Jazz Pedagogy for the Classical Piano Teacher: Introducing Jazz to Beginning- and Intermediate-Level Students by Brooke E. Trapp, B.M., M.M. A Doctoral Document In Piano Pedagogy Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS Approved Dr. Carla Davis Cash Chair of Committee Dr. Benjamin Haugland Dr. Nataliya Sukhina Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School May, 2020 Copyright 2020, Brooke Trapp Texas Tech University, Brooke E. Trapp, May 2020 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are countless mentors, family members, and friends who helped me to reach this point in my academic career. While there are too many to name, I would like to specifically thank a few of the individuals who supported me along this path. Dr. Carla Davis Cash, thank you for your constant support and guidance throughout my time at Texas Tech University. Your dedication to your students, thoughtfulness, kindness, and creative outlook on music-making has made you one of my biggest role models as I have worked to improve my teaching and performing. My completion of this degree would not have been possible without your encouragement and expertise. Dr. Ben Haugland, thank you for re-sparking my love of jazz music and providing continuous opportunities for my growth. When I began jazz lessons with you less than 3 years ago, I would not have believed that my doctoral project would end up focusing on jazz pedagogy, and I credit you for directly inspiring this project with your attentive instruction. I have been fortunate with the chance to learn from such a profound musician. Dr. Lora Deahl, thank you for your expert teaching and attention to detail that allowed me to succeed as a doctoral student. You directly inspired my interests as a musician, and your kindness, grace, and sincerity are aspects about you that I have always aspired to emulate. To my mother and father, thank you for your endless support and love. I am grateful to have parents who believed in my abilities since my first day as a freshman music major. To Andrew Schoen, thank you for being my study partner and support system as we worked toward our doctoral degrees together, and a special thanks for helping me input the examples used in this project into notational software. Last but not least, thank you to the many friends in music who were by my side through all of the difficult aspects of pursuing this degree: Qin Ling, Jeyeon Kim, Lingxu Peng, Pei Han Lin, Justus Ross, Andrew and Kelsey Reinhart, Lauren and Sean Casias, the Davis family, the White family, the Robnett family, the Pinoli family, Susan Lang, Dr. Kathy Brawley, Elizabeth Bowen, and my TTU University Writing Center family. ii Texas Tech University, Brooke E. Trapp, May 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vi I. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 What is Jazz? ...................................................................................................... 3 Jazz as an American Art Form ........................................................................... 5 Organization of Document ................................................................................. 8 Definitions of Key Terms................................................................................. 10 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................................ 12 Research in Jazz Pedagogy .............................................................................. 12 Jazz Textbooks and Advanced Methods .......................................................... 18 Resources for Teaching Beginning and Intermediate Students ....................... 21 III. JAZZ PROCESS AND SKILL ................................................................................... 27 General Considerations .................................................................................... 27 Transcription .................................................................................................... 28 Extracting Motives ........................................................................................... 31 Targeting Motives ............................................................................................ 33 IV. BEGINNING JAZZ PEDAGOGY ................................................................................ 35 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 35 First Steps: Major and Minor Tonalities .......................................................... 38 First Steps in Jazz Improvisation: Blues .......................................................... 46 First Steps in Comping: Blues Progression ...................................................... 56 Expansions to Blues Improvisation: The Full Blues Scale .............................. 60 Expansions to Blues Comping: Adding the Minor 7th ..................................... 63 Combining Comping and Improvisation .......................................................... 68 Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 69 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 72 APPENDIX A: SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY.................................................... 76 Applications: Jazz Ensemble............................................................................ 76 iii Texas Tech University, Brooke E. Trapp, May 2020 Reading Lead Sheets ........................................................................................ 77 Voice Leading in Improvisation ...................................................................... 78 Advanced Blues Progression ........................................................................... 79 APPENDIX B: BLUES BASS LINE EXAMPLES ............................................................... 81 APPENDIX C: LISTENING LIST .................................................................................... 84 iv Texas Tech University, Brooke E. Trapp, May 2020 ABSTRACT The main goal of the traditional private piano lesson setting is to build skills that will lead to fluency in important classical repertoire. Jazz music is considered to be native to American culture, but music education today is largely Euro-centric. While the study of Western music is undeniably important for developing pianists, the exclusive focus on this area leaves little time for the exploration of skills that can be presented through jazz. Plenty of resources with jazz-inspired repertoire already exist for beginning and intermediate piano students, but the knowledge and skills students can obtain from learning jazz extend beyond the ability to read notation and interpret style through visual symbols. Furthermore, American piano students should have access to a diverse education in which jazz as a cultural art form is studied alongside music of the standard European tradition. This project will attempt to fill the gap in beginning and intermediate pianists’ curriculums by offering practical solutions for classical piano teachers who have had little to no exposure to jazz music. With a focus on aural training, creativity, harmonic understanding, and confidence in improvising through the jazz idiom, the curriculum presented in this project provides a foundation for beginning piano students to engage with jazz music aurally, using their minds and ears to adopt this important style of playing and develop new ideas within this style in a creative manner. v Texas Tech University, Brooke E. Trapp, May 2020 LIST OF FIGURES Example 1: Possible Teacher Accompaniment for Black-Key Improvisation ............ 39 Example 2: Improvisation over Accompaniment for "Yellow Spaceship" ................. 40 Example 3: D Minor Accompaniment for Improvisation ............................................ 42 Example 4: Helen Marlais' "Eating Ice Cream" ........................................................... 44 Example 5: Colin's Composition Based on "Eating Ice Cream".................................. 45 Example 6: Motive Targeted in a C Major Free Improvisation ................................... 46 Example 7: Basic Blues in C Progression .................................................................... 48 Example 8: Swing Rhythm Comparison ...................................................................... 50 Example 9: Blues Motives Using "Do - Me - Sol" ...................................................... 52 Example 10: Blues Motives Using "Te - Do - Me - Sol"............................................. 54 Example 11: Comparison of A Blues and C Blues in Four Pitches ............................. 55 Example 12: Roots in the Right Hand Held over the Bass Line .................................. 57 Example 13: Roots in the Left Hand and 3rds in the Right Hand...............................