by David Birrow Birrow.David@MacPhail.org
Jazz stuff for Jazz Appreciation Month.
- 112 ways to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month(April) from the Smithsonian. Some excellent curricular ideas can easily be pulled out of here.
- Billy Holloman (MacPhail alum) returns to the Artist Quarter tonight (Friday) and Saturday.
- Gary Burton is offering a free intro to jazz improv course on Coursera this month.
- Dunscomb and Hill's Jazz Pedagogy book would help a teacher set up a jazz program at a Community Partnership. A practical book with a good overview.
- Edutopia offers excellent free resources for teaching jazz
- Jerry Coker's excellent jazz improv book that teaches the jazz language. Uses transcribed patterns, but puts the licks into context. Great for students who can improvise but don't sound like jazz improvisors.
- David Berkman's book "The Jazz Musician's Guide to Creative Practicing" is great for helping students establish practice habits for improv. He also has a great sense of humor.
- Gamify your life with this free gamification platform. Would be interesting to set up for practice habits. Jane McGonigal claims that games can make a better world in this TED Talk.
- Music teacher extraordinaire Troy Strand showed how he helps students study music using Quizlet at this week's Idea Exchange Meeting. You can email him about it at: Strand.Troy@MacPhail.org
