25th Annual Student Research Conference
Aural Instruction Methods for Jazz Improvisation
Michael A. Kosiek♦
Prof. Tim AuBuchon, Faculty Mentor
There is a growing movement in music education to incorporate improvisation into the jazz rehearsal, and directors need to know how to teach it effectively so that their students can benefit positively from it. What happens often is that young musicians feel a sense of anxiety or fear when asked to improvise a solo. There can be many underlying reasons for this, but the most common reason is that they have simply not been taught how to improvise, or for that matter, perform music without relying on written music. This lecture will discuss approaches teaching improvisation and melody learning using aural instruction. Jazz is an aural tradition and research has shown that students learn and retain information better when taught aurally. Many aural instruction strategies will be discussed as well as different ways to practice improvisation while in a large ensemble setting. The lecture will conclude with a short demonstration.
Keywords: Jazz, Improvisation, Aural, Instruction
Topic(s):Music
Education
Presentation Type: Performance Art
Session: 301-4
Location: OP Performance Hall
Time: 1:45