Creating and performing an improvised jazz piece
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can structure, rehearse and perform a stylistic improvised jazz piece as part of an ensemble.
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.
Teacher tip
Pupils will need plenty of time to rehearse the final piece to gain a sense of fluency moving between the head and improvised sections.
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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