be finishing his project on his own too (but he was doing it alone anyway right?). Also, after any removal, a parent contact will be made explaining the situation. This way one student's misbehavior and failure to contribute appropriately to the project will not be held against anyone else's grade. . -- Gretchen in IL
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01/04 Maybe have them copy the form: F, Bb, F, F, Bb, Bb, F, D, G, C, F, F (or any other blues chord progression)
Put each chord above the measure in some sheet music.
Have students then mix and match patterns that can go within the chord.
For example, start a column on the board labeled "F" - underneath the column place melodic patterns that students can copy into any measure that uses the "F" chord. Do the same for all the other chords you use. Then, play each student example and talk about how there are some similarities and differences.
Also, teach the blues scale and let them improvise on melodic instruments. - Contributed by RaeAnna Goss
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01/04 Sweet Home Chicago - from the Blues Brothers is a great example of 12
bar blues. I've taught it in the past to a middle school group. - Contributed by Sarah Davies
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11/03 MARSALIS CURRICULUM:
Some of you have asked how to implement the Jazz Curriculum narrated by Wynton Marsalis and produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center. I used it for a few weeks with my terrible 5th graders last week and it was wonderful!
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04/03 CHORDS: A chord/blues lesson possibility for this time of year: teach students the "C Jam Blues" by Duke Ellington--easy version uses only C and G. Melody can be played easily, harmonized easily with anything you have. Then-- after they are comfortable with the melody and harmony, slip in the "Bunny Hop" with a little bluesy piano accompaniment. Students can also do some xylophone improvisation in C pentatonic in bars 4, 8, and 12. -- Contributed by Donna B in MD
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04/03 MARSALIS: I'm having a great time using the Jazz for Young People curriculum by Wynton Marsalis with 8th grade. They're enjoying it and I'm really pleased with the content. It's good for middle school, not elementary grades.-- Contributed by Donna Wilkins
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01/03 Here's a quick and fun activity to celebrate this Oct. birthday.
Materials: recording of "In Walked Bud" by Th. Monk
Procedures: (In the hallway) Pretend you are "Bud" walking into a big party of your friends. Listen to the music and decide how you think Bud walked into the room. Walk into the music room as Bud.
The initial melody is repeated several times in the song. Choose a hand movement (such as "raising the roof") and play follow the leader again, but add the hand gesture every time you hear the melody.
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01/02 POLYRHYTHMS, TIME CAPSULE, SONGS: 1.I am starting with a brief intro to African rhythms- reading " In the Time
of the Drums", performing rhythmic activities on drums, doing an African harvest dance and doing small percussion with it. Then reviewing Funga Alafia with them and doing the Funga Alafia recorder page in the STM gr. 5 recorder booklet (teacher resources).
2. Second session: Listen to the gr. 6 time Time Capsule (or what of it is approprite for the age groups). Learn about Scott Joplin, play rhythms to The Entertainer, follow a Listening Map to the Entertainer, Read "The Piano Man" and discuss vaudville and ragtime, dance to soft shoe and tap routines using PVC pipe canes. Sing "Maple Leaf Rag" ( I have a choral version). Recorder work...? video segments of tappers...
3. Dixieland Jazz-clap/body percussion rhythms to "When the Saints". Learn "This Train" , do partner song with both. Read "The Sound of Jazz" with music excerpts ( I have to make them myself, very time consuming).Discuss. Recorder: gr. 4/5- try When the Saints MK8 recorder version.
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01/02 BOOK: There's a GORGEOUS book titled, "The Sound that Jazz Makes" (can't remember the author/illust. off hand) that traces music from African roots, slavery, spirituals, to Ragtime, Swing, Bebop, Rock, and finally Rap. Pretty much covers them all and with lushious paintings and moving poetical text. takes a rather afro-centric approach, so you'll want to add info. about other races that participated in the developments of these genres, but i HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book as an addition to your unit.
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10/01 BRUBECK: I discovered Dave Burbeck quartet's rendition of Take Five is a good example to use with the kids to figure out the meter ( ha, ha), to name the four instruments in the quartet (they come in one at a time in the intro.), to identify an ostinato (it blasted the covers off the speakers), and discuss harmony, melody, legato, staccato - which I thought they understood, silly me. The jazz listening sessions with 5th and 6th are a big hit for the most part.
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BOOK: The first thing you have to do is get your hands on the book, "I See the Rhythm". The illustrations by Michelle Wood are fantastic. It traces the story of African music for 500 years through all the forms of jazz and ends with rap/hip-hop.
Secondly, get your hands on a couple of really good jazz recordingsto supplement whatever series you are using.
Thirdly, make sure the students get a chance to sing some good swing and blues songs. My students absolutely love "Sing, Sing, Sing" (Plank Rd. Publishing) (they call it the Chips Ahoy song once and then they can't say it anymore in my class). I play the originial Louis Prima version for them so they can hear the way HE intended for it to be performed. There is so much that can be done with this area. I have the sixth graders write blues lyrics for a 12 bar blues song. They have to perform it in front of the class to a blues accompaniment. I've just begun the blues with my sixth graders so that will be our focus for the next three weeks.
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SONG: Get your hands on a couple of really good jazz recordings to supplement whatever series you are using. And make sure the students get a chance to sing some good swing and blues songs. My students absolutely love "Sing, Sing, Sing" (Plank Rd. Publishing) (they call it the Chips Ahoy song once and then they can't say it anymore in my class). I play the originial Louis Prima version for them so they can hear the way HE intended for it to be performed. There is so much that can be done with this area. I have the sixth graders write blues lyrics for a 12 bar blues song. They have to perform it in front of the class to a blues accompaniment. I've just begun the blues with my sixth graders so that will be our focus for the next three weeks.
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12 BAR BLUES: How about teaching the chord structure of a basic 12-bar blues pattern. (I put chord functions on a staff by Roman numeral: I, I, I, I, IV, IV, I, I, V, IV, I, I) setting up Orff xylophones for an 'E' blues: (E, G, A, Bb, B, D, E) and letting some of your students improvise (everything they play will sound right) while the rest play blues pattern root tones in quarter notes using low boomwhackers (I use bass steel drums, too). Then switch off so everyone gets a chance to try everything. My kids liked it a lot!BACK to Jazz topics
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MOVEMENT & DANCE ACTIVITIES
12/07 I've done a fun POWERPOINT listening guide for the "Maple Leaf Rag" that you might enjoy. You could add some stuff about his life to it and customize it for your students. You can download it here:
http://www.musicbulletinboards.net/downloadspage.htm -- Meredith Harley Inserra
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06/09 ACTIVITIY: My 5th graders are alllll about Tony Chestnut.Go figure.—Martha Stanley
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06/09 ACTIVITY: My students love Baztango esku danza, 12th street rag, Dance of the Crazy
Man, Barnereinlender, Paddy Whack - to name a few! -- Patty Oeste in AR
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ACTIVITY: Artie's body percussion matrix is SO FUN!!!!!!!!! They love it. --- Marti Rankin
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One of my 5th grade classes keeps requesting Billy, Billy. They love it. I've also had success with Alabama Gal and Chicken on the Fencepost. --- Sandy in Iowa
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06/09 ACTIVITY: Something all my kids, little and big, enjoy, is the statue freeze game, which originally comes from Artie Almeida. It can be done with any music at all - I'm doing it this week with "I'm A Believer" and I've also used things like Crazy Frog - Axel F and Hampsterdance. You also need a set of pictures of figures in different positions. (I don't know where you can get Artie's statue pics. Another teacher in my county got them from Artie and had permission from her to share them with the rest of us) Stick figures work just fine if you have to draw them yourself, though.
You play the music and have them move/dance to it - it can be locomotor or not, depending on how squirrely the group is - and every once in a while stop the music and hold up a statue card and everyone makes that statue. At least, that's what I do. If I'm way off base with the original activity, maybe Artie will jump in with corrections. :)
The variation I've been doing lately is to have them stay in the basic statue position when I restart the music and move as if the statue came to life or something. The idea actually came from one of my classes, I can't remember which one or what grade level now, where a group of kids just started doing that on their own, and it was something I had never thought of, but I liked it a lot! This week I have been instructing them to do it that way because it sets a limit and keeps them from either standing there looking bored when they're supposed to be moving, or (more likely scenario) from running around crazy and aimlessly. Also, I've noticed that they're far more creative within the given boundaries and come up with more variations of movement than they would if they had free reign. --- Ann Wells
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06/09 DANCE OF THE CRAZY MAN: is a great activity and emphasizes steady beat. Here's the info so you don't have to ask me to post it. My kids love this, but the boys tend to fall over when you get to the hands-on-knees part.
SONG: ta ta ti - ti ta ta half ta I. ti ta ta half rest
so do do do do do do so do do do mi so
C'est soir nous al - lons dan - cer, La dan - se du fa da.
C'est soir nous al - lons dan - cer, La dan - se du fa da.
Second time - face right, outside hand on inside shoulder of person in front of you
Third time - about face, inside hand on outside shoulder, walk backwards
Fourth time - face in, hands behind head (watch the elbows), move right, left leg crosses behind right, right steps (grapevine) looks great if you dip the knee as you cross left behind right
Fifth time - face in, hands on knees of person beside you
(if you start with feet together, it's easier to step
sideways)
Sixth time - hands on ankles of person beside you
Seventh time - cross arms, put behind knees, hold hands
To be most successful, students should step on the steady beat. --- Susan Simandle Music Specialist
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06/09 LOS MACHETES DANCE: : My 5th & 6th graders enjoy [this].. I just did a Google search to see if I could find the directions I have but had no luck - I found YouTube videos but they're not the same directions, either. However, it does appear that the song is an MP3 download on Amazon - I have a Mariachi CD that I use, bought specifically for Los Machetes. --- Tina Morgan
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06/09 BILLY, BILLY: MY 5ths(some any way) love Billy Billy --- Susan C Harris
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MOVEMENT: Every class 4-7 that I have used it with LOVES "SASHA" from "Step Lively"/Marian Rose.
The older ones 5-7 often request "Bridge of Athlone " from The Amidon's collection "Listen to the Mockingbird". --- Monica in CT
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06/09 DANCE I do dancing with all my grades yearround, and here at the last two weeks of the school year, when everyone has pretty much checked out, we're just dancing. I use the New England Dancing Masters books and CDs, and have been to one of their workshops. Surprisingly, my 5th graders love those dances!
We do Chimes of Dunkirk, Alabama Gal, Sasha and Galopede
We're currently learning the Heel-Toe Polka
We've also been learning a dance to John Kanakanaka
We also do the Hampster Dance, and all the favorites, like Cupid
Shuffle and Cha cha Slide --- Penny Thomas
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Musicals
06/09 ROCK! The History of Rock n Roll by John Jacobson. VERY fun! I did it with 5th/6th gr choir one year and have also done it with gr 4/5 choir. Everyone got such a kick out of it. I think middle schoolers would enjoy it, too.----- Dianne Park, San Diego, CA
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06/07 WE HAZ JAZZ: I substituted "Dancing on the Rooftop" from Music K8 which I liked much better than the first song in the musical. I asked the kids to dress up! I had a piano player play a simplified version of "Maple Leaf Rag" and he played the character of Scott Joplin. --- Iris Ingram
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I did a musical review of Grease a couple of years ago and will be doing it again with my 5th graders this May.
My students and parents LOVED this musical. They picked up the music easily and were eager to practice because they liked it and it was fun for them (educational too, of course)! Here are some costume suggestions. Go to thrift stores or ask for donations of old mens and boys jackets. They should be a little oversized. Decorate the lapels with fabric glitter. Do each one differently. Also get men's ties and do the same (decorate the front of the tie with glitter). I got the gangster type hats from oriental trading company-(they were cheap). These were for the male speaking parts. For the females the girls searched the thrift stores and got their own. The chorus wore a little something too: Boys- Decorated tie,white shirt, black pants Girls- Glittery head band with a couple of feathers and a dress of their choice
I did this musical in spring 2000 and the parents and grandparents raved! They loved the music and could relate to the jazz musicians and all of the puns instantly. Grade six student's made up the cast. I sent home a picture of each character with the respective actors and left the costuming up to them. The children all came back with great costumes. The choir/classes (grades one to six) who sang the songs wore black pants, white shirt, red bow tie and black sunglasses (they didn't put these on until they were on the risers) The grade four's had a swing dancing lesson with a dance teacher and look.
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'Forever Free' - all or part is excellent (?MK8). I had a couple of very good tap dancers in my grade 5 class and they
choreographed a soft shoe routine to 'I'm so lucky to be me' that they performed in front of the choir. (One of them had a mom who was a dance teacher and she helped, but most was the kids own work) This is a terrific program.
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Rock and We Haz Jazz Oooh, Both of these shows were just fabulous! I think you should decide what you want to teach to. When we did the jazz show I made sure to teach about that in music class so the audience and participants would have a better understanding. I made sure they knew who we were talking about, what the blues were, and etc. Same with the Rock show. I taught everybody in the school about Elvis, who Ed Sullivan was, how to jitterbug, etc. so the audience and singers would have a better idea of what they were singing about. I shortened the Jazz show somewhat-thought it was a bit wordy . So I rewrote the script some. I don't think I had every character mentioned. Also, I added Maple Leaf Rag and Teresa Jennings "Wadda Wadda Wadda" with the paper trumpets. With the Rock show I didn't change a thing. They are both fun. Maybe you should go by the costuming? If you own poodle skirts do Rock!
If you are doing a jazz unit, you might want to play some excerpts from a couple of movies you can easily pick up at the video store. For the blues, get a copy of "Adventures in Babysitting". There is a very cute scene where the babysitter and her charges run into a club in New York City. Before they can leave they are required to sing the blues on stage. So they sing a "baby sitting blues". Very funny scene. Second: to experience some of that old time jazz, rent a copy of "The Blues Brothers" (the first one). Show the scene where Cab Calloway, all dressed up in white tie and tails, sings "Minnie the Moocher" and everyone echos his hiddee-hiddee- hos! Kids love these excerpts!
BACK to Jazz topics
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JAZZ PROJECTS
06/09 JAZZ-PROJECTS I do my absolute favorite jazz project of all times with sixth grade. (With fifth grade, I use Jazz in 80 minutes, and with fourth, I concentrate on Scott Joplin and St. Louis/Kansas City jazz because of the Missouri history curriculum). My sixth graders do a jazz talk show, and they absolutely love it. They have to get into groups and research a famous (from a list) jazz musician (with MY resources to avoid any embarrassment), and divvy up jobs-act as the musician, talk show host, director, backstage, etc. Each group presents their show (some do commercials), then the fifth grade classes vote on the best act from each sixth grade class, and we have the Jazz Talk Show Emmys. --- Karen Stafford
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JAZZ – PROJECTS I am doing an instrumental history of Jazz with my 4th grade students.
I found a website, www.creatingmusic.com
where the students can create music and save it to their flash drives to cover improvisation. I am also going to have students choose a jazz musician,create a PPT presentation, and present it to the class. What I would like to do is incorporate a little assignment for each style that we cover and save that to their flash drive, thus, creating something like a digital jazz portfolio of their work to turn in at the end of the unit for a final grade. The styles that we cover are:
Ragtime, Dixieland, Big Band, Bebop, Cool Jazz, Free Jazz, Fusion, "Modern" Jazz --- Jason Skanes
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JAZZ RECORDER
12/09 Phrase 1 and 3 of Jolly Old St. Nicholas is only B-A-G. Let them alternate phrases with you, or with the piano, or with a few more advanced players doing phrases 2 and 4. Also, you can make a very nice descant to "Greensleeves" (What Child is This) using only B and A, with the song itself being in E minor, played on the piano while the kids play the descant. These were always hits with my beginners! --- Louise Eddington, Muncie, Indiana E. Luane Campbell Elementary Music Instructor & Talented and Gifted intervention specialist Mt. Gilead Schools, Ohio
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06/09 REPETOIRE: I've chosen music to make a program called "Tweet, Growl and Boing, Music about Animals."
--Dixie Cat - from Jazz It Up - a great Dixieland piece with improv sections - from Jazz Cats Recorder (Theme and Variations, Denise Gagne's shop) – the whole book is cool
--My Blue Panda (Mk8 18-4)
--Mockingbird, Sing (RecClassroom 1-1)
--Talking Turkey (RC 1-2)
--Blue Magic Wombat (Mk8 13-5). This will REALLLLLLY push them. It may not make the cut.
--Zippy Toad (RC 1-1)
I may add Dolphins Dream (RC1-1) because we like it so much, BUT I want them to do is with improv areas. --- Martha Stanley
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BOOK W/REPRODUCIBLE MUSIC: (quoted from Music MK8 site) “Jazz Cats - Recorder Songbook
by Brad Keller and Bonnie Rossa; This illustrated collection of six easy-medium jazz pieces for beginning and intermediate recorder players will teach your students about various jazz styles by playing jazzy pieces on the recorder. The kit includes reproducible song sheets, coloring pages for each song, and a Performance/Accompaniment CD.”
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We played Blue Eggs Over Easy from MK8 5:4 on our recorders and listened to a few other Blues songs. I told them that we would write our own Blues songs. -- Kristin Lukow
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Some of my 4ths added the F#A line to make harmony with the written recorder line in "Hold that Tiger" (for Recorders, Plank Rd. Pub)BACK to Jazz topics
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SWING, SCAT, BEBOP
12/07 BOOK: Ella the Elephant -- http://www.imagineatrium.com/kids.html
“Ella Elephant Scats Like That,” comes with a great original Jazz CD by young New York musicians that introduce the sounds and instruments of jazz to toddlers while teaching colors, numbers, and vocabulary. Other books in the series include “Duck Ellington Swings Through the Zoo” and “Miles the Crocodile Plays the Colors of Jazz.”
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12/07 BOOK: Flying Jazz Kittens by Sherry Luchette. “This book/cd set is designed for the elementary music teacher to use in general music classes, grades K-3. No prior jazz experience is necessary. The activities in this book will introduce, encourage, and nurture the unique rhythmic feel of jazz to your youngest music students. Fun "kid friendly" blues songs provide opportunities to sing, play and create melodies and phrases in a jazzy style. All of the activities are flexible with many variations so that teachers and students can use what works best for them. The possibilities are endless!”
http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=FJK1&Category_Code=
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12/07 MK8 (Plank Road Publishing) “Dancin’ on the Rooftop”
I Cant Stand Still Under Those Raindrops 6:4
Babadoobop vol 9/4
Book: Charley Parker Goes Bee Bop
"Babadoobop" from vol 9/4
Greg and Steve: “Scat Like That”
12/07 I use "The Jazz Fly" by Matthew Gollub. This is a wonderful book that has a whole lot of scat in it. I got the book from my local library and it has a CD in it where the author reads the story. It's wonderful to teach both the scat singing, and also the instruments in a jazz trio/quarter - I also can't remember how many instruments were featured in it. I usually do this in two lessons. For the first lesson, we discuss scat and jazz and some of the history, then we listen to it and color the various instruments in the story. The second lesson, we write our own scat song (this is taken off of the idea in the idea bank), perform it if we have time, then we learn the MK-8 song "I Like to Sing". These were two very full lessons, so I might change it to three next time I do it. I did it with second grade and parts of it were perhaps a bit challenging for them. They absolutely LOVED it, though. - Marcia Rothra Raleigh, North Carolina
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Lesson on Duke Ellington: http://teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-4743.html
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Here's how i teach the swing: basically it's a two step (taking out the rock-step 3rd beat). when they have a feel for it with the music, i show them several jitterbag moves they can do to spice it up. Slap a few navy/army felt hats on the boys and flowers in the girls' hair, and they're good to go! i have them either stand facing partner and holding eachother's hands in front of you or stand in traditional partner stance: ie. holding one hand, guy's other hand around her back and her other hand on his shoulder. for my kids, this is enough! they get the Feel for the swing/jitterbag and an understanding of the music of that genre. i tell them if they wish to learn the full-blown swing, they can take lessons from an instructor sometime later.
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We are into the Swing era right now. 3-5th grade keep a SQUILT journal that we do at the very begining of class.
I have shown parts of the movie "the Glenn Miller Story" I have let the kids color abstracts of the music they are listening to I have put up a wall mural in the hall exibiting some of their artist interpretations of the music. They have logged commercials that use this music on TV. (Bennny Goodman's Sdng !Sing! Sing! is on the Chips Ahoy commercial and In the Mood by Glenn Miller is on another)
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I love to introduce scat singing with Greg and Steve's echo song "Scat Like That". I usually pass out echo mics and the kids get really dramatic. We sit down during the choral section to listen to the four part singing. The next time we sing it, we begin to learn the choral parts. With fourth graders, it's a good time to present "Sir Duke" from Share the Music. It includes photos of jazz greats such as Ella (we talk about Ella's scat singing and the commercials about "is it live or is it Memorex"), Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Satchmo, and Sir Duke of course. It's also fun to show the music video of "True to Your Heart" from Mulan with Stevie Wonder and 98 Degrees, since Stevie Wonder wrote "Sir Duke" as a tribute to his musical "mentors". Talk of Satchmo gives me a great seque into the picture book of "What A Wonderful World". (They recognize that tune from "Madeline".
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I will tell you this, the kids really seem to love it. I made a big deal about how swing is making a comeback. We analyzed the music, then started the basic step. Once the kids have it, I have them partner up. They hold hands instead of embracing (I tell them we're not here to make a love connection). They picked it up quickly, and now they can't wait to come into class and learn some new steps. I did some networking at my school, and found a couple of older siblings (senior in high school and freshman in college) to come in and show them some really flashy stuff. Believe me when I say that I am no expert at this dance. I just know some basic steps, and I rented a couple of videos to give me some more steps. I really recommend it if you are teaching a jazz unit. It's a nice addition. Incidentally, the clinician at the workshop teaches this unit with sixth graders quite successfully as well.
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Bebop songs: Charlie Parker and/or Dizzy Gillespie: Billie's Bounce, Confirmation, KoKo, Donna Lee, Now's the Time Parker's Mood, Donna Lee, Giant Steps Our elementary district choir festival has assigned six octavos for the day...one is Charlie Parker's "NOW's the Time" arranged for three equal parts. AND, it's a real transcription of one of his great bebop tunes. It goes to three parts toward the end...like partner songs...but a little tricky for my small choir. But, I think it's what you may be looking for. $1.60 a copy from the choral music vendors. Also, go to Charlieparker.com for midis and transcriptions of his music.
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(Blues) If you are doing a jazz unit, you might want to play some excerpts from a couple of movies you can easily pick up at the video store. For the blues, get a copy of "Adventures in Babysitting". There is a very cute scene where the babysitter and her charges run into a club in New York City. Before they can leave they are required to sing the blues on stage. So they sing a "baby sitting blues". Very funny scene. Second: to experience some of that old time jazz, rent a copy of "The Blues Brothers" (the first one). Show the scene where Cab Calloway, all dressed up in white tie and tails, sings "Minnie the Moocher" and everyone echos his hiddee-hiddee- hos! Kids love these excerpts!
BACK to Jazz topics
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VIDEOS
10/05 Complete Guide to Teaching Vocal Jazz, Scat! Vocal Improvisation Technique
Bob Stoloff, Vocal ImprovisationMichele Weir
http://www.rbcmusic.com/choraltexts.htm
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10/01 "JAZZ" that traced the evolution of jazz from the slaves to 1950's. It was excellent and helped me to understand differences between styles like "funky,", "be bop," etc. It's about 24 min. and was published by some historical documentary film-making company..I used it with 4th, 5th, 6th. No editing required. Relax...
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Why Toes Tap by Marsalis is a nice video for kids to watch about jazz. I also have a book on jazz with big glossy pictures of all the greats. I sort of give them a talking history, showing them pictures and playing musical examples from all the decades. As a treat, we learn how to swing dance and end by watching the video. Usually takes a few weeks.
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Also, check out Marsalis' videos "Sousa to Satchmo" (wind bands, ragtime, Jazz) and "Listening for Clues" (forms such as 32 bar song form and chorus format and 12 bar blues) I can see using parts of each of these videos at some time in the study of jazz. I do a nine week general music course in 8th grade which is based on jazz. This includes the students creating a piece of music using a 32 bar song (Heart & Soul) in the chorus format and creating a 12 bar blues song. In the processes the students learn to create and play chords and bass lines; learn major scales and use this information to play and create melodies by ear; and given several basic riffs, improvise their own bridge sections in the AABA form.
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"River of Song" in an exhaustive account of jazz as it moved up the Mississippi river. It is a fascinating recounting of the events and is very well done. It is a video produced by PBS (public television) and is very appropriate for 5th grade through adult. Below is the web address. http://www.pbs.org/ Check with the video page first, and if you don't find it, e-mail them and they will give you info. on the set. It is excellent, but a bit "spendy"... I think about $80.00 or so for the set of three videos. http://shop2.pbs.org/pbsvideo/default.asp PBS VIDEO http://www.pbs.org/ Click here: PBS Online (PBS TeacherSource)
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/teachermail.shtm
I ordered two - "Jazz Stars" and "Dizzy Gillespie: A Night in Tunisia." They both seemed made for adults that already knew and appreciated jazz, not kids just starting to learn. I showed Jazz Stars to a couple classes - only about 30 minutes of it, and I could they were getting restless and losing focus.
BACK to Jazz topics
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WEBSITES
07/13 GULLAH MUSIC There is a great example of writing a blues song and a combo accom. to try out your blues lyrics. It also has info on the Gullah sub culture from the southeast.
http://knowitall.org/gullahmusic/blues/index.html
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10/12 GREAT LINKS TO ALL JAZZ GENRES: http://www.carnegiehall.org/honor/history/index.aspx
Click on a genre (many examples) and read/hear/see photos)
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12/11 WEBSITE: jamstudio.com Check it out because it is fantastic for improv.
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03/03 WEBSITE: The web addy for the Jazz for Young People curriculum is:
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Those who are teaching jazz, check out pbs.org's site for jazz. I used some parts of the websites in my class with my TV hooked up to my computer. You can also check out my website and use a PowerPoint I created to teach Duke Ellington.
http://www.smithsonianjazz.org/class/jc_start.asp
RaeAnna Goss
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06/10 SORTING INSTRUMENTS INTO FAMILIES:
http://www.thirteen.org/publicarts/orchestra/orchestra03.swf
http://www.nyphilkids.org/main.phtml --- Robin Smith, San Jose, CA
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06/09 Ella Fitzgerald: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUYpUogn91U
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06/09 CAKEWALK – History: http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3cake1.htm
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06/09 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ CLIP ART: http://www.ace-clipart.com/music-clipart-03.html ---Martha Stanley
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06/09 O WHEN THE SAINTS – L. Armstrong-Youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OpTSPFoGO-w
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06/09 Blackface Minstrelsy 1830–1852 www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/minstrel/mihp.html
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06/09 Jazz Profiles from NPR: “Women In Jazz,” parts 1 and 2
www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/women_1.html
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10/08 http://www.southernmusic.net/timeline.htm
At Tulane University, there is a world class archive for anything 20th century and jazz.They have made available videos and other clips. I just watched a 15 minute one that would be good for 5th+. Maybe 4th if I prepped them with vocabulary. It was the Jazz Station. Also available Blues Station and more. I was real tickled at how there were so many examples showing right there (!) of the stuff I've been showing the kids. It ends with a kickin' version of When The Saints. Worth 15 minutes of your life to check out. -- Martha Stanley
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12/07 LESSONS: This website is hosted by The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan
At the end of our unit we have a competition between the 4th grade classes I call "The Jazz Masters Competition". Five students from each class (I have five 4th grade classes) and we have it one day after school. Because each lesson has readings and review question, I use the questions for the competition. The students use them for their study guide. The winning team receives nice trophies and the other teams receive rewards also. We have a great time with it and the students look forward to competing against each other. -- Jason Skanes
www.jazzinamerica.org/home.asp.
Starting from 1900 has background of different styles of Jazz and how they developed.
http://www.jazzinamerica.org -------Rhonda Schilling, Madison WI
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06/06 For your computer center you might want to use the Jazz for Young People site: http://www.jalc.org/educ/ (Click on "Curriculum") I used it this fall with my 5th graders and they enjoyed it as much as I.-- Delynne in AR
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10/05 I checked out jazzforyoungpeople.org and I LOVE IT! It's complete with interactive lessons that include sound, video clips, and online quiz!! How cool is that?!?! This is definitely a keeper! -- Meredith Harley Inserra
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10/05 *A Passion for Jazz!: Short overview of the styles of jazz http://www.apassion4jazz.net/jazz_styles.html
*A History of Jazz: Offers pages on the history, musicians, singers, clubs, and festivals.
http://www.historyjazz.com/ *
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06/05 A really great site for jazz is
jazzforyoungpeople.org
. I went to the site made a worksheet to go with some of the lessons--then took the whole class to the computer lab--they loved it. We had already spent time learning about Louis Armstrong and this really helped reinforce what we had learned. If you can't take classes to a computer lab, but your computer is hooked up to a TV--you could still do this in class together. In fact I think that is what I'll do with the Big Band lesson next week. I didn't have questions on my worksheets about that lesson. I also had the kids go to pbs.org/jazz/kids and had some questions on the worksheet--I wanted them to find out more about Duke Ellington and then the kids who were faster workers could play around on that website a little. Jan in SD
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10/02 Looks like some great links on this website: http://www.teachersfirst.com/tchr-subj.cfm?subject=music&lower=9&upper=12
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01/02 John Jacobsons "We Hazz Jazz" is an excellent spring program. I did it last year with my 65 member honor choir but rewrote the dialog to fit my own needs (I shortened it). It goes through the history of jazz and includes some great music! I highly recomend it, especially if you like to choreograph.
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COMPLETE COURSES, SCALES & CHORDS, SONGS: http://www.jazclass.aust.com/
FREE DOWNLOAD SONGS: http://www.kinderjazz.com/downloads.html
ARTICLE: http://www.education-world.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0040.shtml BACK to Jazz topics
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SONGS, MUSICALS & RECORDINGS
06/15 Sherry Frost and I wrote "Who Pushed Humpty?" - it is a musical mystery whose dialogue is entirely in rhyme and the plot is completely based on nursery rhyme topics. While the vocal recordings were "just okay" the accompaniments are still something I am proud of and I stand by this musical today. The songs are fun (and some downright hilarious), the dialogue that Sherry wrote is brilliant, and the fact that the audience chooses the "guilty party" make it a good time for all. This one is no easy prep though...it's not a "throw it on the stage" kind of show. If you're interested, it is available from the "Hal Leonard Store" on the Plank Road Publishing site. The "kit" includes the score, dialogue, P/A CD, and rights to reproduce at will. ---- Norm Sands
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12/09 CHRISTMAS SONGS: Dancin' on the Rooftop
I hear Those Jingle Bells
O Tannenboom
Old-Fashioned Holiday
A Perfect Winter Day
A Reason For the Season
A Silly Holiday Song
There's Someone in the Chimney
We Wish You a Swingin Holiday
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12/07 Susie Davies-Splitter has written some excellent echo songs for upper elementary. They are in her Jazz it Up! collection and in Jazz and Blues for Kids. Much of the echo parts are scat syllables, getting kids ears working AND getting them familiar with scat. --- Denise Gagne www.musicplay.ca Musicplay - the Sequential Text Series [email protected] 888-562-4647
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12/07 I am REALLY enjoy I Sing, You Sing by Sally Albrecht and Jay Althouse. I have the regular book and the "Seasons" book. I haven't used so much from one source for a very long time. These books are new to me this year and I use them every day with almost every class. - Kristin Lukow
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12/07 POWERPOINTS: http://www.pppst.com/index.html
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12/07 CONCERT: Our 5th graders did a jazz concert last year, and here are some of the songs we did.
-Charleston (we had four girls & four boys in costume who danced to this one)
-Scat Song (with four soloists doing the leads)
-The Entertainer
-Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (with three girls pantomiming the Andrews Sisters)
-One
-Scooby Doo Blues (from the book, Flying Jazz Kittens, we also had several students doing solos on alto xylophones)
-We Haz Jazz
-Great Scott
-Til That Day Blues (with our 5 bass players from the orchestra doing a simplified bass line)
-Dixie Rag
-Fascinating Rhythm
-Jeepers Creepers (kids wore sunglasses)
-Puttin' On The Ritz
-Dancin' On The Rooftop (some of our students in dance classes wrote a tap dance to this song)
-Jump Jive & Wail (my teaching partner played guitar and I played piano, we each did a solo). -- Dana McCabe, Minnesota
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12/07 ECHO SONGS: Susie Davies-Splitter has written some excellent echo songs for upper elementary. They are in her Jazz it Up! collection and in Jazz and Blues for Kids. Much of the echo parts are scat syllables, getting kids ears working AND getting them familiar with scat. --- Denise Gagne www.musicplay.ca Musicplay - the Sequential Text Series [email protected] 888-562-4647
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12/07 BOOK OF SONGS:
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12/07 At this site is a list of 20 pieces “you should know.”
http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/arts/stories/2007/07/22/1A_JAZZ_CLASSICS.ART_ART_07-22-07_E1_087ABDV.html
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06/07 There is a great song in Musicplay 5 called Five Four Groove written by Jazz music educator Susie Davies-Splitter. It has a scat section where students can echo what is sung, or they can improvise their own scat syllables in this section. If you don't have the Musicplay series (or don't like using a series) it will be available later this spring in Jazz it Up! Vol. 2. The Jazz it Up! Vol. 2 collection will also include "Seven" - a piece in 7/4 time. Great material for upper elementary students! --- Denise Gagne www.musicplay.ca Musicplay - the Sequential Text Series [email protected]
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LESSON: http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/1/1
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01/07 MAPLE LEAF RAG - Powerpoint http://www.musicbulletinboards.net/downloadspage.htm
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01/07 I read a book on Ella Fitzgerald called "“Ella Fitzgerald The Tale of aVocal Virtuoso” Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney ISBN 078682493-X I skipped some portions because is was too wordy for the little ones but the pictures are great. It talks about her early life and dreams as a young girl and then when she was famous and some of her famous collaborators. It also discusses scat singing. I then did a movement activity using Ella singing "Lullaby of Birdland". I like the Ella and Duke Ellington version although there are many from which to choose on iTunes. The skill objective was scat singing and vocal/instrumental recognition, and steady beat.
I had the students step the beat whenever Ella sang real words but stop and only move their arms whenever she was scat singing or there were just instrumentsplaying. This song rocks and whenever they'd go from the non-locomotor to the locomotor, it was a blast. I told them to "step" the beat but boy did they put STYLE into it. FUN! -- Laura Bartolomeo
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01/07 Ella sings A Tiskit A Tasket on the gr.1 STM CD- but you could find it on any number of jazz CD's. Play A Tiskit A Tasket as a game, dropping the basket and playing like duck duck goose- or use the version of the game in gr 1 STM CD. Then listen to Ella. -- Dianne Park, President, San Diego American Orff Schulwerk Association, Visit our SDAOSA website at http://www.sbsd.k12.ca.us/~slloyd/index.htm
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06/05 "The Twist" is another good one. I do a unit on early rock and roll with my 7th graders, and it seems like every other song on those Time-Life Videos is a 12 Bar Blues! I start them out with a hand jive - Patsch on Cs, clap on Fs, snap on Gs. Then every time one shows up, I start the hand jive. Doesn't take long till they hear it, too. I think your idea of dividing them into groups is a good one. I only have resonator bells, and that's how we start off.-- Judy Schneider
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06/05 "Lazy Kinda Blues" that I've done SAB,
06/05 12 BAR BLUES----One example (in popular music): "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" How about playing on barred instruments -- the bass line...I tried it with my 5th graders last year and it was challenging. This year I'm thinking about having the barred instruments split up into the C progression and F progression & G progression, so that they would only play when their change came. Once they have the bass line, I thought others could improvise over the bass line with recorders or other barred instruments. (UPP, too...) Example: CEFG (4 reps) played by group "A" FABbC(4 reps) played by group "B" CEFG (2 reps) GBCD (2 reps) played by group "B" also CEFG C - - - Thought: If the pitch matched the instruments, you could even play the bass line to accompany a blues recording. -- Rebekah Ventura
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10/04 I always liked "Joe Turner Blues" from the old SB "Making Music Your Own" --maybe 6th grade book. Probably could still be found. Easy melody--easy text--kids loved it (that's a big one!) and lots of fun "extras" you can add instrumentally. One of the easiest ones we added was using untuned percussion (small suspended cymbal for example) to play a jazzy swingy rhythm in the "breaks" following each phrase. Good question-and-answer training, as the kids have to FEEL when to start and when to end; fill the space up, NO MORE! -- Contributed by Louise Eddington, Muncie, Indiana
E. Luane Campbell Elementary Music Instructor & Talented and Gifted intervention specialist Mt. Gilead Schools, Ohio
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10/04 The City Blues is published in an old textbook series called "Experiencing Music" and was previously published in 1958 by Macmillan in a book called "Folk Blues" by Jerry Silverman.
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10/04 A song on Share the Music 3rd Grade CD 6. Track 18 is "Ready Set Scat!" (Recorded Lesson) & Track 19 is Ella Fitzgerald singing "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing". -- Contributed by Dale Mize
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01/04 I have a "Kewl" Cd called Jazz for Kids produced by Lisa Yves who us a jazz singer and also a teacher so on the CD kids are doing scat singing. I just adore this CD
There is one piece called a Night with Bach in Tunisia with music by Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Paparelli but with lyrics by Lisa Yves based on the Bach Invention #4 ....It is "Kewt". This is a CD that is always a great standby to energize a lesson. There's a little Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus etc. (800) 301-MUSIC or http://dcccompactclassics.com/ - Contributed by Susan Michiels
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01/04 Go to http://www.jazzforkids.net/JFK.htm and buy her CD's!!! She is
awesome!!!
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01/04 Top 5 jazz musicians who contributed to the history and development of jazz would be (in my opinion):
1. Louis Armstrong
2. Duke Ellington
3. John Coltrane
4. Miles Davis
5. Charlie Parker
"So What" - Miles Davis
"Hello Dolly" - Louis Armstrong
"Take the A Train" - Duke Ellington
"Naima" - John Coltrane
"Au Privave" - Charlie Parker
"Take Five" - Dave Brubeck
"St. Thomas" - Sonny Rollins
"Everybody Wants to be a Cat" - from the Aristocats
"Flintstones" - if you can find it - it's based on "I Got Rhythm"
"Pink Panther"
"Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi - Contributed by Laurie Zentz
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01/04 Pleased to hear someone mention Ella Fitzgerald. But how about Billie Holiday? Also I would include Dizzy Gillespie and for counting beats.......Take Five! - Contributed by Susan Michiels
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07/03 I love "Ragtime Town" by Jerry Estes. I've used that twice at the Six Flags Music Festivals, and kids really enjoy doing it! -- Contributed by Karen Stafford "The Music Education Madness Site", http://www.musiceducationmadness.com/
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04/03 I'm doing "We Haz Jazz" with my 5th grade classes now. The kids generally LOVE the music. I was not particularly taken with the blues song in the music ("I'm Old Enough to Sing the Blues"), so I've substituted MK8's "Jelly Bean Blues" instead, much to the delight of my students!
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04/03 I just located the CD that I use all the time to introduced kids to jazz. It's called Jazz for Kids by Lisa Yves.She is a jazz singer and a teacher. The kids really like the CD because it is sung by kids.
To get a copy contact 1-(800) 301-MUSIC.n or http//dccompactclassics.com or 9301 Jordan Avenue, ste.. 105, Chatsworth, CA 91311
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04/03 Yes! Get an Abersold CD and have the students enjoy making their own vocal jazz.Here's my approach: The J. Aebersold CD's are jazz backgrounds. They are for the purpose of teaching jazz to instrumentalists. I have the Vol. 24 Major/minor CD. I can't remember the exact title.
http://www.escribe.com/education/mk8/ and type in Aebersold. You'll find my messages about this and one other person also gave information concerning how to get the CD's.-- Contributed by Pamela Rezach
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10/01 Last year I had small ensembles perform at our spring choral concert. The
fifth graders did Steve Zegree's Paper Moon. It changes meter a lot, but it
was a lot of fun.
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10/01 Very Easy Jazz Tunes
(1) Bye-Bye Blackbird
(2) Tea for Two
(3) A-tisket A-tasket (recorded by Ella Fitzgerald)
(4) It's Only a Paper Moon (recorded by Nat King Cole)
(5) My Favorite Things (recorded by ALMOST EVERYONE in jazz) and it's easy for the kids to create their own list of favorite things.
(6) Nice Work If You Can Get It (was also a TV theme song)
(7) One Note Samba (for the older ones, it's lots of fun!)
Also Johnny One-Note
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My JH kids LOVED to sing "I Return to Music" (I can't remember the composer just now). We did it SSA.
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"Chase Your Blues Away" is a nice 2-part piece.
by Patsy Ford Simms
Gentry Publications #JG2037
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"Basil the Cat" by Valerie Shields is pretty cool.
"We Has Jazz" by Kirby Shaw or "ROCK" - John Jacobson just came out this year.
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Charlie Parker Played BeBop by Chris Rashka, has potential to use to discuss jazz as well as him, since it could be read "with a beat".
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"Jazz Stars," which covers people not in the Lives of the Musicians.
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DUKE ELLINGTON
06/09 FOUR LESSONS (geared to Grades 6-12)http://www.dellington.org/lessons/lesson01.html
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Photo, about his nickname
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi (Click on "Meet Amazing Americans" then on Duke Ellington)
BIOGRAPHY: http://www.redhotjazz.com/duke.html
BIOGRAPHY: http://www.pbs.org/ellingtonsdc/dukeEllington.htm
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/ellington
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GEORGE GERSHWIN
06/09 LESSON: http://www.smithsonianjazz.org/class/ellington/de_teacher.asp
George Gershwin
DVD with study guide:
“Meet the Musicians: Gershwin” http://musick8.com/store/searchresults.php BACK to Jazz topics
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JAZZ HUMOUR
JOKE: Blues Starter Kit
1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning..."
2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, 'less you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."
3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes...sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 900 pound."
4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch-ain't no way out.
5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a GreyHound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft an' state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin'
plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and the Mississippi Delta are still the best place to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in
any place that don't get rain.
8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it is.
9. You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
10. Good places for the Blues: a. highway b. jailhouse c. empty bed d. bottom of a whiskey glass. Bad places for the Blues: a. Dillard's b. gallery openings c. Ivy League institutions d. golf courses
11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.
12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if: a. you older than dirt b. you blind c. you shot a man in Memphis d. you can't be satisfied No, if: a. you have all your teeth b. you were once blind but now can see c. the man in Memphis lived d. you have a 401K or trust fund
13. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. TigerWoods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could.
14. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are: a. cheap wine (vintage Thunderbird, Wild Irish Rose, or Mogan David preferred) b. whiskey or bourbon c. muddy water d. nasty black coffee The following are NOT Blues beverages: a. Perrier b. Chardonnay c. Snapple d. Slim Fast e. cognac
15. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse, tuberculosis, syphilis, and dying lonely on a broken down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die while playing a tennis match or getting liposuction.
16. Some Blues names for women: a. Sadie b. Big Mama c. Bessie d. Fat River Dumpling
17. Some Blues names for men: a. Joe b. Willie c. Little Willie d. Big Willie e. Blind Anybody
18. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
19. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit: a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.) b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon,Lime,Kiwi,etc.) c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, Cleveland, etc.) For example, Blind Lime Jefferson, Jakeleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi")
20. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own a computer, you cannot sing the blues.
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WORKSHEETS
01/02 Name _____________________________ Homeroom____________
TCHAIKOVSKY’S Original ELLINGTON’S Arrangement
Why?
We identify songs by their melody, but without rhythm, there can be no
melody.
Accented beats fall into odd or even meters.
Meters are divided into measures, which are points of reference for
rhythms that dance, skip, hop, etc.
Tempo = fast, slow, etc.
We can play with rhythm by varying the accents and rests.
Ground rhythms are overworked and underappreciated, but they are
essential to give music vitality and lift.
The bass, drums and piano are the rhythm section of a jazz band, and they
SWING.
Rhythms must be played with intensity and soul at all times.
Syncopation is accenting the unexpected.
No motion = no rhythm; no rhythm = no music.
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