Teaching Jazz Standards

Abstract

The issue of teaching jazz standards is fraught with questions. What are “standards?” What makes a composition a standard? Why do jazz musicians use them as vehicles for improvisation? How are greater standards distinguished from lesser standards? How does one select particular standards to suit the needs of students? This chapter provides strategies for learning and internalizing the core jazz repertoire. It provides historical context to the development and evolution of the jazz standard canon, looking to the songbook folios of the great American tunesmiths and to original and seminal recordings as sources for the study of this music. Emphasis is given to the practical issues of selecting age- and skill-level-appropriate tunes; memorizing melodies, chord progressions, and lyrics (as applicable) in multiple keys; and devising improvisational exercises specific to individual compositions.