Lesson Plan

Jazz Band
02/24/22

Objective: Students will be able to understand the chord progression of Autumn Leaves

Goal: By giving students with a chord “lead sheet” they will dig deeper into what each chord is
and why

Procedures:
- Give students pre-assessment quiz on the chord progression from Autumn Leaves to
see how much they know before the lesson begins (15 minutes)
- Have students go to the solo section in their part of Autumn Leaves where the ii-V-I
chord progression is outlined
- Explain what creates the ii-V-I in the minor and relative major key of the piece
- Hand out lead sheet that follows the ii-V-I progression and has each chord written out for
each instrument
- Play a backing track from YouTube that is in the same key as Autumn Leaves and
follows the ii-V-I chord progression
- Have students listen and follow along with their lead sheets
- Have students improvise with the backing track at the same time
- Have student solo volunteers to improvise with the backing track

Assessment:
- Students will be given a formal pre-assessment quiz before class on the chord
progressions to see what they know before the lesson. This quiz will consist of the 1st,
3rd, 5th, and 7th of each chord and students will be asked to write what the chord is
- Informal group assessment will be done by having students improvise all together with
the backing track
- Informal individual assessment will be done by having students solo individually with the
backing track

Winding:
Winding forwards:
- If students do well on pre-assessment quiz then the addition of more challenging chord
progressions will be added
- If students are comfortable soloing with the chords have them play more notes than the
ones written on the leadsheet
Winding backwards:
- If students are confused with chords, we will review major scales before introducing the
chords
- If students do not do well on pre-assessment quiz then more time will be spent on
understanding the chords before even applying them to music
Adaptations:
- Pacing: Give students up to time and a half for the pre-assessment quiz to
accommodate any students with IEPs or 504 Plans
- Color: When writing chords out on board in different colors to help students differentiate
between the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th
- Modality: Have students come to the board to write out tricky chords to get them out of
their chairs and directly involved with learning
- Size: Write out different chord symbols such as a half diminished sign, the major triangle
sign, and the 7 in a large font so that students see what each one should look like

VA Standards:
Technique and Application
HMT.15 The student will demonstrate understanding of scales.
a) Explain major, minor, pentatonic, and chromatic scales.
b) Notate and perform (using voice and/or instruments) ascending and descending
major, minor, and chromatic scales using key signatures and accidentals.
HMT.16 The student will demonstrate understanding of key signatures.
a) Define key signature.
c) Explain relative and parallel major-minor key relationships.
HMT.17 The student will demonstrate understanding of diatonic and chromatic intervals.
b) Explain the interval of a half-step (m2) and a whole-step (M2).
e) Identify and explain harmonic and melodic intervals.
HMT.18 The student will demonstrate understanding of triadic structure.
a) Identify the root, third, and fifth of a chord.
c) Explain triads and seventh chords by quality.
g) Explain and notate chord symbols.
h) Analyze chord progressions from classical and popular musical scores.
Lesson Plan
Jazz Band
02/28/22

Objective: Students will be able to make a connection between the ii-V-I progression in Autumn
Leaves to the leadsheet that follows the chord progression

Goal: That students retained the information taught in the first lesson so that they are able to
understand each chord and what notes make the chord

Procedures:
- Begin by handing back pre-assessment quizzes
- Review common missed questions from the quiz
- Go over errors and explain why they are wrong and what makes them right
- Have students take out their leadsheets from the previous class
- Have students volunteer to solo individually to backing track in the same key as Autumn
Leaves to help them get more familiar with the chords
- Have students solo in pairs to the backing track
- Write out chords on the board and have students compete to see who can write out the
correct notes first
- Ask students if they still have any questions about the chords

Assessment:
Informal individual assessment will be done by havings students individually solo
Informal group assessment will be done by having students solo in groups of 2
Informal individual assessment will be done by having students write out different chords on the
board

Winding:
Winding forwards:
- If students are comfortable with the chords by this class, introduce the ii-V-I progression
in a different key
- Introduce more advanced chord symbols such as the 9, 13, etc.
Winding backwards:
- If students are still struggling with the chords review what makes a chord and why
- Have students play a major chord versus a minor chord so that they can hear the
difference

Adaptations:
Pacing: Spend extra time on allowing students to ask questions so that everyone is able to
understand the topic
Color: When writing chords out on board in different colors to help students differentiate
between the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th
Modality: Have students compete to see who can write the chord out first
VA Standards:
Critical Thinking and Communication
HMT.5 The student will evaluate and demonstrate collaboration skills and concert etiquette.
b) Exhibit active listening in music settings.
c) Demonstrate respect for the contributions of others in collaborative music
experiences.
Technique and Application
HMT.18 The student will demonstrate understanding of triadic structure.
a) Identify the root, third, and fifth of a chord.
c) Explain triads and seventh chords by quality
d) Compare and contrast the qualities of chords in major and minor keys.
g) Explain and notate chord symbols.
i) Recognize and explain types and uses of non-chord tones.
HMT.19 The student will demonstrate aural skills.
b) Perform rhythmic patterns in simple, compound, and complex/asymmetrical meters.
Lesson Plan
Jazz Band
03/02/22

Objective: Students will be able to apply their knowledge about chords in the ii-V-I progression
and do better on the post assessment than what they knew for the pre-assessment

Goal: That students retain what has been previously taught in the last two lessons and succeed
on the post assessment quiz

Procedures:
- Start by reviewing the chords
- Have students solo with the same backing tracking in groups of 2 doing a “call and
response” type solo
- Have students solo individually with the backing track
- Ask students if they have any final questions
- Give students post assessment quiz on chords
- After post assessment quiz work on the solo section in Autumn Leaves
- Begin with bass line and other accompaniment parts
- Introduce different solos in this section
- Have students who are soloing play through the section

Assessment:
Formal individual assessment will be done by giving students the post assessment quiz to see
the progress from the first pre-assessment quiz
Informal group assessment will be done by having students play in groups of 2
Informal individual assessment will be done by having students solo to backing track and in
Autumn Leaves

Winding:
Winding forwards:
- Have student who are soloing in Autumn Leaves write out their solo and share it with the
class
- Do a “call and response” type solo for Autumn Leaves so more students get the
opportunity to solo
Winding Backwards:
- Write out a leadsheet for Autumn Leaves soloists so they can see each chord change
- Give students the opportunity to retake the post assessment quiz if they feel that they
could do better

Adaptations:
Size: Give students an enlarged version of the post assessment quiz if they would prefer that
Pacing: Give students up to time and a half for the post assessment quiz to accommodate
students with IEPs and 504 plans
VA Standards:
Critical Thinking and Communication
HMT.5 The student will evaluate and demonstrate collaboration skills and concert etiquette.
b) Exhibit active listening in music settings.
c) Demonstrate respect for the contributions of others in collaborative music
experiences.
Technique and Application
HMT.18 The student will demonstrate understanding of triadic structure.
a) Identify the root, third, and fifth of a chord.
c) Explain triads and seventh chords by quality.
g) Explain and notate chord symbols.
Critical Thinking and Communication
HIB.3 The student will analyze, interpret, and evaluate music.
Technique and Application
HIB.12 The student will demonstrate music literacy
b) Notate student-created compositions using standard notation.
​g) Define and identify music terminology found in the music literature being studied.
 Reflection

For my Impact on Student Learning project I chose to work with the Jazz Band class.

This class has been challenging for me because I am very unfamiliar with jazz music, but I have

learned so much from the lessons that I have been able to teach. The 3 lesson unit focused on

the common ii-V-I progression that is seen in many jazz charts. This chord progression

modulates from the minor to the relative major or vice versa and was a brand new concept for

students in jazz band. I chose to approach this unit by starting with some basic improvisation.

Students were given a lead sheet that I made that corresponded with their own parts in Autumn

Leaves and a Youtube backing track that we used to improvise with.

We first started with having everyone solo at once so that students could get

comfortable with the notes as a group, then had students volunteer to solo individually. When

students were given the pre-assessment there were many negative comments about the quiz

and how it was “too hard” for them to do. Out of the 35 question pre-assessment where students

were given the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th note of the chord and had to write what chord it was, most

of them got less than 10 right. Many students understood what a dominant 7th chord looked

like, but were completely lost when it came to anything else. This was what I expected the

pre-assessment quizzes to look like, and I was looking forward to getting to teach students

about the different chords and how they can apply them to their music. The first lesson went

really well and students were excited to improvise. We began by listening to the backing track

that students would be soloing over, and then I asked students to volunteer to solo individually.

Students used their lead sheets that outlined each chord to solo and were allowed to play notes

outside of the chord if they felt comfortable doing that.

The next class I handed back the pre-assessment quizzes and students were pretty

upset with how they did which is what I expected. We took a lot of time to go over common
errors and missed questions. Students had the opportunity to ask questions and then we spent

some time writing chords out on the board and reviewing what each chord symbol meant. After

this review we began with soloing again and had students begin with voluntary individual solos.

From here we did solos in groups of two so that students could continue to work at getting more

familiar with the chords. At the end of class students were allowed to ask any last minute

questions they had about the post-assessment next class. I encouraged students to review their

major scales and to come get help during the study block if needed.

The third class we took some time to review the chords again before the post

assessment quiz and students had the opportunity to ask any questions. We did another round

of individual solos and then a round of solos in groups of 2 in a “call and response” format. This

gave the students one last opportunity to get even more familiar with the chords before the post

assessment. For the post assessment quiz students were given the chord and had to write the

chord out. Students were very negative about having to take the post-assessment quiz, but

overall students did much better on it. While there were still some students that did poorly, most

students scored around an 18/25. The students that did poorly will be given one more

opportunity to ask for help and retake the post-assessment quiz to get a better score.

If I were to redo this unit, I would start by reviewing major scales with everyone. While

this is something that students should know in advance, a little review might help set students

up for better success in the long run. Students have not gotten the opportunity to do much

improvisation in Jazz Band so they were very lost during solos most of the time. If I were to redo

this, I would start introducing/reviewing the solo process a few classes before giving them the

pre-assessment quiz. It would be nice to be able to find more jazz charts that follow the same

ii-V-I chord progression that students are able to play so that they can apply all of this new

knowledge to a piece of music. I think that it would also be good to add in some different types
of assessment other than soloing and writing out the chords such as including some kind of

technology like a practice quiz or utilizing different online resources.