"Teacher-Training"

Teacher-Training for Undergraduate Music Students in the New Millennium

by David Caffey, Carolynn A. Lindeman,

Toni-Marie Montgomery, and Dan Sher

with Antonio J. García

Editor's Note: At the 1999 IAJE Conference in Anaheim, four colleagues of varying backgrounds gathered to discuss crucial issues regarding Music Education curriculum and its relevance to preparing future educators to teach elements of jazz. Convened in a panel by Dr. Daniel Sher, the individuals were asked to address any or all of four questions, plus comments from the attendees.

While conversations on these topics are becoming increasingly frequent among music educators, they seem rarely in public. I asked the panelists–who are among the leadership ranks of several Schools of Music as well as of MENC, IAJE, and NASM–to re-create their exchange for the readers of the JEJ. While the scenarios posed are specific to teacher-training in the U.S., significant parallels may be relevant to training throughout the world.

Are today's Music Education majors prepared to teach jazz performance and academic classes effectively ?

CAFFEY: Yes and no: the Music Education majors who are interested in jazz–play in a Jazz Ensemble throughout their college days, take Jazz Improvisation and Jazz History as electives, then take a Jazz Pedagogy class (perhaps as a requirement for their teaching degree)–are going to be well prepared. But there are students not interested in jazz–perhaps it was just never presented to them; or they play an instrument that does not easily fit into traditional jazz instrumentation. These Music Education majors probably won't be prepared to teach a junior high or high school-level jazz band.

MONTGOMERY: After discussing this subject with Jazz and Music Education faculty members and academic advisors at Arizona State University School of Music–as well as reviewing our curricular check-sheets and catalogue information–the answer to this question is "NO."

Our undergraduate students enrolled in the Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance are provided with the necessary classroom, studio, and ensemble training for careers as performers and/or teachers. However, these students are not awarded a K-12 teaching certificate upon completion of their Bachelor's degree. On the other hand, those students enrolled in the three concentrations of the B.M. Ed. degree (choral/general, instrumental, and strings) who matriculate with the requisite teaching certificate have completed a prescribed list of required courses that left little or no opportunity for participation in jazz courses.

As David Caffey summarized, we have found that those students with previous high school jazz experience–or those who voluntarily participate in jazz electives in college–are moderately successful in translating their training into a viable Music Education program inclusive of jazz. In contrast, those students without previous jazz backgrounds who do not take advantage of concurrent Jazz Studies as undergraduates do not graduate with appropriate skills to teach jazz performance and academic classes effectively.

Many in the latter category then learned jazz skills "on the job" and have done quite well in high school situations. Although the training received in other Music Education courses has aided these alumni in pursuing this job-learning, our faculty cannot be credited for adequately preparing these graduates in jazz education, per se.

LINDEMAN: I would say that the bad news is the answer is currently "no." But the good news is that changes are on the way–which we are about to discuss via the next question.

What role can IAJE, MENC, NASM, and other international, national, state, and local agencies and organizations play in seeing that jazz is competently taught–or indeed even included–in primary and secondary school curricula?

LINDEMAN: There are several initiatives currently underway:

• The National Standards for Music Education, K-12: The National Music Education Standards were developed and released in 1994 and are being implemented in over 40 states nationwide. These standards identify what students need to know and be able to do in music at the 4th-grade, 8th-grade, and 12th-grade levels. While all nine content standards are integral to jazz performance and academic classes, two stand out as being particularly relevant: Standards 3 (Improvising Melodies, Variations, and Accompaniments) and 4 (Composing and Arranging within Specified Guidelines). These two standards place creativity firmly in the school curriculum. Surely if K-12 students need to develop competencies in these areas, their teachers are going to need to be prepared to help them: we cannot expect students to learn what their teachers do not know.

• The NASM Standards in Composing and Improvising: Fortunately, composing and improvising skills have also been identified as crucial for collegiate music students. Both composing and improvising skills are now part of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) standards. Therefore, music schools and departments across the country must now ensure that their students have the opportunity to develop these skills in all degree programs.

• National Board of Professional Teaching Standards: Currently standards for the accomplished music teacher are being developed by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). These standards will certainly include teacher competencies in the areas of improvising and composing–and that teachers be versed in all genres, styles, and eras of music.

With initiatives like the above, we are sure to see future changes in our teacher-preparation programs that will better ensure that Music Education majors are prepared to teach jazz performance and academic classes effectively.

MONTGOMERY: The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University was created in 1995 under the auspices of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In April of 1998, the Commission issued a report: "Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for America's Research Universities." Among the list of ten ways to change undergraduate education, item four states, "Remove Barriers to Interdisciplinary Education"; and one recommendation given for achieving this goal is that "Academic majors must reflect students' needs rather than departmental interests or convenience."

This same recommendation is applicable when one discusses the topic of music training for teachers in the new millennium. Although our specific topic centers on one discipline, that of music, the important issue of addressing students' needs has in my opinion become secondary to that of fulfilling university general studies, NASM, and College of Education requirements. In addition, the Board of Regents of many public institutions (such as Arizona State University) mandates that these various requirements are to be completed within a maximum number of 120 credit hours.

CAFFEY: I came away from Wednesday's meeting of the IAJE Post-Secondary Constituency Group (during the IAJE Leadership Conference) with a sense that an evolution in priorities has occurred among jazz educators at the collegiate level.

In the early days of this organization we were concerned primarily with setting up curricula for jazz programs to train jazz performers and arrangers: trying to develop a better Jazz Ensemble–and to find a way even to offer a Jazz Improvisation class at our schools. Now that many of our schools have achieved those goals, there is a look ahead to what should occur next; and one of the main priorities is to prepare teachers adequately to teach jazz to their students–especially at the secondary level. This represents a very significant evolution in jazz education in general as well as specifically in IAJE.

How are collegiate Music Education curricula addressing this dilemma?

LINDEMAN: Obviously music schools and departments are constantly revisiting their curricula and making changes. The NASM Standards in composing and improvising require changes. The new K-12 Music Education Standards require changes regarding diverse musics, composing, arranging, and improvising in teacher-preparation programs. And undoubtedly there are state guidelines for credentialing and licensure that may suggest changes for collegiate Music Education curricula as well.

For example, the California music schools and departments that prepare teachers have recently needed to submit their programs to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) for approval. Included in the CTC program guidelines are requirements that programs include preparation in composing, improvising, and arranging; that students participate in a variety of performing ensembles (including jazz); and that students study a wide variety of music representing diverse styles, genres, and eras. This new program-approval process has resulted in many changes to the Music Education curricula in California music teacher-preparation programs.

As we all know, curricular revisions at the college level are certainly challenging. However, the needed changes are long overdue–we've got our work cut out for us!

CAFFEY: At Cal State L.A. we require that Jazz Pedagogy be taken by all music majors in the B.A. Instrumental Teaching Option. In fact, this requirement was primarily championed by our Instrumental Education faculty. There are also two Instrumental Techniques courses that include information and instruction relating to jazz teaching. However, these opportunities are not currently included in our Choral Teaching Option.

MONTGOMERY: All of us are concerned with preparing our students for the expectations of the real world. However, few music institutions have honestly and successfully answered the really tough question: "What parts of our current curricula must be retained, and what are we willing to give up?"

Many of you will recall reading an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education highlighting the "Eastman Initiatives" begun by then-Director Robert Freeman. The Eastman School of Music faculty realized that their graduates were not being provided with many of the requisite skills for successful music careers in today's society, and the article focused on the efforts of administrators and faculty to revise the School's curricula.

In order to address the issue of preparedness adequately and successfully, all music faculty–those who teach Music Education, Theory, History, Jazz, Class Piano, and Applied courses–must engage in serious discussions and dialogues regarding required course work and course content.

Last fall the Arizona State University School of Music admitted students into a new Jazz Concentration within the Master of Music Education (a degree intended for practicing music educators), allowing them to focus a portion of their graduate study on jazz education for school ensembles. Admission is open to those who have an undergraduate music degree, teacher certification, and current employment teaching in a public or private school. Students who have an undergraduate degree without certification–but whose plans include completion of a Master's degree while earning a teacher's certificate–are also potential applicants for this Jazz Concentration.

Students enroll in the same core course requirements as other Master of Music Education students and are expected to fulfill the History/Theory requirements of all School of Music M.M. and M.A. degrees. In addition, the Jazz Concentration includes courses in Jazz Pedagogy, Advanced Improvisation, Ensemble Rehearsal Techniques, Keyboard Harmony, and Jazz Ensembles.

Our Music Education and Jazz faculty believe that this new Concentration addresses a long-standing need in the local and national communities. The response to and interest in the program have been positive.

How can we assure that jazz teaching techniques are presented as a part of teacher-training on the national and international levels?

CAFFEY: This brings us back to the first question, when I described the Music Education student who has not been particularly interested in jazz and now needs focused attention. There are certainly several immediate options:

• Encourage all students to take classes in Improvisation and Jazz History.

• Start a combo program that allows all instrumentalists and vocalists to participate.

• Have a Music Education Jazz Band that includes non-traditional instrumentalists. Let students regularly direct the band; but more importantly, be a director who demonstrates great teaching techniques to that band of novices.

• Encourage students to use more of their free electives to take jazz-related courses.

The answer lies in our being advocates for jazz participation by all students.

MONTGOMERY: The responsibility rests with administrators like myself and my fellow panelists–and with all music educators, who must remain committed to achieving this most important goal.

Editor's Note: Following the panel's formal presentation, the floor was opened for discussion by all attendees. The following points emerged as additional avenues to increase awareness among music educators and students as to the need for increased jazz teacher-training within Music Education degree programs:

• If your school or department has a Music Education student LISTSERV, participate in its discussions.

• Present jazz workshops for Music Education students, and encourage or mandate your Jazz Pedagogy majors to do the same.

• Work with Music Education faculty to place students into the student-teaching school sites that demand interaction with jazz.

• Recommend to colleagues the IAJE/MENC curriculum guide, Teaching Jazz: A Course of Study; or present it as a gift.

• Examine and collect current Music Education job descriptions for the jazz components that are increasingly present.

• Survey your Music Education alumni with the question, "What component would you have liked to have had within your Music Education degree that was not there at the time?"

With the JEJ's publication of this IAJE Conference discussion among the panelists and attendees, you should now also consider whether passing a copy of this article to your colleagues and students might assist in raising the profile of this issue, hopefully prompting constructive measures that might improve jazz teacher-training within Music Education programs in the new millennium.

H. David Caffey is Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Music at California State University, Los Angeles. He has over forty published compositions and arrangements and is an active clinician and adjudicator at jazz festivals around the country. Before moving to California in 1984, he directed jazz programs at the University of Denver, Sam Houston State University, and Southern Oregon State College. David currently serves on the IAJE International Executive Board as United States Representative.

Carolynn A. Lindeman is Professor of Music at San Francisco State University and received her D.M.A. from Stanford University. The immediate past-president of MENC–The National Association for Music Education, she has given presentations and workshops throughout the United States and in Europe, Southeast Asia, Mexico, South Africa, and Israel. In addition to PianoLab: An Introduction to Class Piano, she compiled the piano folio Women Composers of Ragtime and co-authored the college textbooks The Musical Classroom: Backgrounds, Models, and Skills for Elementary Teaching and MusicLab: An Introduction to the Fundamentals of Music. She has published over 50 articles in professional journals and served as the editor for both the Strategies for Teaching and Benchmark Performances in Music series.

Toni-Marie Montgomery is Director of the School of Music and Associate Professor of Accompanying at Arizona State University. She previously served as Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at ASU, Assistant Dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut, and Assistant Director of the School of Music and Artistic Director of the Music Performance Institute at Western Michigan University. She has performed throughout the U.S. as a member of the Black Music Repertory Ensemble of Columbia College of Chicago. Dr. Montgomery received her B.M. (piano performance) from the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts and her M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in piano chamber music and accompanying from the University of Michigan.

Daniel Sher is Dean and Professor of Piano at the College of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Chair of the NASM Commission on Accreditation, and previously served as Dean of the School of Music at Louisiana State University. He received his Bachelor's degree from the Oberlin Conservatory, Master's degree from the Julliard School, and the Ed.D. in piano pedagogy from the Teachers College of Columbia University. He has appeared in chamber music and solo recitals in all of the southeastern states, in Europe, and in Central and South America, also performing in duo piano recitals with his wife, Boyce Reid Sher (including a debut recital at Alice Tully Hall in New York City). He is past-president and a current member of the Board of Regents of Pi Kappa Lambda, the national honor society for music.

Antonio J. García is a Professor Emeritus and former Director of Jazz Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he directed the Jazz Orchestra I; instructed Applied Jazz Trombone, Small Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Pedagogy, Music Industry, and various jazz courses; founded a B.A. Music Business Emphasis (for which he initially served as Coordinator); and directed the Greater Richmond High School Jazz Band. An alumnus of the Eastman School of Music and of Loyola University of the South, he has received commissions for jazz, symphonic, chamber, film, and solo works—instrumental and vocal—including grants from Meet The Composer, The Commission Project, The Thelonious Monk Institute, and regional arts councils. His music has aired internationally and has been performed by such artists as Sheila Jordan, Arturo Sandoval, Jim Pugh, Denis DiBlasio, James Moody, and Nick Brignola. Composition/arrangement honors include IAJE (jazz band), ASCAP (orchestral), and Billboard Magazine (pop songwriting). His works have been published by Kjos Music, Hal Leonard, Kendor Music, Doug Beach Music, ejazzlines, Walrus, UNC Jazz Press, Three-Two Music Publications, Potenza Music, and his own garciamusic.com, with five recorded on CDs by Rob Parton’s JazzTech Big Band (Sea Breeze and ROPA JAZZ). His scores for independent films have screened across the U.S. and in Italy, Macedonia, Uganda, Australia, Colombia, India, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong, Mexico, Israel, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. He has fundraised $5.5 million in external gift pledges for the VCU Jazz Program, with hundreds of thousands of dollars already in hand.

A Bach/Selmer trombone clinician, Mr. García serves as the jazz clinician for The Conn-Selmer Institute. He has freelanced as trombonist, bass trombonist, or pianist with over 70 nationally renowned artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, George Shearing, Mel Tormé, Doc Severinsen, Louie Bellson, Dave Brubeck, and Phil Collins—and has performed at the Montreux, Nice, North Sea, Pori (Finland), New Orleans, and Chicago Jazz Festivals. He has produced recordings or broadcasts of such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Jim Pugh, Dave Taylor, Susannah McCorkle, Sir Roland Hanna, and the JazzTech Big Band and is the bass trombonist on Phil Collins’ CD “A Hot Night in Paris” (Atlantic) and DVD “Phil Collins: Finally...The First Farewell Tour” (Warner Music). An avid scat-singer, he has performed vocally with jazz bands, jazz choirs, and computer-generated sounds. He is also a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS). A New Orleans native, he also performed there with such local artists as Pete Fountain, Ronnie Kole, Irma Thomas, and Al Hirt.

Mr. García is a Research Faculty member at The University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban, South Africa) and the Associate Jazz Editor of the International Trombone Association Journal. He has served as a Network Expert (for Improvisation Materials), President’s Advisory Council member, and Editorial Advisory Board member for the Jazz Education Network . His newest book, Jazz Improvisation: Practical Approaches to Grading (Meredith Music), explores avenues for creating structures that correspond to course objectives. His book Cutting the Changes: Jazz Improvisation via Key Centers (Kjos Music) offers musicians of all ages the opportunity to improvise over standard tunes using just their major scales. He is Co-Editor and Contributing Author of Teaching Jazz: A Course of Study (published by NAfME), authored a chapter within Rehearsing The Jazz Band and The Jazzer’s Cookbook (published by Meredith Music), and contributed to Peter Erskine and Dave Black’s The Musician's Lifeline (Alfred). Within the International Association for Jazz Education he served as Editor of the Jazz Education Journal, President of IAJE-IL, International Co-Chair for Curriculum and for Vocal/Instrumental Integration, and Chicago Host Coordinator for the 1997 Conference. He served on the Illinois Coalition for Music Education coordinating committee, worked with the Illinois and Chicago Public Schools to develop standards for multi-cultural music education, and received a curricular grant from the Council for Basic Education. He has also served as Director of IMEA’s All-State Jazz Choir and Combo and of similar ensembles outside of Illinois. He is the only individual to have directed all three genres of Illinois All-State jazz ensembles—combo, vocal jazz choir, and big band—and is the recipient of the Illinois Music Educators Association’s 2001 Distinguished Service Award.

Regarding Jazz Improvisation: Practical Approaches to Grading, Darius Brubeck says, "How one grades turns out to be a contentious philosophical problem with a surprisingly wide spectrum of responses. García has produced a lucidly written, probing, analytical, and ultimately practical resource for professional jazz educators, replete with valuable ideas, advice, and copious references." Jamey Aebersold offers, "This book should be mandatory reading for all graduating music ed students." Janis Stockhouse states, "Groundbreaking. The comprehensive amount of material García has gathered from leaders in jazz education is impressive in itself. Plus, the veteran educator then presents his own synthesis of the material into a method of teaching and evaluating jazz improvisation that is fresh, practical, and inspiring!" And Dr. Ron McCurdy suggests, "This method will aid in the quality of teaching and learning of jazz improvisation worldwide."

About Cutting the Changes, saxophonist David Liebman states, “This book is perfect for the beginning to intermediate improviser who may be daunted by the multitude of chord changes found in most standard material. Here is a path through the technical chord-change jungle.” Says vocalist Sunny Wilkinson, “The concept is simple, the explanation detailed, the rewards immediate. It’s very singer-friendly.” Adds jazz-education legend Jamey Aebersold, “Tony’s wealth of jazz knowledge allows you to understand and apply his concepts without having to know a lot of theory and harmony. Cutting the Changes allows music educators to present jazz improvisation to many students who would normally be scared of trying.”

Of his jazz curricular work, Standard of Excellence states: “Antonio García has developed a series of Scope and Sequence of Instruction charts to provide a structure that will ensure academic integrity in jazz education.” Wynton Marsalis emphasizes: “Eight key categories meet the challenge of teaching what is historically an oral and aural tradition. All are important ingredients in the recipe.” The Chicago Tribune has highlighted García’s “splendid solos...virtuosity and musicianship...ingenious scoring...shrewd arrangements...exotic orchestral colors, witty riffs, and gloriously uninhibited splashes of dissonance...translucent textures and elegant voicing” and cited him as “a nationally noted jazz artist/educator...one of the most prominent young music educators in the country.” Down Beat has recognized his “knowing solo work on trombone” and “first-class writing of special interest.” The Jazz Report has written about the “talented trombonist,” and Cadence noted his “hauntingly lovely” composing as well as CD production “recommended without any qualifications whatsoever.” Phil Collins has said simply, “He can be in my band whenever he wants.” García is also the subject of an extensive interview within Bonanza: Insights and Wisdom from Professional Jazz Trombonists (Advance Music), profiled along with such artists as Bill Watrous, Mike Davis, Bill Reichenbach, Wayne Andre, John Fedchock, Conrad Herwig, Steve Turre, Jim Pugh, and Ed Neumeister.

The Secretary of the Board of The Midwest Clinic and a past Advisory Board member of the Brubeck Institute, Mr. García has adjudicated festivals and presented clinics in Canada, Europe, Australia, The Middle East, and South Africa, including creativity workshops for Motorola, Inc.’s international management executives. The partnership he created between VCU Jazz and the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal merited the 2013 VCU Community Engagement Award for Research. He has served as adjudicator for the International Trombone Association’s Frank Rosolino, Carl Fontana, and Rath Jazz Trombone Scholarship competitions and the Kai Winding Jazz Trombone Ensemble competition and has been asked to serve on Arts Midwest’s “Midwest Jazz Masters” panel and the Virginia Commission for the Arts “Artist Fellowship in Music Composition” panel. He was published within the inaugural edition of Jazz Education in Research and Practice and has been repeatedly published in Down Beat; JAZZed; Jazz Improv; Music, Inc.; The International Musician; The Instrumentalist; and the journals of NAfME, IAJE, ITA, American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Percussive Arts Society, Arts Midwest, Illinois Music Educators Association, and Illinois Association of School Boards. Previous to VCU, he served as Associate Professor and Coordinator of Combos at Northwestern University, where he taught jazz and integrated arts, was Jazz Coordinator for the National High School Music Institute, and for four years directed the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Formerly the Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Northern Illinois University, he was selected by students and faculty there as the recipient of a 1992 “Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching” award and nominated as its candidate for 1992 CASE “U.S. Professor of the Year” (one of 434 nationwide). He is recipient of the VCU School of the Arts’ 2015 Faculty Award of Excellence for his teaching, research, and service and in 2021 was inducted into the Conn-Selmer Institute Hall of Fame. Visit his web site at <www.garciamusic.com>.

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