Creating and performing an improvised jazz piece
I can structure, rehearse and perform a stylistic improvised jazz piece as part of an ensemble.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 6
Creating and performing an improvised jazz piece
I can structure, rehearse and perform a stylistic improvised jazz piece as part of an ensemble.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Jazz music is often structured like a musical sandwich.
- The head opens and closes the piece, with improvisations in the middle.
- Bars in 4-time can be counted as 1 2 3 4, 2 2 3 4, 3 2 3 4, 4 2 3 4 ...
- Improvisation is creative, in-the-moment musical composition.
- However, there are many parts to an improvised performance that can be rehearsed.
Keywords
Structure - the way the music is organised, ordering different sections of a piece
Solo - a piece or section of a piece performed by a single performer
Improvise - to create music in the moment, using the voice or instruments, alone or with others
Head - a term for the main melody or theme in jazz music
Bar - a measure of musical time with a set number of beats (e.g. 4 beats in 4-time)
Common misconception
Improvised music has no structure.
Jazz pieces are heavily structured around chord sequences, the head and order of improvisatons.
Equipment
Claves - four per ensemble. Unpitched percussion - two per ensemble. Pitched percussion - two per ensemble minimum (C, D, F, G, A, C', D').
Licence
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