Download the tunes here for your students to learn and play with the professional musicians in the workshop.

We can also play standards such as: All Of Me, All Blues, All The Things You Are, Back Home Again In Indiana, Blue Monk, Blue Skies, Bye Bye Blackbird, C Jam Blues, Caravan, Doxy, Fly Me To The Moon, In A Mellow Tone (Rose Room), Mack The Knife, My Little Suede Shoes, Oleo, Satin Doll, So What, Solar, St. Thomas, Straight No Chaser, Struttin' With Some BBQ, Summertime, Take The A Train, Tenor Madness, and more. 

How does this workshop align with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Standards? 

MU:Cr1.1.E/MU:Cr1.1.H Generate musical ideas for various purposes and contexts. 

~ The students will be generating melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic ideas for improvisation. 

MU:Cr2.1.E/MU:Cr2.1.H Select and develop musical ideas for defined purposes and contexts. 

~ The students will be developing draft melodies, improvisations, and accompaniment for the pieces performed in the workshop, displaying an understanding of musical characteristics from historical periods of music development. The students are also free to use mp3 recorders or their phones/devices to record and preserve the improvisations. 

MU:Cr3.1.E/MU:Cr3.1.H Evaluate and refine their work through openness to new ideas, persistence, and the application of appropriate criteria. 

~The students will be evaluating and refining improvisations based on established criteria, and developing their own criteria to further refine their improvisations to develop their own voice. Some questions that could lead the evaluating and refining process could be: Did you follow the chord changes? Were you in time with the rest of the group? Did you rush or drag specific parts or sections? 

MU:Pr5.3.E/MU:Pr5.1H Evaluate and refine personal and ensemble performances, individually or in collaboration with others. 

~ The students will be evaluating their own personal performances individually. The ensemble performance can be used as an indication of how the person calling the tune relayed the information to the rest of the group. Did the group play the introduction or opening as specified? Was there confusion around who was going to solo when? Did everyone know where the top of the form was when the melody or vocal line came back in? We communicate these things with other players verbally after a song or after a set, depending on how brief and convenient it is to share it. It can be a quick question and answer; “Hey, you missed the entrance to the melody after solos?” A response could be; “I didn't know if you were going to sing it again or wanted us to play the melody.” Both players have now shared their interpretation of the event, and can reflect on the experience of the other in refining their next time on stage. 

MU:Pr6.1.E/MU:Pr6.1.H Perform expressively, with appropriate interpretation and technical accuracy, and in a manner appropriate to the audience and context. 

~The experienced musicians will be modeling the appropriate interpretation for the learner in a manner appropriate to the audience and context. By the student joining the professional on stage they will be engaged in experiential learning, and receiving critical instruction and guidance through verbal and nonverbal communications utilized by working professionals in the field. The student will be able to view the professionals modeling the skills and behaviors, the “I do” portion from an instructors point of view. The student will be able to practice the skills in real time with the professionals, the “We do” portion from an instructors point of view. The students will then take their new knowledge and try calling a tune on their own to have the band play, the “You do” portion of “I do, We do, You do” instruction technique. 

MU:Cr3.2.E/MU:Cr3.2.H Share/Perform final versions of improvisations and compositions, demonstrating technical skills in applying principles of composition/improvisation and originality in developing and organizing musical ideas. 

~The students will be sharing improvisations individually, and creating spontanious complimentary melodies in an ensemble setting that address the indentified purpose of developing their skill set in the area of commercial music performance. The students will be applying principles of composition and improvisation to generate organized musical ideas and participating in procedural learning and experiential learning. 

MU:Cn10.0.H Demonstrate how interests, knowledge and skills relate to personal choices and intent when creating, performing, and responding to music. 

~The musicians performing the workshop will share personal experiences and how they respond to music. We also can discuss how to create a set list to further explain and demonstrate the rise and fall of intensity or change in moods and emotions through the selections played and how that can curate an engaged audience. 

MU:Pr5.1.C Evaluate and refine personal and ensemble performances, individually or in collaboration with others. 

~The students will create individual rehearsal plans for the pieces they enjoy playing and develop their expressive and technical performance skills, and identify ways musical performances convey their emotions and intent to the audience.