Alicia DeSoto & Chris Meredith are currently band directors at Lewisville High School in Lewisville ISD, TX.
Literacy: the ability to read and write
Music Literacy: the ability to read, write, and play music
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Thank you for your work in music education! Even on the hardest days, your students are still so lucky to call you their teacher.
Alicia DeSoto & Chris Meredith are currently band directors at Lewisville High School in Lewisville ISD, TX.
Literacy: the ability to read and write
Music Literacy: the ability to read, write, and play music
What can we do as music educators to develop music literacy in our classrooms, with the same level of detail and care that elementary school teachers pour into their young readers and writers?
We don’t need to remind you that December performances are right around the corner—your opportunity to spread holiday cheer while showcasing the skills your students have been working on this semester.
When I work with jazz ensembles on style and phrasing, I strongly emphasize that everyone needs to know what instruments they are listening to – and why.
The jazz ensemble warmup is a great opportunity to teach some scales that are useful in jazz improvisation. Common modes like mixolydian or dorian will help get the players moving around their horns and will also give them some basic improvisational tools.
Having enjoyed more than thirty years in choral classrooms, I’ve had lots of experience with what works, and what doesn’t.
Beginning improvisers need our support. We can give them a blues, mixolydian, or dorian scale, but a scale is not a strategy.
Rhythm is fundamental to creating the feeling for any genre of music. It is therefore vital that the rhythm section create the appropriate rhythmic feel and style of swing.
With very little background in playing guitar, and no background in jazz guitar pedagogy, many band directors find themselves at a loss on how to help their jazz band guitarist.