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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare instructional topics and teaching approaches included in selected class method books for jazz pedagogy through content analysis methodology. Frequency counts for the number of pages devoted to each defined instructional content category were compiled and percentages of pages allotted to each category were calculated. Analyses of supplementary media consisted of noting the duration in seconds that each excerpt devoted to illustrating concepts in each instructional content category. Results indicated that the largest amount of content was devoted to arrangements of tunes for group performance (34%), rhythm section pedagogy (13%), and suggested rehearsal techniques (10%). Of note, the categories of improvisation and aural training each comprised only 3% of the surveyed content. Pedagogical approaches to the emphasized instructional areas were identified and discussed within the context of prior research in jazz pedagogy.
The class method book has served as one of the prime instructional materials in instrumental music classes since the inception of such classes over 150 years ago (Brittin & Sheldon, 2004). Such method books appeal to instrumental music educators because they offer a plan for organized, sequential instruction that can be used effectively in heterogeneous class settings where students perform on many different instruments. Method book exercises highlight specific concepts, such as new notes and rhythms, and are sequenced with the intent that students will master each new concept before moving on to more complex material (Brittin & Sheldon, 2004). In essence, the method book often constitutes the instrumental music curriculum (Byo, 1988). It is the responsibility of music educators to select educationally and developmentally appropriate instructional materials based on their unique teaching contexts that will serve to further student understanding of important music concepts and performance practices. However, it is also important that music educators carefully consider the music and pedagogical implications involved with the selection of a class method book, especially one that will serve as a fundamental introduction to music learning.
A number of researchers (e.g., Gage, 1994; Levinsky, 1997; Sundell, 2012; Tullberg, 1992) have investigated the pedagogical orientations of published instrumental music method books through the process of content analysis. This procedure involves gathering and processing information through an objective and systematic application of categorization rules that provide data for summary and comparison (Amaize, 1993). Such analyses of instructional methods may provide information on topics covered, the emphasis placed on each of those topics, and the sequence in which topics are presented (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003). Previous content analyses of instrumental music class method books have focused on tonal and rhythmic content (e.g., Byo, 1988; Gage, 1994; Tullberg, 1992), the nature of included melodies (Brittin & Sheldon, 2004), sight-reading approaches (M. L. Baker, 2011), the use of comprehensive musicianship principles (Birdwhistell, 1998; Heavener, 1995), and the extent of alignment with Kodály methodology principles (Buttery, 1983).
To date, only a handful of researchers (Herzig, 1997; Witmer & Robbins, 1988; Zwick, 1987) have undertaken content analyses of jazz pedagogical materials. Witmer and Robbins (1988) surveyed teaching materials produced in the field of jazz pedagogy from the 1950s through the 1980s. The researchers found that most of the surveyed material placed a strong emphasis on tonal principles, approached by mechanical exercises on chords and scales, with much less space provided for the concepts of ear training, rhythm, and swing. Herzig (1997) identified instructional components of jazz piano technique by undertaking quantitative and qualitative analyses of 12 jazz piano method books. Results showed that the categories of creating harmonic accompaniment and theory were given the most coverage in the surveyed material, while coverage of rhythm and aural training ranked lowest. Zwick (1987) analyzed and compared instructional areas and major teaching strategies that had been emphasized in selected texts to recommend a sequential format for the teaching of jazz improvisation. The number of pages devoted to each topic was used as the recording unit to determine the percentage of emphasis of each instructional area. The researcher identified the following instructional content areas: (a) history of improvisation, (b) prerequisites for study of improvisation, (c) jazz improvisation fundamentals, (d) ear training, (e) jazz style, (f) analysis, (g) form and structure of jazz music, (h) melodic improvisation, (i) patterns for improvisation, (j) chord progressions, (k) rhythm section, (l) substitutions, (m) transcription of jazz solos, (n) improvising on jazz music, (o) scales for improvisation, (p) nonharmonic tones, and (q) the blues. Results identified a lack of materials related to aural instruction activities.
While many preservice music teachers gain familiarity with criteria for selecting educational materials for concert bands and orchestras through their university methods courses, such courses often give only cursory attention at best to the selection of instructional materials for jazz pedagogy (D. Baker, 2002; Jones, 2005; Knox, 1996; Marks, 1994; Watson, 2013). Given the overall lack of jazz pedagogy training in preservice music teacher education, many teachers who choose to incorporate jazz performance in their programs may rely extensively on a jazz class method book to constitute the jazz curriculum. This situation underscores the importance of examining the content of published instructional methods for jazz class pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare instructional content areas that are emphasized in published jazz class method materials. The specific research questions were as follows: (a) What instructional content areas are emphasized in jazz class method books? (b) What is the relative emphasis placed on each instructional content area in each jazz class method book? (c) What is the relative emphasis placed on each instructional content area across jazz class method books?
Method
The method books selected for analysis and comparison were chosen based on the following criteria: (a) designed for use in an ensemble or class that contains heterogeneous instruments, (b) intended for students who have limited background with the subject matter, and (c) each method is published and currently available. Five methods satisfied each of the criteria and were selected for analysis: Standard of Excellence Jazz Ensemble Method (Sorenson & Pearson, 1998); Standard of Excellence Advanced Jazz Ensemble Method (Sorenson & Pearson, 2004); Standard of Excellence Jazz Combo Session (Sorenson, 2002); First Place for Jazz (Sorenson, 2011); and Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble (Steinel, 2000). Four of the five methods, Standard of Excellence Jazz Ensemble Method (JEM), Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble (EE), First Place for Jazz (FPJ), and Standard of Excellence Jazz Combo (JC) were designed for use by students who have completed the second book of a comprehensive band method. The Standard of Excellence Advanced Jazz Ensemble Method (AJEM) was designed to be used by students who have attained some prior familiarity with jazz concepts, gained either through preceding participation in a jazz ensemble or through previous study of one of the more elementary jazz methods.
The content analysis was based on the Director’s Score and accompanying recordings for each jazz method book. Quantitative analyses of the print material were conducted by counting the number of pages devoted to each defined instructional content category and calculating the percentage of pages devoted to each category. Analyses of audio and video material consisted of noting the duration in seconds that each excerpt devoted to illustrating concepts in each instructional content category. A percentage for each category was then calculated relative to the total duration of material. Thus, each instructional area assumed a percentage value, indicating the emphasis placed on that instructional area. This coding system was based on the models employed in previous research by Zwick (1987) and Herzig (1997) to allow for potential data comparisons between the present study and previous research (Gall et al., 2003). Because this previous research examined materials designed exclusively for jazz improvisation instruction (Zwick, 1987) and jazz piano instruction (Herzig, 1997), modification of the coding categories was necessary. The coding categories employed in the present study were as follows: (a) style (e.g., interpretation of rhythm, articulation, discussion of specific jazz styles, expressive devices, ornamentation, bends, etc.); (b) theory (e.g., notation, intervals and triads, scale and chord construction, common jazz forms and chord progressions, etc.); (c) melodic construction (e.g., creating melodic lines, use of patterns, using chromatic and color tones, using sequences, analysis and performance of exemplary solos, etc.); (d) aural training (e.g., listening suggestions, playing by ear, etc.); (e) improvisation (e.g., focus of the exercise is to have students create and perform their own rhythmic or melodic ideas, call and response activities, etc.); (f) rehearsal techniques (e.g., rehearsal suggestions for directors, warm-up exercises, etc.); (g) rhythm section (e.g., exercises or information about comping, voicings, bass lines, drum grooves, working with auxiliary percussion, etc.); (h) historical information (e.g., information about important jazz performers, composers, etc.); (i) arrangements for group performance; and (j) other (e.g., outline of the method, teaching resources, book orientation, rationale for jazz education, information about running auditions, selecting music, concert programming, audio reinforcement, etc.). Each category was considered a discrete variable, thus each page/recording was coded into the category that best described the focus of the contained content.
Results
Frequency counts for the number of pages devoted to each defined instructional content category were compiled and the percentage of pages allotted to each category in relation to the total number of pages across the five sources were calculated. To assess the reliability of the coded instructional content categories, a second coder with experience as a collegiate jazz educator examined two randomly selected methods after being instructed about the operational definitions of each category. Interjudge reliability for the coding of the source material was determined by dividing the number of agreements by the number of agreements plus disagreements. The reliability of categorizations was .91.
Coding results (see Table 1) indicated that one third (33%) of the content was devoted to arrangements of tunes for group performance. Information about rhythm section pedagogy constituted the next largest category with 13% of the content, while suggested rehearsal techniques comprised 10% of the material. Of note, the categories of improvisation and aural training each comprised only 3% of the surveyed material. Absolute frequencies and relative percentages devoted to each defined instructional content category within each source are also presented in Table 1. These data indicated the instructional areas most emphasized by the respective methods. Of note, First Place for Jazz (FPJ) contained more than double the amount of rhythm section instructional content (24%) than any other method, while Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble (EE) contained more than double the content devoted to style than the other examined materials. Results also indicated that EE contained the highest level of theory content (19%) and the highest percentage of content devoted to melodic construction (20%). The EE method also showed the largest amount of material devoted to improvisation exercises (8%). The largest amount of aural training content (6%) was contained in the Standard of Excellence Advanced Jazz Ensemble Method (AJEM), while the Standard of Excellence Jazz Combo (JC) method contained the highest amount of content (27%) devoted to suggested director rehearsal techniques.
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Table 1. Number of Pages and Percentage of Material Devoted to Instructional Categories Across and Within Methods.
Table 2 presents results for the mean percentages of pages per category across the five methods. The highest mean score (M = 31.60, SD = 9.02) was found for arrangements of tunes for group performance, while the next highest mean was found for rhythm section content (M = 11.80, SD = 7.09). Results indicated the means for theory, rehearsal techniques, and other each around the 10% mark. While the category of historical information contained the lowest average amount of content (M = 1.60, SD = 2.61), of greater interest perhaps was the low average amount of content across methods for both aural training (M = 2.60, SD = 2.30) and improvisation (M = 3.00, SD = 3.00).
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Table 2. Mean Percentages of Pages per Category Across Methods.
Table 3 presents the results for durations (in seconds) and percentages of supplementary media materials devoted to instructional categories both across and within methods. The greatest percentage of time was dedicated to aural models of the arrangements of tunes for group performance, while significant time was also devoted to exercises related to developing style (15%), melodic construction (16%), and rhythm section techniques (15%). Activities allotted specifically to aural training (1%) and improvisation (4%) comprised a relatively small amount of the content.
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Table 3. Duration (in Seconds) and Percentage of Supplementary Media Devoted to Instructional Categories Across and Within Methods.
When examining content categorizations of individual methods, the JC method was clearly distinct from the other sources in that the supplementary material consisted solely of aural examples of the arrangements for group performance and play-along accompaniments. A unique feature of FPJ was that the supplementary material was contained within the downloadable software programs Interactive Practice Studio (for students) and Interactive Teacher Studio (for directors). A substantial percentage of this material (38%) provided aural models of rhythm section pedagogy exercises. Play-along accompaniment tracks comprised 27% of the supplementary materials in this method, while significantly less content was allotted to the categories of style (7%), theory (4%), and melodic construction (8%). In contrast, EE supplementary audio tracks devoted significant time to these three areas (style, 23%; theory, 25%; melodic construction, 24%). The FPJ method was the only one that included video demonstrations, and these consisted of suggested ensemble rehearsal techniques. Of note, neither Standard of Excellence Jazz Ensemble Method (JEM) nor Standard of Excellence Advanced Jazz Ensemble Method (AJEM) contained aural models specifically related to rhythm section techniques.
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare instructional content areas that are emphasized in published jazz class method materials. Given that the amount of content devoted to particular instructional topics varied among the materials examined, these results may aid educators in either selecting a particular method or selecting specific materials from multiple methods that are suitable for their unique teaching contexts or teaching philosophies.
Results revealed that First Place for Jazz (FPJ) contained the most amount of content, both in print and in supplementary media, devoted to instructional techniques for rhythm section instruments. The method provided systematic lessons structured to facilitate the development of proper bass, guitar, piano, and drum performance for each of the included styles. In addition, isolated aural models of each rhythm section instrument performing in each style were included in the supplementary media. Consequently, teachers who feel less confident working with a jazz rhythm section may wish to investigate the pedagogical strategies described in this method.
In contrast, Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble (EE) offered a much smaller amount of rhythm section pedagogy (6%), but contained by far the highest percentage of content devoted to melodic construction (20%). Included exercises were designed to familiarize students with short melodic motives that could be employed as vocabulary in an improvised solo, and model transcriptions demonstrated how scales and motives might be combined to create melodic statements. Specific techniques for melodic development included chromatic ornamentation of chord scale notes, the variation of melodic rhythms, employing enclosure, using repetition, and adding additional notes to melodies. These types of exercises would undoubtedly be helpful to students in terms of learning how to draw on source materials such as chords and scales in order to create melodic statements during an improvised performance.
While no previous studies of jazz class method books exist, previous content analysis research into jazz improvisation pedagogical materials (Herzig, 1997; Witmer & Robbins, 1988; Zwick, 1987) has noted an overall lack of attention to issues of aural training. The results of the present investigation could be interpreted as further evidence for such conclusions. Overall, instructional content devoted to aural training comprised a relatively small amount of both the print (3%) and supplementary media (1%) material, a noteworthy finding given that extant empirical research into jazz improvisation instruction (e.g., May, 1998; Watson, 2010) has indicated the importance of aural learning modalities. The largest amount of aural training content was contained in the Standard of Excellence Advanced Jazz Ensemble Method (AJEM), which included exercises involving echoing short melodic motives performed either in a class setting by imitating a teacher’s performance or by the student on his or her own using a play-along CD. In addition to these echo-play exercises, the AJEM method included directed listening activities aligned with each of the included performance arrangements that involved recognizing rhythms performed by various instruments and directing students’ attention to elements of form and arranging. These exercises could be used by teachers directly or as models for developing additional aural instructional materials.
The results of this investigation must be considered within the context of the study’s coding scheme. For example, while portions of the overall coded content contained exercises labeled as “Rhythm Studies,” in the opinion of the researcher, the exercises more specifically addressed articulation and style aspects, accounting for why none of the examined material was coded into a rhythm instruction category. Such exercises typically instructed students to perform rhythms idiomatic to a particular jazz style through vocalization of specific articulation syllables in order to address characteristic stylistic practices. Issues of where to place notes within the time continuum and how that placement may vary as a function of tempo and/or personal performance style were generally not addressed. Of note, the EE method did contain an explanation of syncopation, and included a very brief description of how swing eighth notes are related to an underlying triplet feel; however, the related exercises again focused primarily on the performance of articulation syllables.
Likewise, a number of exercises labeled as “Improvisation Studies” were actually coded into the category of melodic development, which accounts somewhat for the lack of instructional content coded as addressing improvisation. Most of these exercises directed students to perform notated examples of specific melodic development techniques, with fewer directives for students to improvise their own variations. The exercises that were coded into the instructional category of improvisation included call-and-response activities in which the student was asked to listen to a short melodic motive played over a portion of the chord progression and then respond with a short motive of their own creation in a similar style. These exercises occasionally progressed to having the student improvise over full choruses of the tune accompanied by a play-along recording or a class rhythm section.
The results of this study must also be considered within the context of the study’s limitations. The five methods selected for content analysis are currently the only resources available that met the previously outlined criteria for inclusion in this study and this limited sample presents challenges for data comparisons. The fact that the same author was involved in the creation of four of the five examined methods could be considered a potential threat to validity, although the variety of content evident among these four methods was deemed sufficient to warrant the conclusions presented. More specialized jazz pedagogical materials that focus exclusively on particular facets of jazz performance (e.g., improvisation, rhythm section performance), or methods developed for a specific performance medium (e.g., saxophone studies, guitar studies, etc.) were not included in this research, thus results may not be generalized to those types of resources.
The results of this research suggest that, with some exceptions, the emphasis of the surveyed material is directed to the development of skills necessary for successful large ensemble jazz performance in a manner analogous to the development of skills necessary for large ensemble concert band performance (e.g., scales, articulation, performance of melodies, instrumental techniques, etc.). Less emphasis has been placed on concepts such as improvisation and spontaneous interaction with other performers, which are hallmarks of jazz performance. While the concert band model approach has benefits for jazz pedagogy in terms of allowing larger numbers of students to engage with jazz styles, teachers and researchers may wish to investigate whether incorporating and adapting such a model is a good fit for jazz instruction or whether other models might better address critical jazz performance abilities such as rhythmic and aural skills, group communication, and improvisation.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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