Jazz Music Teacher Resources

With this timeline, learn about how the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial oppression impacted the rise of jazz in America. Also highlights the achievements of women, including Viola Smith in this world of music....

This lesson will require young scholars to collect data through listening, counting and timing. They will use ratios, rates, and proportions to report data. They will also demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of rhythm and tempo...

This lesson deals primarily with the number of rhythmic combinations that can be found in a four beat measure of music. Students will learn through trial and error and derive a mathematical formula to calculate the number of possible...

This is the first of a two-part profile of Louis Armstrong, renowned jazz trumpet player, and singer. This biography covers his life through the 1930s. Read his biography, listen to the NPR profile, and click to hear some of his songs.

Teach a lesson about the piano keyboard using the Fibonacci Sequence. Explore with your students the various relationships the Fibonacci Sequence has with music.

Article explores the influence of jazz on African American literature from the early history of jazz, noted jazz artists, the black-white tensions within jazz, to its literary influence after World War II.

One of the objectives in this lesson plan focus on how jazz contributed to the political awareness of the American public concerning lynching. Using Billie Holiday's anti-lynching song Strange Fruit, students will learn about lynching...

Learn about the life of Ella Fitzgerald, from her childhood as an orphan to her rise as a successful jazz singer. Includes audio (requires RealPlayer).

Written for an audience accustomed to rock, this is a good history of Jazz, from the late 1800's, when the form supposedly took shape, to recommended recordings and books.

A look at what makes free jazz musically unique. Contains specific examples of free rhythm and tonality.

Examines the progression from Ragtime and New Orleans jazz to Big Band.

In this video [5:17] from the American Masters film Ralph Ellison: An American Journey, scholars discuss the influence of the Harlem Renaissance on Ellison's writing. Alain Locke's "The New Negro," jazz music, and painter Aaron Douglas...

A descriptive site on the many styles of music. There is information on everything from chamber music to rap.

Explore the history and influences of jazz in the state of Pennsylvania. Resource includes links to audio clips and video from artists, and stories of jazz from around the state.

Read a simple history of southern music from the 1900s to 1990, complete with in-text links to information on popular musicians and events related to country music. Included are dates for upcoming country music events, as well as a small...

Learn about and listen to jazz, blues, folk, and country musician Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong and his roots in America's musical past. "Sweet Old Song" tells the story of the music and art partnership between Armstrong and his...

This site was developed by a college jazz educator based on one of her improvisation classes. Material suitable educators or the student who is serious about learning jazz improvisation.

A guide to help a newcomer to jazz become familiar with the genre.

This resource from the Jazz Institute of Chicago focuses on the Chicago jazz scene but contains many unique and interesting articles that are relevant to all jazz.

Biographical information, photos, and a discography of jazz great John Coltrane, whose work in the 1960s included excursions into free jazz.

This fabulous site describes the repository of the digitized collection of music from the Monterey Jazz Festival from 1958 which is housed on the Stanford University campus. On this site you can read about the performances, watch and...

Looks at the new morality that emerged in the 1920s. It changed the role of women and the perception of African Americans, the latter facilitated by the Harlem Renaissance and its impact on the music and dance of the Jazz Age. Also...

Red Hot Jazz offers a biography, filmography, suggested reading, and links to many of Sidney Bechet's contemporaries as well as to other sites.

Explore potential music schools, learn about a very large selection of potential music careers, and find music camps and programs on this site. With blog articles written by music professionals, you'll find plenty of great advice if you...