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Would you like students in your jazz ensemble to listen to great jazz recordings and even transcribe solos? Would you like your saxophone section to swing like Count Basie’s? Would you like your soloists to understand and use phrases invented by John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, J.J. Johnson, and the like? Such an accomplishment may seem daunting. If you’re like me, you’ve asked “How can my students and I find time to tackle such a thing? How do I go about teaching students to listen and transcribe?”

This article contains strategies that have been successful with middle school students and can apply to any age and ability. The strategies are fleshed out in three areas:

1. Building a Jazz Library...without breaking the bank

2. Guidelines for Student Listening (Download worksheets!)

3. Guidelines for Transcribing (Download worksheets!)

WORTH THE EFFORT!

I often ask my students to recall an image of someone doing an impression of someone else - whether it’s a stand up comic or someone that does a good "Mr. Fettig" behind my back. Then I ask them a rhetorical question: is it possible for a person to do an impression without ever seeing or hearing the person they are imitating? Likewise, to imitate jazz on your instrument requires that you know what it sounds like, and that requires you to listen.

There is no amount of talking and teaching that can replace a musical model for students. It’s something we all know but often forget or neglect. The first step in encouraging students to listen to jazz is to provide them with recordings to listen to.

BUILDING A JAZZ LIBRARY

Build a jazz CD library for your program. This can be done without breaking the bank; you can budget for as few as two to three CDs per year for several years. The good news is that your library will be adequate with as few as five CDs that represent the instruments in your ensemble. With a library in place, students can check out a CD to enjoy during study hall or take home for further study.

The jazz library in our middle school band room is comprised mostly of CDs from my personal collection. This is an option you may want to consider if you have jazz recordings of your own. I would not risk my personal collection had I not entered each CD onto a computer database. While it was quite an arduous task to enter all the data, it serves several purposes: to hold students accountable for returning the CDs, to keep a history of who listened to what or how many times a particular CD was checked out, and to give a jazz nerd like myself an excuse to pour over my collection. In addition, it offers me the luxury of referencing the CDs in every way imaginable; I’m able to search for all CDs that contain a particular song, instrument, date, or publisher. The ability to reference is also a helpful tool for the full jazz rehearsal. I can have students listen to original recordings of songs that they are rehearsing in the ensemble setting.

For help in determining which CDs your students should be listening to, check out www.doubletimejazz.com. You can’t go wrong with their list of "100 Historically Significant Recordings." Doubletime Jazz is also an excellent place to purchase CDs at a good price. Furthermore, Jamey Aebersold has compiled a comprehensive list of important jazz artists for each instrument.