It can be rewarding to introduce children to jazz learning and encourage creativity and a love of music. Although jazz is steeped in its history and possesses an innovative improvisational style, it can be an exciting genre to children if shown in the right way. But simply playing a couple of songs won’t make them fall in love with jazz. What you should do is make it a fun and/or interactive experience. If you follow these 5 strategies, you can encourage your kids to embrace the love of jazz music.
Let The Music Speak For Itself
There is no better way for children to get into jazz learning than letting the music speak for itself. As opposed to beginning with a description of the complexities of jazz theory or history, have them hear the joy of the music on their own instead. Jazz has a conversation quality like two musicians, soft one time, energetic the next, but always expressing themselves. Listen to as many of the jazz tunes as you can and see how your child plays naturally. It will take some time, and they will make their interpretations and preferences without feeling that they need to ‘get’ jazz right away.
Pick The Music They Know
The easiest way for someone to be interested is with familiar tunes. However, jazz musicians have covered many songs from movies, TV shows, and pop music. An example would be if your child is a Disney lover, put them in contemporary jazz versions of songs like When You Wish Upon A Star, by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In that case, the easier way is connecting jazz to something that they already enjoy, which makes it easier for them to learn to appreciate its unique style.
Don’t Play It Just Because You Like It
Your personal jazz favorites might not be the best introduction for a child. While you may love avant-garde jazz or deep bebop improvisations, kids might find them too complex at first. Instead, start with jazz which has a strong melody and rhythm. Albums like Kind of Blue by Miles Davis or Time Out by Dave Brubeck are great beginner-friendly options. These albums are not only classics but also some of the best jazz music albums for newcomers to the genre.
Don’t Force It
Making a child listen to jazz when they don’t want to is not helpful. Just move on to the next music if they don’t feel like listening to a particular song or album. Perhaps the term they find more pleasing is Glenn Miller’s In the Mood, rather than a complex improvisation by Thelonious Monk. The aim is to make jazz something people will enjoy instead of something that is forced to be learned.
Make Them Watch It Live
Kids might have a change in seeing jazz being performed live. Spontaneous creativity, a live performance, and the interaction between musicians are mesmerizing. Attending a concert always wasn’t possible but if you can’t, watching this on TV or online is a great alternative. There are legendary jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and John Coltrane, all of whom have great live recordings that capture the actual magic of jazz improvisation.
Start With Easy-Listening Jazz
Begin with softer and more melodic pieces of jazz. Fast-edged bebop, free jazz, smooth jazz, swing, or vocal jazz may be more accessible than bebop or free jazz. Artists like Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, and Norah Jones offer great entry points. Their jazz music is soothing and easy to follow, but it remains jazz. In addition, some of these artists can be found on some of the greatest jazz music albums, making them a perfect entry into the genre.
Help Them Identify Jazz Instruments
Listening to any of the jazz really allows you to appreciate the instruments used. Brass (trumpet, trombone), woodwinds (saxophone, clarinet), percussion (drums), and rhythm section instruments (piano, bass, guitar) are the typical ingredients of jazz. There are coloring books (or flashcards) that use jazz-related themes to help them learn to recognize these instruments by sight and sound.
Sound: Jazz’s sound is undoubtedly one of the most characteristic features of the genre. The atmosphere created by jazz musicians is not the one derived from classical music, which sometimes makes music in strict compositions with muted trumpets, walking bass lines, brush drumming, and the like. Videos of jazz musicians (such as Wynton Marsalis), playing with different techniques can serve as some good examples of how sound is so important in jazz.
Rhythm: Jazz rhythms differ from most pop and rock music, which have a steady beat. The syncopation jazz pieces can be taught to kids by clapping along. Compare the straightforward rhythm of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 with the offbeat swing of Count Basie’s Good Time Blues. This exercise can also teach them how jazz rhythms sound.
Blues Scale: The blues scale is an excellent introduction to improvisation for kids. Play the C major scale (4 sharps), then the blues scale (C, Eb, F#, F#, G, B). The sudden shift in notes makes it sound ‘jazzy’, and kids will be able to identify it at once. Next, you can play a song such as Take the A Train played by Duke Ellington to show how this scale is used in real jazz music.
Vocals And Solos: Jazz vocals are unique in the way they invoke jazz style, where they use scat singing, improvisation, and soul. Some of the most influential jazz vocals have been Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. As I said, listening to their recordings can give kids a kind of deeper appreciation of how the voice is an instrument in jazz. Lead them to see whether a piece of music includes a section where a musician plays a solo, and if so, when the other instruments get to lead.
Conclusion
It doesn’t need to be complicated to help your kids appreciate jazz learning. Start with easy and familiar jazz and let them explore jazz naturally, with you involved, without so much as a name for the group.
The journey into jazz can begin either through a jazz music album, through a live performance, or by clamming along with the swing beat, and very often, it’s a fun and enriching experience. Ask them to rub their arms against their bodies, to rock, to twist and turn while listening, and — above all — should they enjoy the music!
