Jazz, one of America’s first popularized forms of music, has grown into a well established genre with decades of history. Its techniques of improvisation are unparalleled and have inspired a plethora of musicians. Now, as the tools of jazz are used more and more in modern music writing and performance, it is a heavily sought after skill. The UO Jazz Studies program is hosting a day-long adventure into the life of improvisation for high school musicians seeking the skills that professors are happy to teach.
“A lot of them are doing this for the first time, and we’re trying to create a welcoming environment,” Steve Owen, director of the jazz studies program and professor of music, said. “It’s not the easiest thing in the world to convince yourself to do.”
Owen, with the help of fellow professors like instructor and co-director for the event Paul Krueger, melded musical minds to create a streamlined course for the students. Musical instructors and graduate students will guide students through three different hour-long sections, with larger masterclasses and then smaller sessions for individual work.
This program was created as a shortened version of the program’s week-long jazz summer camp that the program also hosts. Normally during this time of year, they would hold a jazz festival, but this had to be held off until next year due to COVID-19. But they won’t just be teaching students — teachers from high schools around the state who were initially invited solely to nominate musicians to attend will also be there to watch and learn how to help students understand these grueling techniques.
The program has approximately 50 students and 20 band directors that’ll attend the full day of events. Owen and the other program coordinators were happy to welcome as many as they could. The day of music is free to all of the students and teachers that are attending. This is an opportunity to open college level teaching to students who are seeking that level in music.
“There are a lot of different ways to work on developing improvisation skills. What we’re trying to do is hand students two or three concrete ways that they can walk away from this and be able to practice this and work on this when they get back to their schools,” Owen said.
The program wanted to have as many different instrumentalists as they could to help cover a wide array of students while still sharing knowledge equally. Owen and Krueger are also excited to work with musicians that they’ve heard perform at competitions in the state. Instructors will be teaching songs and working on phrases, then allowing them to expand from the basics of the song.
“Of these practice methods we’re gonna show them, they are going to apply these methods on other songs that they are working on in their school groups or at home,” Krueger said.
The day will conclude with a performance on stage at 6 p.m. to show off the new skills and talent that was learned in all of the lessons. Students will perform in Beall Concert Hall for their teachers and family members only due to the continuation of COVID-19 policies, but this will be an exciting moment for the young musicians to share their new techniques.
