Teaching Video Response #2 

Jazz Band 
Erica Unroe 
 
This lesson took place at 7:30 in the morning with the jazz band! I was able to 

teach one of my favorite jazz charts to the band. I gave them this chart a few weeks 

ago, and they have quickly started to enjoy this tune as well. It shows in their playing! 

At the beginning of the lesson, I could tell that I was tired. This only lasted for a 

few minutes though, because as I got into my “teacher mode” I could no longer focus 

on myself and solely on the music and the students! This definitely showed, and I am 

actually impressed with my ability to keep up my energy this early in the morning! 

Another aspect of this teaching that I am proud of is my ability, and my consistency 

in singing the rhythms and melodies that we’re working on. I had never really played, 

much less ​taught j​ azz before this placement, so my growth in understanding and 

being able to show that knowledge of jazz is something I am very proud of! 

That being said, I am proud of my ability to sing rhythms and notes to them, 

but I didn’t give them much of an opportunity to do that themselves. I would sing, and 

then they would play, but in the future, I would definitely give them more 

opportunities to sing/clap/say their rhythms and notes themselves too. A lot of my 

critiques for myself carry over from my first time recording myself. Some of my more 

negative personality traits show in my teaching from time-to-time. One of them 

being the “unsureness” that I tend to have. While I’m not actually unsure in what I say, 

it may come across that I actually am. This is just something that I need to focus on 

while I teach, and really think before I say certain phrases! 

Because I have never taught jazz, I feel that I need to get better at “conducting” 

a group. I’m not always sure the style I should conduct, or when to conduct at all. 
When I feel that the tempo is stable enough, I stop, and only do dynamic/stylistic 

gestures, but I feel that it is something that I need to be actively focused on, and even 

study a little more as I continue teaching! 

I am very grateful that this placement has pushed me out of my comfort zone 

so much. I would have never had the opportunity to learn by ​doing​. I learn best when I 

make mistakes. I also learn when I get to reflect on those mistakes, which I am 

thankful to be able to do now!