The Jazz Studies major is offered in Composition or Performance.
Requirements for the Jazz Studies major are described earlier in
this catalog.
Private Study Courses in Jazz Studies (Performance)
Students may audition for secondary private study in jazz. Those
qualified are placed on a faculty teaching schedule subject to the
availability of space on that schedule. In some cases qualified students
are assigned private secondary study with advanced students under
the Supervised Student Teaching Program. Students may continue this
study as long as they remain in good academic standing in the study,
and as long as room on a teaching schedule is available.
Principal Private Applied Study (in piano, trumpet, bass, guitar,
trombone, drums, saxophone) 3-6 hours
Secondary Private Applied Study (in piano, trumpet, bass, guitar,
trombone, drums, saxophone) 2 hours
Classroom Courses
(Also see Contemporary Music)
The following courses are offered for students interested in jazz
performing, arranging, composing, and African American music, as
well as for students interested in a Jazz Studies major. Also included
is a related cross-listed course in the Department of Musicology
(MHST 290, 291) and African American Studies (AAST 171, 172): Introduction
to African American Music (offered alternate years).
100. Jazz Aural Skills 2 hours
Second Semester. A one-semester course in aural perception devoted
to the study of rhythm, scales, melody, harmony, and forms idiomatic
to jazz, through sight singing, dictation, and programmed instruction.
May be taken concurrently with MUTH 101 (Aural Skills I). Consent
of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 25.
Mr. Ferrazza
110. Jazz Keyboard 2 hours
Second Semester. Designed for musicians whose major instrument is
other than piano. Content includes chord symbol interpretation, cycles,
sequences, turnarounds, and elementary improvisational concepts.
Prerequisite: piano proficiency, which may be satisfied either by
successful completion of two semesters of APST 110-111 (Piano Class)
or by audition for waiver. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment
Limit: 8.
Mr. Wall
120, 121. Jazz Theory 3 hours
First (120) and Second (121) Semester. Designed to acquaint students
with rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and structural aspects of improvised
music, including chord/scale relationships, common chord progressions,
chord voicing and harmonization, chord substitution and reharmonizations,
melodic transformation, and modal mixture and chromaticism. Emphasis
will be placed on the development of analytical and writing skills
within the context of such forms as the blues and song forms. Consent
of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 25.
Mr. Ferrazza
130, 131. Basic Arranging/Composition Techniques 2 hours
First (130) and Second (131) Semester. Designed to develop writing
and arranging skills for various instrumental/vocal combinations.
The course will include jazz chord symbology and terminology and
basic voicings and scoring methods for brass, reeds, and rhythm instruments.
Not intended for Jazz Composition majors. Alternates with JAZZ 160,
161. Prerequisite: MUTH 132. JAZZ 130 is prerequisite to JAZZ 131.
Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 15.
Mr. Logan, Staff
150, 151. Jazz Improvisation I, II 3 hours
First (150) and Second (151) Semester. A course in the technique
and performance practice of jazz improvisation, covering the period
1935-60. The course includes historical investigation, transcriptions,
aural analysis, rhythmic, harmonic and melodic technical studies,
and repertoire development. Additional outside listening is required.
Prerequisites: proficiency on a musical instrument; knowledge of
scales, key signatures, intervals, and chords. Required ensemble
affiliation. Consent of instructor required. Admission by audition.
Enrollment Limit: 15.
Mr. Dominguez
250, 251. Advanced Jazz Improvisation III, IV 3 hours
First (250) and Second (251) Semester. A continuation of concepts
introduced in JAZZ 150, 151 (Jazz Improvisation) and an introduction
to more recent improvisational concepts such as absence of a pulse,
panmeter, and polymeter. Prerequisites: JAZZ 150, 151 (Jazz Improvisation).
Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 15.
Mr. Belgrave
290, 291. Introduction to African American Music 3 hours
CD
Next offered 2005-2006.
380. Special Topic: The Jazz Avant Garde 2-3 hours
First Semester. A study of post-bebop projections in American improvised music,
beginning with the first sustained developments and reactions to metrically and
harmonically confined styles. The course will focus on the philosophical bases
of this music (the so-called: "new thing," avant-garde jazz, "creative
music," etc.), the emergence of new forms, musical content (and the implications
for newer improvisational resources and approaches), the changed (and the changing)
contexts in which this music was/is performed, and important practitioners and
their music. Prerequisite: JAZZ 291. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment
Limit: 20.
Mr. Logan
Jazz Ensembles
700. Jazz Ensemble—Large Group 1 hour
First and Second Semester. The ensemble performs a variety of large ensemble
literature ranging from the music of Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington to
the master composers of the present. Consent of instructor required. Admission
by audition. Enrollment Limit: 22.
Mr. Logan, Staff
803. Jazz Ensemble—Small Group 1 hour
First and Second Semester. Groups of 4-9 players. Emphasis will be placed on
the performance of a variety of literature and may include writing transcriptions,
arrangements and compositions. Recommended to be taken concurrently with JAZZ
150, 151. Attendance at the Jazz Forums and 2 one-hour rehearsals (one with the
faculty instructor) a week are required. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment
Limit: 25.
Staff
Jazz Composition
Principal Private Jazz Composition Study 4 hours
Prospective students will be requested to submit scores for review by the Jazz
Studies faculty before being admitted to Principal Private Jazz Composition Study.
Students who have been admitted as Jazz Composition Majors register for COMP
102 (A&B), 103 (A&B) in their first year and follow the normal sequence
of jazz composition courses.
Secondary Private Jazz Composition Study 2 hours
Secondary Private Jazz Composition Study is offered to qualified students subject
to the availability of space on the schedule of the jazz composition instructor.