Other
Visual Jazz Publications
This company produces educational materials to help you succeed in jazz improvisation and sight reading. Of note on their site is "The Art of Improvisation," a free download that guides you through the improvisational process.
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Musical Harlem
The Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge offers a great unit for introducing jazz to students. Its use of Harlem as the "glue" which binds together elements such as jazz history and jazz terminology, makes it particularly effective for the...
Other
Jazz Improvisation Primer
An info-packed lesson on jazz improvisation and jazz history. Very useful for musicians aspiring to play in the jazz idiom.
PBS
Pbs: Transcending Poetry, Jazz, Rap & Hip Hop
The objectives in this lesson will have students describing the characteristics of poetry, jazz, rap and hip hop music. Students will also analyze how poetry, jazz, hip hop and poetry reflect the culture of the time.
PBS
Pbs: Jazz and Math: The Beat Goes On
This lesson will require students 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 in music.
PBS
Pbs: Jazz and Math: Improvisation Permutations
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...
PBS
Pbs: Jazz and Math: The Fibonacci Keyboard
Teach a lesson about the piano keyboard using the Fibonacci Sequence. Explore with your students the various relationships the Fibonacci Sequence has with music.
PBS
Pbs: Jazz Is About Freedom
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...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: American Literature and Composition: The Harlem Renaissance
This lesson is an introduction to a unit on The Harlem Renaissance, the period between the end of WW I through mid 1930s when African Americans were recognized for their literature, music, and art. It discusses their themes and lists...
PBS
Pbs: Continental Harmony
PBS presents several activities and lesson plans that cover the concepts of identifying different forms of music, learning about musical imagery, writing in response to music, and creating lyrics. The Sound Lounge has many interactive...
PBS
Pbs: Improvise a Short Story
This lesson incorporates the art of improvisation with writing a collaborative short story. Young scholars will learn the relationships music has with other disciplines outside of the arts.
PBS
Pbs: Cole Porter: You're the Top
A high school lesson plan designed to delve deeper into the life of Cole Porter and the meaning in his music.
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: How to Blues
This site has ten lessons to teach about the blues in which students learn the geography, historical events and performers associated with the blues. The unit has been recognized by the American Music Education Initiative as one of the...
Other
Harmonica Info and Tips
Gives basic information about the harmonica in addition to tips for purchasing and playing one