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Music for the Community
If you're interested in a particular category, you can sort performances by student age, instrument, singalong music, composer and so on - click on the orange tags under the text. We hope you and your family will enjoy watching our students share their music!
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Displaying items by tag: jazz
Day 59 - Cross Lake Blues
Violinist age 7 plays "Cross Lake Blues" by Joanne Martin
Parents are often surprised when we invite their very new beginner to play in an upcoming recital! But if the memory of your own childhood recitals makes your palms sweat - think again: our recitals are very supportive and festive events, where even students who’ve had only a few weeks of lessons can share pieces using just one or two notes, and find themselves enthusaistically celebrated for doing so.
This jazzy piece from Joanne Martin’s “Magic Carpet” album is a favorite of our violin beginners, as all you need to play it is two open strings, A and E. In spite of that it’s a fun recital piece, and a great way to dip your toe into playing for an audience. Experiences like this get our students feeling comfortable right from the start with the idea of sharing their music with others - as you can see throughout this Music for the Community series.
Day 18: "Just Struttin' Along" by Martha Mier
Pianist age 11 plays “Just Struttin’ Along” by Martha Mier
Martha Mier is an American composer and piano teacher who was born in 1936 and lives in Lake City, FL. She has written more than 60 books of catchy solo and duet pieces for piano students from elementary to advanced level.
Many of her pieces, including this one, are written in a jazz style (remember Tick Tock the Jazz Clock?). Her music is really fun to play!
Day 6: “Tick Tock the Jazz Clock” by Bill Boyd
Pianist age 9 plays “Tick Tock the Jazz Clock” by Bill Boyd
Jazz music started in the African American communities of New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and by the 1920s had taken America by storm. It’s continued to take new and interesting forms since then. Try searching on bebop, cool jazz, jazz-rock fusion, Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz – you’ll all kinds of great listening!
Jazz has a great swing to it because many of the notes come a little before or after the main beats. That may sound complicated - but this fun duet is easy to play! Listen to how the student plays the “tick tock” part, making a beat for the teacher’s music to dance around.