TAMALPAIS UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Larkspur, CA

Course of Study

JAZZ BAND (Jazz Ensemble)

I.  INTRODUCTION

Purpose

Jazz Band is a one-year course, which may be repeated, with a grade of "C" or better, for a total of up to four years.  This is a multi-grade, multi-level, lab ensemble class which allows students to finely tune their technical, ensemble and musicianship skills with a strong emphasis on the stylistic specifics of the jazz idiom and on the achievement of satisfying aesthetic experiences through the rehearsal and performance of suitable grade III and IV jazz band literature.  The class is for students of any grade who play an appropriate standard concert band instrument and meet either an audition or gain the permission of the instructor.  Jazz Band prepares the student for participation in college musical ensembles and other community amateur or professional musical groups.  Individual practice to perform the assignments is necessary.  Performances are required and these may include big band or combo concerts and festival events, during and after school hours.

Tamalpais District Outcomes, National Standards for Arts Education and California State Framework Standards

This class particularly addresses the following Tamalpais District Student Learning Outcomes:
  2.	Read/view and analyze material in a variety of disciplines
11.	Appreciate, interpret, experience, create and/or perform artistic work
12.	Demonstrate school to work/post secondary transition skills and knowledge

This class also may address these Tamalpais District Students Learning Outcomes:
  3.	Use technology to access information, analyze/solve problems and communicate ideas
10.	Analyze current issues from historical, political, economic, geographic, scientific and multicultural perspective
13.	Participate in community, social, civic or cultural service

This class addresses these Content Standards from the National Standards for Arts Education in Music:
2.	Performing on instruments, alone, and with others, a varied repertoire of music
3.	Improvising melodies, variations and accompaniments
4.	Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
5.	Reading and notation music
6.	Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
7.	Evaluating music and music performances
8.	Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
9.	Understanding music in relation to history and culture

This class also addresses the music standards for grades 9-12 of the California State Framework for Visual and Performing Arts:

1.3	Sight-read music accurately and expressively (level of difficulty: 3; scale: 1-6)
1.4	Analyze and describe significant musical events perceived and remembered in a given aural example.
1.5	Analyze and describe the use of musical elements in a given work that makes                   it unique, interesting, and expressive.
1.6	Compare and contrast the use of form, both past and present, in a varied      repertoire of music from diverse genres, styles, and cultures.
2.4	Perform on an instrument a repertoire of instrumental literature representing various genres, styles, and cultures with expression, technical accuracy, tone quality, and articulation, by oneself and in ensembles (level of difficulty: 3; scale: 1-6).
3.1	Analyze how the roles of musicians and composers have changed or remained the same throughout history.
3.3	Compare and contrast the social function of a variety of music forms in various cultures and time period.
3.4	Perform music from a variety of cultures and historical periods.
3.5	Compare and contrast instruments from a variety of cultures and historical periods.
3.7	Analyze the stylistic features of a given musical work that define its aesthetic traditions and its historical or cultural context.
3.8	Compare and contrast musical genres or styles that show the influence of two or more cultural traditions.
4.1	Compare and contrast how a composer's intentions result in a work of music and how that music is used.
4.2	Analyze and explain how and why people in a particular culture use and respond to specific musical works from their own culture.
5.1	Explain ways in which the principles and subject matter of music and various disciplines outside the arts are interrelated.
5.3	Identify and explain the various factors involved in pursuing careers in music. 

Articulation with Other Department Courses

Jazz Band serves is an advanced performing ensemble and serves as a supplementary music course in the band sequence.  Students need to be concurrently enrolled in either Concert Band or Symphonic Band, or may audition into the ensemble with instructor’s consent.  

Course Goals 

Jazz Band allows students to refine their technical, ensemble and musicianship skills, through study, rehearsal, and performance of advanced concert band literature.  Also, this class develops group ensemble and individual skills within the jazz idiom such as swing and latin phrasing, improvisation, and spontaneous composition.  The class prepares students for participation in further college or community musical activities.

II.  STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

A.  What Students Will Do

Jazz Band is an advanced performing ensemble and a supplementary class in the band sequence, in which students serve as contributing members of a jazz ensemble.  This is a rehearsal class in which advanced jazz band literature is rehearsed and performed.  At the end of the year, students will Perform all 12 blues scales, all 12 dorian scales, all 12 mixolydian scales, and a one octave chromatic scale in eighth notes a MM quarter note = 120 bpm or faster. They will listen to, analyze and describe selected musical examples.  

The student may be asked for written and/or oral reports.  Each student will create and maintain a portfolio of student performances which may consist of recordings, printed programs, notes, articles, observations, written analysis, evaluations, assessments and honors or awards representative of their work. 

Students will demonstrate, through individual and public performance, mastery of their individual music parts and improved knowledge and skills of:
·	Individual tone quality
·	Ensemble tone quality
·	Musical dynamics
·	Intonation
·	Articulation
·	More complex rhythmic problems
·	Swing, Latin, and Funk Phrasing
·	Breath control
·	Correct posture
·	Correct playing position
·	Care of the instrument
·	Basic musical terms and symbols
·	Key signature
·	Time signature
·	Group listening skills
·	Rehearsal skills 
·	ensemble skills 
·	music theory
·	Improvisation
·	Group interaction

B.  Student Assessment

The teacher will evaluate the student's performance and will give a course grade based on objective in-class written and performance test, written and/or aural reports, an evaluation of the students individual and ensemble performance in a group of this level, the teacher's assessment of the student's daily attendance, rehearsal participation and contribution, and the student's attendance at required in-school and after school concerts and other performances.  Written criteria for these assessments will be given to the student at the beginning of the school year or semester.

C. Course Assessment
The effectiveness of this course will be assessed at least once a year using a variety of information including the instructor's subjective evaluation and student feedback in various forms such as comments or a survey.

III.  METHODS AND MATERIALS

Methods

Jazz Band is a lab class taught through ensemble rehearsal and performance.  Emphasis is on the improved technical and esthetic quality of the ensemble product, as well as individual stylistic understanding of the jazz idiom.  The venue for this is the class rehearsal and most of the rehearsal time and effort is given to individual and sectional attention as deemed most appropriate by the instructor.  Additionally, students may listen to or watch recordings of significant or relevant performance and be expected to discuss, analyze, give aural or written reports, and/or critique their own or other's performances.

Materials

These or similar musical selections may be used:
Basie Straight Ahead by Sammy Nestico
Manteca by Gillespie, Pozo, and Fuller, Arr. By Tomaro
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most by Wolf/Landesman, Arr. by Wolpe
Spain by Chick Corea

Supplementary material may also be used such as:
Jazz Play-Along Series by Jamey Aebersold
Jazz Theory by Levine
Salsa Guidebook arranged by Mauleon
Essential Rhythms For Jazz Ensemble by Beach/Shutack

Appropriate aural and visual recordings may be used 

Technology

Computer technology may be used for tutorials and ear training.  Audio recording software such as Pro Tools or Digital Performer will be used to capture performance for later critique.  A TV-VCR will be used to present appropriate tutorials and performances and a video camera may be used to record student performances.  A sound system will be used for playing recordings and recording equipment will be used to record student performances.  An electronic tuner and an electronic metronome may be used.

IV. GENERAL INFORMATION

 A.  Prerequisites
Admission to this class requires either an audition or the permission of the instructor plus concurrent enrollment in either Concert Band or Symphonic band, maintaining a grade of “C” or better.

 B.  Graduation Requirements

Successful completion of one full year in this class satisfies the district's one year Fine Arts Graduation Requirement and equals 10 credits.

 C.  UC/CSU Entrance Requirements

This course is accepted for UC "g" admissions requirement and the CSU Fine Arts requirement.

Approved: 6/27/89
Revised: 6/04