Jazz must be taught in American schools

            Teachers must be extremely knowledgeable about the content area that they teach and music is no exception. Music teachers must know their theory, instrument techniques, repertoire, and music history. For the American music teacher, this means that we must be well versed in Jazz.

            Jazz was born in America and is one of the only styles that truly came from our country. We need to know the history of Jazz, and teach it to our students. Jazz molds together the western harmony of European classical music, the complex swing rhythms of Africa, and the marches that were popular in New Orleans around the turn of the century. When students trace the history of Jazz in their music classes they will also be getting a broader perspective of their country’s history. This music is closely tied to the civil rights movement of the 60s.

            Some of America’s best songs come from the Tin Pan Alley Broadway show tunes. These songs were popular in the thirties and forties and as a result, jazz musicians used them as framework for their improvisations. Some of the jazz standards that should be taught to American students are George Gershwin’s “I’ve got rhythm,” Jerome Kern’s “All the things you are,” and Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train.” These tunes all teach students about 32 bar song form and rich with ii-V-I harmonies.

            Students need to learn how to improvise in their music classes. Jazz offers people the canvas to explore and create music of their own. There is a lot of emphasis on learning how to read music in schools. Unfortunately this system does not promote creativity.

            Learning Jazz also gives students a deep understanding of melody, harmony, and song forms. The melodies of jazz standards are harmonized with seventh chords and almost always utilize upper extension color tones. Jazz chords usually have ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths, which are far more complex than simple rock and blues chord changes. Jazz harmony is not necessarily better than rock and roll, but It does give students a broader palate of musical colors to choose from when it comes to writing original music.

            Jazz teaches kids how to swing which is an important rhythmic feel in US pop music. Blues, rock, funk, R&B, hip-hop, and rap all use swing feels extensively. Learning and understanding the swing feel is an advanced concept because it forces people to divide a pulse into an uneven subdivision. This feel is hard to explain in words and hard to notate so it must be taught by rote and by listening.

            Music educators must be experts on Jazz because it is a culturally relevant style of music. It is closely tied to the civil rights movement, it gives children a vehicle to improvise, it is rich in harmonic material, and it has a swing feel which is vital for all American musicians to be well versed in.