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When the first notes were played in New Orleans more than 100 years ago, jazz became the first original art form to develop
in America. Blending sounds and sentiments from western Africa, America gospel singing,and European harmonies, jazz is characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. Jazz musician Wynton
Marsalis has called jazz a "conversation," or music that "makes it up as it goes along."
Join us on an in-depth exploration of one of America's richest musical forms; in addition to lessons and interactives, look for special jazz-connected Web-releases throughout the Spring!
Lessons:
Jazz Dance and Music
Students will learn about jazz music and jazz dance, explore basic movements of jazz dance, and then create a poem inspired by jazz music.
Twelve-Bar Blues
Students will compose a melody using a 12-bar blues progression.
Syncopated Duet
Students will compose a duet that contains syncopated rhythm sequences.
The Great Migration
Students create a mural to learn about the migration of African Americans to Harlem.
Creative Voices of Harlem
In this lesson, students learn about the artists of the Harlem Renaissance.
Musical Harlem
Students learn about the musicians of the Harlem Renaissance.
What Does this Song Really Say?
Students listen to, sing, and read the lyrics to various African-American spirituals.
Harlem Renaissance: A Living Museum
Students learn about the people and places that figured prominently in the Harlem Renaissance.
Rhythm & Improv, Jazz & Poetry
Students will listen to and analyze jazz music, and then identify jazz characteristics in poems by Yusef Komunyakaa, Sonia Sanchez, and Langston Hughes. Students will also incorporate these elements in their own original poetry.
Look·Listen·Learn:
Drop Me Off in Harlem
Drop Me Off in Harlem explores the vibrant, complex, and unique moment in time that was the Harlem Renaissance.
AOI: African Odyssey Interactive
A special collaboration between the Kennedy Center's Office of International Programming and ARTSEDGE, this site was developed in support of a four-year "African Odyssey" festival of the performing, visual, and literary arts of sub-Saharan Africa. Begun in 1996, the site is now in archive form, presenting event profiles for over 20 of the artists and programs that appeared over the run of the festival.
Jazz in DC
Take a tour through jazz history in Washington, DC! Pianist Billy Taylor and saxophonist and flutist Frank Wess lead listeners through their hometown's music scene in this six-part audio series.
Jazz in Time
Developed for middle and high school audiences, this interactive timeline follows the development of this great American art form. Divided by decade, the timeline highlights events that helped shape jazz and illustrates the styles of each period through music and images.
Meet the Artist:
Dr. Billy Taylor, a Conversation on Jazz
The jazz pianist and scholar discusses the history of jazz, and its different forms.
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