Jazz Pedagogy Lesson Plan

Activity Name
Introduction to Swing & Improvisation

Grade
5th Grade

Major Concepts
● When did the swing jazz era begin?
● Define “jazz solo.”
● Swing era jazz solos often use what kind of scale?
● What instruments are used in a normal big band?
● Which major world event marks the decline of the big band era?

Materials and Resources

● Swing PowerPoint
● Listening Example: “Sing, Sing, Sing”
● Lesson and Listening Assessments
● “Jazzy Jive” Song
● Orff Instruments

Objectives
State Standards
● 3-5.MU.Cr.1.2 Improvise rhythms and melodies with voice, instruments, and a
variety of sound sources to add interest to a song.
● 3-5.MU.Re.9.1 Use music terminology in the analysis and evaluation of musical
work.

Behavioral or Observable Objectives

● Students will be introduced to swing jazz and big bands through reading and
listening examples.
● Students will improvise with pitched percussion instruments and voices.
Teaching Strategies
Anticipatory Set/Hook
● Ask students to share what they know about jazz and/or swing music.

Procedure
● Show the video on Swing music.
● Ask students questions about Swing music.
● Listen to “Sing, Sing, Sing.”
● Ask students to answer questions about what they hear in the music.
● Listen to the song “Jazzy Jive” and review what improvisation means.
● Listen to the instrument improvisations in the recorded music.
● Discuss the pentatonic scale.
● Remove C and F bars from the instruments.
● Improvise on Orff instruments using notes from the G pentatonic scale.
● Group students into three groups to improvise on instruments.

Closure/Transition
● The students will review what they learned about Swing music and be asked how
it felt to improvise.

Assessment
● Students will be informally assessed while answering questions about swing jazz
and big bands. Students will be formally assessed on their willingness and ability
to improvise.