Pat Harbison’s blog

Joe’s response to part 2 brings up an interesting point to consider. How does one teach a group of students that is so diverse?

In my experience… over 20 years as a college jazz educator and 30 years as a clinician… EVERY group of students I have dealt with is remarkably diverse when it comes to learning music. This is true even if they are all 18 year-old white kids from the American midwest. In many ways it is just as challenging to deal with individual students and their differing learning styles in a group setting as it is to deal with people who are from different age groups, nationalities, etc. The desire to play jazz is a motivating and unifying factor that goes a long way toward leveling cultural differences. However, the fact is that some people learn better by listening and imitation, some by using theory as a way to direct their first steps, etc. The final goal is always the same, but the easiest and most effective path of access can vary widely from person to person…

…At Aebersold camps we have every student take a brief playing audition and a written jazz theory test first thing. Combo groups are then organized according to the students’ level of performing experience/ability. The same is true of the theory classes. Therefore, musically everyone is on the same relative level. Some may have more technique, or better theoretical knowledge, or a better concept of musical style, but when you average everything out you have a group of players that are on more or less the same level. The same is true of the trumpet master classes. For most of the master class sessions we divide the students into groups of 6-8 with relatively comparable skill levels. This still makes for an interesting blend of young players and older folks, etc., but at least the skill levels are compatible.

With the combo the key is to choose the repertoire wisely. With some groups I find that it is possible to cover a lot of material in a week’s time. With less experienced groups it is usually better to cover fewer tunes and allow the students a chance to acquire a comfort level with each piece we play. Early in the week I try to join the group and play the melodies with them and take the first solo. I find that most people play better when they have a strong model to set the tone. I also find that inexperienced rhythm sections tend to come together more quickly if the soloist is contributing a solid sense of time and style and is making clear and concise musical statements. In this context I don’t always play solos that are like I would play in a professional performance setting. I try to model what the members of the group need to hear. This often means playing more simply and very clearly compared to my normal style. Sometimes I find that I like my playing better when I am following this simpler approach.

With the theory/improvisation classes I tend to teach on two levels. I explain everything theoretically and show how a concept, chord, or scale might be applied in the context of one or more tunes. I also demonstrate the sound of every theoretical concept I present by playing it at the piano, devising drill type exercises that apply the concept to the chord progression of a tune using patterns, and improvise several demonstration examples on trumpet using the concept under consideration.

I believe that knowing the arithmetic of theory is pretty useless without being connected to the sound generated by the concept. I also have found that some people (with different learning styles) learn better from the aural and some learn better from the theoretical. Regardless, the goal is for theory, aural skills, and technique to all become equal partners. They need to be so thoroughly mastered and internalized that they are virtually transparent and at the bidding of the musical imagination.

How this applies to other types of diversity in a group of learners will be the subject of part 4.

Pat