Jazz Studies Objectives, Rationales, Activities, and Evaluation:
The New Trier High School Model

Editor's Note: Over the years, a variety of curricular models have been profiled in the JEJ: most recently collegiate curricula for jazz improvisation (Berklee, Nov. '95) and related jazz course work (North Texas, Sep. '97); performing arts high schools (L.A. County High School for the Arts, Interlochen Arts Academy, LaGuardia High School of Music and Arts and Performing Arts [New York], Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts [Dallas], High School for the Performing and Visual Arts [Houston], and New World School of the Arts [Miami]; Oct. '94); and an evaluative questionnaire for one's jazz ensemble program (Dec. '94). In this article we find a comprehensive look at a model public high school jazz program–complete with objectives, rationales, activities, and evaluative plans.

While no program need evaluate its success relative to New Trier's, it is hoped that the information and scope below will assist educators in proposing and passing additional curriculum within their schools which they believe will further benefit their students. Collegiate educators are also encouraged to bring this curriculum to the attention of their Music Education majors in the hopes of stimulating discussion and innovation.

The following material is drawn from the documentation of the Jazz Studies program at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, a four-year public institution in suburban Chicago which offers four curricular jazz ensembles that rehearse each school day for fifty minutes and combos that rehearse weekly. The school also offers four curricular wind ensembles and four curricular orchestras.

The individual jazz ensemble classes, followed by the brief listing from the New Trier Course of Studies, include:

The curriculum for the jazz ensemble program was designed by James Warrick and John Thomson, directors of the jazz ensembles, with significant input from the students involved. It is sequential in nature, with the stated overall goals of the program reached by participation in activities that take place over a four-year period. While certain activities may be more dominant in the Freshman Jazz Ensemble than others–and certain activities are exclusively undertaken by the Jazz Ensemble I–most activities designed to reach certain goals take place to some extent each year in every ensemble.

The support system used to help achieve certain goals depends upon such extracurricular activities as Music Improvisation Class or Pep Band, the student's access to the facilities and services of SOUNDTRAKS (New Trier’s student-run, 32-track digital-audio studio and multi-camera video-production studio), or the continued existence of the New Trier Jazz Festival, now in its fifteenth year.

What follows is a list of goals for the students in the jazz program with a statement about why those goals are important to achieve. This is followed by specific activities that are designed to help reach the stated goals–and the procedures used to evaluate the degree of success in reaching those goals. The degree to which some goals are reached will be more objectively observed than others, such as in the case of written quizzes, papers, or the completion of worksheets. Many goals could be considered attitudinal in nature and very subtle to evaluate over just one year. However, when students graduate from the jazz studies program after spending four years in the various jazz ensembles, it is hoped that all of the following goals will have been met.

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Why is this important? Jazz ensembles that rehearse in an organized and efficient manner will perform in concerts with a high degree of musicianship. An attitude of support and respect for others in the ensemble is important if sectional rehearsals are to be productive, if less experienced improvisers are to experiment with improvisation in a non-threatening environment, and if the atmosphere during ensemble rehearsals is to be positive. These highly regarded attitudes and behaviors are generally associated with and demonstrated by successful professional musicians and are traits which our students should emulate.

Activities: Class discussions about the role of positive and negative attitudes will take place. Guest professional musicians will be brought to the campus to discuss their opinions about attitude and behavior. Examples of both good and bad showmanship will be discussed.

Evaluation: Observers of rehearsals and concerts will observe a sense of purpose and enthusiasm from the students about the music performed and the organizations performing such music.

Why is this important? Any students who leave high school without learning how to think for themselves and work without supervision is at a disadvantage, either in college or in the workplace, regardless of the career path they take. Students also learn that working as a team allows them and the group to achieve higher goals and standards. Good musicians also can see how their individual part fits into the overall musical product.

Activities: Sectional rehearsals will take place during or outside of the school day and will be conducted by the students themselves working on musical concerns that they identify on their own as well as those suggested by the director.

Evaluation: The productivity of sectionals will be evaluated by the director and the students involved as evidenced by the improvement heard following the sectional. Students will exhibit self-motivation.

Why is this important? Jazz is a truly American musical art form with its own unique language of interpretation and expression. A well-educated jazz musician must be able to perform in a wide range of musical styles–or be able to enter into discussions with other musicians about various musical styles, genres, or performance media. By performing a wide range of styles, students can be better consumers of music as they decide what concerts to attend, what recordings to purchase or listen to, or which artistic organizations to support.

Activities: Literature to be rehearsed and performed will include selections in at least the following styles or forms at various tempi:

Literature to be rehearsed and performed will include selections from the following jazz eras:

Evaluation: Concerts will be programmed and successfully performed with the music studied.

Why is this important? An understanding of jazz history is important in giving authentic performances of older-style music. By hearing or seeing past jazz performers, our students will be exposed to performers that they themselves may want to emulate or to recordings that they want to purchase for study.

Activities: Video and audio recordings by jazz artists will be watched during class time. These will range from historical footage to current recordings. Wearing World War II uniforms similar to those worn by the Army-Air Corps Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble I will present an annual Tribute To Glenn Miller, giving students a opportunity to present in public an historically authentic performance. (See the adjoining sidebar for a list of artists/clinicians/ensembles that have recently visited New Trier in support of this objective.)

Evaluation: Historical video and audio tapes will be seen/heard during jazz ensemble classes. Discussions in and out of class with individual students and successful performances of older-style music will evaluate their understanding of the music studied.

Why is this important? The ability to perform music on sight is generally regarded as one of the best indicators of a student's ability to process and understand music. In auditions, both at New Trier and in a student's future musical experiences, sight-reading plays an important part in determining in which ensemble they will be placed. Students who learn by "rote" teaching will be at a disadvantage when compared to students who have a thorough understanding of fingerings, note values, articulations, dynamics, and the "road signs" that designate musical flow.

Activities: Ensembles will sight-read whenever possible during rehearsals. Sight-reading will be required in all auditions for ensemble or initial chair placement as well as "challenges" used to determine seat placement.

Evaluation: Students will successfully sight-read in private auditions and with their musical peers in ensembles.

Why is this important? When an individual's music is lost or destroyed, it creates significant problems during rehearsals and makes home practice impossible. Students who learn to take care of their instrument and music, thus displaying traits associated with being a responsible young adult, are more likely to succeed in their various career paths.

Activities: Students will be expected to sign a contract making them financially responsible to replace lost or destroyed music.

Evaluation: Less music will be lost, and the music that is lost will be replaced by the students in a timely and previously agreed-upon fashion.

Why is this important? An understanding of theory is the most basic component in understanding the "right" and "wrong" notes to play when improvising. Students who wish to be outstanding improvisers must, in addition to having technical command of their instrument, also possess a command of scale and chord structure: the basic components of music theory.

Activities: Lectures, demonstrations, and playing activities focusing on the major, minor, whole-tone, blues, bebop, and dominant-seventh scales; major and minor chord structures through the ninth chords. Class warm-ups will include the performance of scale sheets that focus on the previously mentioned scale and chord forms.

Evaluation: Written tests will be employed.

Why is this important? Practicing with play-along recordings has long been regarded as an important educational experience. These recordings of jazz standards or practice drills provide rhythm sections of professional-quality pianists, bassists, and drummers for the student to play with outside of class time.

Activities: The New Trier library will provide a complete set of 75 CDs and accompanying books in the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Aids series for students to check out for three-day periods. Students will be expected to take advantage of this resource, allowing them to select which CD is best for them to purchase. As part of class expectations, students will be required to perform for the class one or more selections accompanied by a recording that they either own or have obtained from the library. After an appropriate amount of advance notice has passed, a group order of play-along recordings will be ordered for individual purchase by students who wish to own their own copies.

Evaluation: Students will perform for the class one or more selections accompanied by a play-along recording.

Why is this important? If a student is to be an adequate improviser, then it is equally important to be able to hear and play these basic jazz chord structures besides having the theoretical knowledge of them.

Activities: An ensemble pianist or guitarist will play on the instrument major, minor, dominant-seventh, augmented, and diminished chords while others in the ensemble will be asked to identify those structures, either on a sheet of paper to be graded or verbally to the class. Members of the ensemble will be required to arpeggiate the previously mentioned chord structures on their instrument.

Evaluation: Aural tests will be employed.

Why is this important? The field of music has always provided ample opportunities for students to be gainfully employed following high school or college. Students should only enter into a music-related profession with ample information with which to make a well-informed choice.

Activities: Class discussions will take place on the topics of vocations and avocations in music performance, music education (all levels), arts management, recording technology, church music, military music, music composition, music arranging, music copying, and music critic or editorial writer for newspapers or magazines. Guest lecturers, including college student teachers who are successful in their areas, may make presentations to ensemble classes.

Evaluation: Students will continue to graduate from our jazz studies program and enter vocations or avocations in the field of music.

Why is this important? Students need to know the skill-level and types of personal traits necessary to become a successful professional musician. Former students have later pursued contacts made with professional musicians while at New Trier that have resulted in jobs or other employment opportunities.

Activities: Guest artists will be utilized to perform with and for our jazz students. Whenever possible, discussion sessions will take place between the artists and our students, in addition to rehearsals. (Again, see sidebar for the list of visiting artists in support of this objective.)

Evaluation: Guest artists will perform with and for our students.

Why is this important? Performing a truly improvised solo displays the highest form of creativity: that of spontaneous composition. Virtually anyone listening to a jazz solo has some opinion about what could be regarded as a "good" or a "bad" solo. Students need to know the components of both good and bad solos and be given the opportunity to experiment with soloing. Student who choose not to solo will at least be equipped with the understanding of what makes a solo good and know why they like certain solos rather than others.

Activities: Every student in the jazz program will be given an opportunity to perform a solo during rehearsals and in concerts. Skill-based Music Improvisation Classes (combos) are offered to provide additional out-of-school time for students to practice and study the art of soloing in a jazz style. These classes are taught by professional musicians from the Chicago area who are highly regarding as expert teachers. The class will be relaxed, with the focus on creativity and "jamming." The class may or may not have a public performance. All classes take place during the first semester, and those groups that have maintained the best attendance and work ethic will be given the opportunity to keep their class together for after-school study during the second semester.

Evaluation: Improvised solos performed by our students will improve over the course of the school year or their time at New Trier.

Why is this important? A wise musician knows that there are many others beyond his or her immediate area that have the same or much higher skills. Possessing this knowledge is critical to students who are considering either a career in music or becoming a college music major. Unless opportunities are provided for our jazz students to see and hear the products from jazz programs at other schools, they can easily take for granted the ambitious and highly regarded music program provided them at New Trier.

Activities: Every student will be expected to devote an entire day to the operation and running of the New Trier Jazz Festival. More than 1,000 students from 40 different high schools attend this festival, usually held on the first or second Saturday in February. New Trier students have the opportunity to hear 40 concerts during that day presented by high school and junior high school jazz ensembles displaying a wide range of abilities.

Students will be encouraged to participate in the DePaul University Jazz Workshop, the district and state-level activities provided by the Illinois Music Educators Association, and activities sponsored by the International Association of Jazz Educators.

Discussions will take place during class time about the various summer jazz camp opportunities that exist. By attending these camps while at New Trier, our students can meet students from other schools, be exposed to different teaching styles, keep their performance skills active during the summer, perform in environments different than those at New Trier, take music theory/history/improvisation classes, and participate in a host of other educational activities.

Evaluation: Discussions in and out of class between our students and directors will evaluate the degree to which interaction has taken place and the impact that such interaction has made on our students.

Why is this important? There are many ways of saying (or teaching) the same thing. As in any school, our music faculty has various strengths and weaknesses. By exposing our students to other music teachers, they can be exposed to the pedagogical strengths that other teachers can provide them.

Activities: At least eight highly successful college jazz educators are employed each year to teach our students at our annual New Trier Jazz Festival. Another four to six clinicians are brought to the school to present master classes and special-topic seminars to our students. Highly qualified students will be encouraged to audition for the all-district and all-state ensembles sponsored by the Illinois Music Educators Association. (Again, see sidebar for the list of visiting artists in support of this objective.)

Evaluation: Students will have access to guest directors.

Why is this important? Musical expression can take more forms than just the performance of another person's music. The act of arranging and composing music demonstrates command of the mechanics of music theory, an understanding of instruments and their roles in the total musical product, and an opportunity to demonstrate self-expression and creativity.

Activities: Any students who compose or arrange for their jazz ensemble and provide a readable score and set of parts will have their piece rehearsed and, in most cases, given a public performance. Whenever possible, these compositions/arrangements will be recorded using the facilities of SOUNDTRAKS. Each year professional composers will be commissioned to write for Jazz Ensemble I. These individuals will serve as models for our students to emulate. (Again, see sidebar for the list of visiting artists in support of this objective.)

Evaluation: Student compositions and arrangements will be rehearsed and, whenever possible, performed in public.

Why is this important? By videotaping concerts and broadcasting them to the community, our students can copy those tapes off the air for self-assessment and future enjoyment. They can also appreciate the amount of work it takes to present a television broadcast.

Activities: By using the student-run facilities of SOUNDTRAKS, every New Trier concert is broadcast on television to cable-equipped homes in the school community. More than eight concerts per year are broadcast live.

Evaluation: Televised performances of New Trier concerts will take place.

Why is this important? Certain students who excel should be recognized for their success or efforts.

Activities: At the end of each school year, awards will be given to outstanding instrumentalists. The recipient of some of the awards will be selected by students in the ensemble, while some will be selected by the director. These awards include The Woody Herman Award, The Louie Armstrong Award, The Frank Schalk Award, the Ticket Sales Award (for the Spring Jazz Concert), and Special Directors Awards.

Evaluation: Awards will be presented at the end of the year.

Why is this important? An understanding of the potential for information available to jazz students on the Internet is helpful for them to become lifelong learners who stay aware of new trends in jazz performance and education.

Activities: Students will be taken to a computer lab at the school and be given the opportunity to not only explore the New Trier Music Department's Web site but also explore the ten jazz-related links that are currently provided in our Web page. They will compile a list of services or information on those various Web pages and be encouraged to locate additional jazz-related Web sites that can be linked to our New Trier Web page.

Evaluation: Students will complete worksheets that question their knowledge of our Web page and the jazz-related Web pages and links that are discussed or observed in class.

Why is this important? New technology allows concerts to be broadcast live from our auditorium directly on-line using the Internet. This allows our students the opportunity to learn about this technology and have their talents seen and heard worldwide.

Activities: Using the school's existing Web server, the video/audio mixing facilities, and the school's cable TV broadcast facilities (Lyceum network), selected jazz concerts will be broadcast on the Internet.

Evaluation: Concerts will be broadcast on the Internet.

Why is this important? While career opportunities in audio/video production are certainly open to students who wish to pursue them, anyone in their future career can be more successful if they know how to creatively use mass-media techniques.

Activities: New Trier is the only high school in the country with a completely student-run, 32-channel, digital audio production studio linked to a four-camera video production studio. This production studio, called SOUNDTRAKS, is located on the third floor of the music building, between the two instrumental rehearsal rooms. For years our students have engineered audio recordings resulting in compact discs as well as video projects that have been shown on the Lyceum channel, WTTW television, and even received national awards. At least eight concerts a year are broadcast live on television, including 14 hours of the New Trier Jazz Festival. While any student in the school is welcome to participate in SOUNDTRAKS, the students in the jazz program tend to be the most active.

Evaluation: SOUNDTRAKS will continue to operate with sufficient student support.

Why is this important? Much of the labor-intensive aspects of making or composing music has been made easier with the advent of creative hardware and software programs. By making the activity of composing music easier, more students can participate at a higher level.

Activities: There will be class demonstrations of such computer programs as Band-In-A-Box (music accompaniment), Finale (music notation), Professional Composer (music composition), and such hardware as VIVACE (music accompaniment) and TAP Machine (rhythmic teaching). Students may use these programs outside of class time by contacting their director to arrange a time.

EVALUATION: Class discussions during and after demonstrations will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of presentation.

Why is this important? Seniors are closer in age to Freshmen than are the faculty, thus giving them unique insights into the concerns of the younger players. These seniors are in an excellent position to be positive peer role models. By having someone so close to their age teach them, Freshmen must develop the ability to respect their peers. Students who are considering a career in music education or any teaching field are given priority for selection as Student Directors.

Activities: Two or three seniors are selected each year to be Student Directors of the Freshman Jazz Ensemble. They are provided with numerous opportunities to lead sectionals, direct the ensemble both in rehearsals and during concerts, and counsel Freshmen who just need someone to talk to.

Evaluation: Student Directors will be utilized with the Freshman Jazz Ensemble.

Why is this important? Many students have seen such events as the New Trier Jazz Festival or the Chicago Jazz Festival and questioned how such events can be organized. By hearing about many of the behind-the-scenes details, students will have a better appreciation for such events that they might attend in the future–or perhaps develop an interest in careers in Arts Management, where the planning and execution of such events is expected for successful employment.

Activities: Through class discussions before and after the New Trier Jazz Festival, students will be informed of the process involved in organizing such a unique and large community event. This will include discussions of budget, logistics, internal and external communications, and other factors that go into planning the festival.

Evaluation: Class discussions will take place. Freshman Jazz Ensemble members will be expected to write a paper answering the question, "What did you learn from participating in the New Trier Jazz Festival?"

Why is this important? Future leaders in the corporate or musical world can be taught now by providing hands-on experiences in promotion, organization, and management of a large project.

Activities: Students are given significant responsibilities in planning, organizing, and running the New Trier Jazz Festival. Several students who work on the festival from the start of school are designated Festival Student Directors. On festival day they supervise a work force of over 100 jazz students as we bring more than 1,000 people into our building during the day to perform and attend clinics–and more than 1,500 people into Gaffney Auditorium for the traditionally sold-out evening concert. Without the help of these Student Directors, a project on the magnitude of the highly successful New Trier Jazz Festival would be impossible for the faculty to plan and execute. Areas needing planning include ticket sales, concert promotion, food service, merchandising (T-shirt and CD sales), stage managing, hosting and transportation of guest artists, audio/video recording of concerts, hosting of clinicians, budgeting/accounting of finances, and set-up/clean-up issues.

Evaluation: Student Directors will be successfully utilized in the planning and execution of the New Trier Jazz Festival.

Why is this important? Being knowledgeable about the electronic production or reinforcement of sound/music allows students to be better performers, as they can take advantage of the potential of sound reinforcement for being a positive and negative aspect of their performance. Based on their experience in the jazz program, students may desire to enter into sound-reinforcement fields as vocations or avocations following graduation.

Activities: Jazz ensemble students will actively assist in setting-up and dismantling the sound system used in Gaffney Auditorium for jazz concerts. Discussions about microphone placement and the roles of various equipment used for sound reinforcement will take place during class time and in small groups outside of class time.

Evaluation: A correctly operating sound system will be used during jazz concerts.

Why is this important? A jazz concert can be a unique experience when visual elements such as special lighting can be employed. Using the Gaffney Auditorium's computer light system, creative lighting can add a special dimension to a jazz concert and give a selective number of students an opportunity to experiment with visual effects and stage design. This offers a practical connection between what students learn in their theater tech classes and what the students are able to present in live concerts rather than theatrical productions.

Activities: Special lighting effects will be designed and operated by students in jazz concerts using the school's computerized lighting equipment. Meetings will take place between the lighting designers and the director to determine the creative parameters the students may employ in their lighting design.

Evaluation: Lighting effects will be used in jazz concerts.

Why is this important? By combining the grades received in two, five-credit performance groups into one grade, students can have the opportunity to have this grade impact their total grade-point average. Students who are planning to major in music at the college level may wish to have a high school music major appear on their transcripts.

Activities: Students who combine a jazz ensemble with a concert band or orchestra class to create a Combined Music Major will be expected to attend four teacher-approved concerts and complete a "concert review" form for each. At the end of each semester, they will be expected to perform a five-minute recital for their peers. Students combining a jazz ensemble with another class will be expected to perform at least one of those recitals using the Aebersold jazz play-along recordings.

Evaluation: Students will complete the requirements for the Combined Music Major and be graded according to published criteria.

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Additional Information

For more information about the Music Department, including the department's philosophy statement–or to download audio files or order compact discs, contact the department's Internet Web page at: <http://nths.newtrier.k12.il.us/academics/perform/music/music.htm>.

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A Conversation with James Warrick

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In an effort to support the various curricular objectives, the following jazz performers, clinicians and ensembles have been brought to New Trier High School within recent years to perform with or for the jazz students.

Ensembles

Artists/Clinicians

Jamey Aebersold

Charles Argersinger

Johnny Audino

Bob Baca

Danny Barber

Lee Bash

Guido Basso

Doug Beach

Louie Bellson

Frank Bencriscutto

Mark Bettcher

Ray Brinker

Conte Candoli

Gary Carney

"Ace" Carter

Ron Carter

John Chudoba

Buddy Childers

Tim Coffman

Pete Christlieb

Art Davis

Orbert Davis

Buddy DeFranco

Nick Drozdoff

Cleveland Eaton

Danny Embrey

John Fedchock

Maynard Ferguson

Lou Fischer

Frank Foster

Gary Fry

Antonio García

Tom Garling

Kirk Garrison

Dizzy Gillespie

Larry Gray

Bunky Green

Tim Hagans

Matt Harris

Christopher Hollyday

Les Hooper

Dale Hopper

Al Horney

Bill Hughes

Duffy Jackson

Dick Johnson

Carlton Johnson

Bob Kase

Ken Kistner

Tim Kitsos

Mike Kocour*

Glenn Kostur

Pat LaBarbera

Bob Lark

Howard Levy

Paul Libman

Kevin Mahogany

Frank Mantooth

Rick Margitza

Sherrie Maricle

Tom Matta

Rob McConnell

Paul McKee

Larry McWilliams

Bob Mintzer

Karl Montzka

Audrey Morrison

Russ Nolan

Larry Novak

Gary Novak*

Pete Olstad

Bob Ojeda

Don Owens

Ed Palermo

Kim Park

Rob Parton

Alejo Poveda

Mike Pendowski

Kim Richmond

Scott Robinson

Lewis Rosario

Ellen Rowe

Bob Rummage

Dave Samuels*

Ed Shaugnessy

Bobby Shew

Howie Smith

Jim Snidero

Joel Spencer

Dominic Spera

Steve Spiegl

Dave Steinmeyer

Tom Streeter

Fred Sturm

Michael Sweeney

Joey Tartell

John Tatgenhorst

Frank Tiberi

Clark Terry

Ross Tomkins

Jim Trompeter

Mike Vax

J. Michael Verta*

Jim Walker

Paul Wertico

Diane White

Steve Wiest

* = New Trier graduate

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Dan Phillips is a freelance guitarist and music instructor in the Chicago area and has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Ashikaga City Jazz Festival in Japan. After receiving a Bachelor of Music in performance from Berklee College of Music, he relocated to New York City, there leading the Dan Phillips Group (featuring all original compositions) and performing with such artists as Jim Black, Chris Speed, Mike Sarin, John Arruci, and Owen Howard. Dan is currently attending Northwestern University, anticipating his Master of Music in Jazz Pedagogy degree this June.

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