Band Jazz

Module code
M-JP-EBJ
Curricular domain
Practical Classes
Credits
4
Group size
Flexible group size. 4 to 12 students. Larger or smaller very occasionally possible in consultation with faculty.
Number of course weeks
30
Class duration
4 students: 40 minutes per class, 5 students: 45 minutes per class, 6 students: 50 minutes per class, 7 students: 55 minutes per class, 8 to 12 students: 65 minutes per class. Group sizes below 5 or above 12 with different class times are sometimes possible after consultation with faculty. Class time will not be adjusted after the start of the academic year due to any change in group size.
Total contact hours
32 hours
Study load
79 hours

Form / content / level

Prerequisites
Admitted to year 2 Jazz & Pop or, after audition, Composition for Film and Theatre. This subject can only be followed on-campus.

NOTE that selecting one elective band is compulsory in the second year Jazz & Pop. In years 2, 3 and 4 students Jazz & Pop can select up to two elective bands per year in total.
Competencies
See Competencies Matrix.
Aims
Acquiring and developing ensemble playing skills in repertoire of the relevant style.
Improving stage performance.
Relation to other modules
This module is related to the main subject module.
Content
Study subjects will be selected based on the students' level of development, which means there may be considerable differences between their level upon completion of the course.
Studying and memorizing a varied jazz repertoire (including rhythm changes and blues): e.g., ballads, medium up-tempo and up-tempo, Latin jazz, bebop repertoire, up-tempo pieces, repertoire in the Coltrane idiom, ECM jazz.
Developing a sense of the structure of schemes with eight, sixteen and thirty-two bars and blues; studying and memorizing more complex structures (e.g., not based on eight-bar structure, interludes, tags).
Analyzing simple and more complex functional-harmonic and modal progressions, and improvising over these progressions.
Analyzing, playing and improvising over arrangements for two to four brass instruments with rhythm section.
Studying and playing existing interpretations of jazz standards as well as deliberately creating new interpretations.
Rhythm section: studying two beat, double time and other grooves in order to develop musical interaction and ensemble playing skills with and between the soloists.
Solo building: note selection, rhythm, themes, quotes and licks, timing, phrasing, dynamics and expressive techniques.
Working on rehearsal discipline.
Developing a sense of timing in jazz music and tempo control in different tempi.
Becoming aware of and developing a band sound.
Preparing and performing a concert.
Mode(s) of instruction
Band rehearsals and performances.
Material & Tools
Handed out by the instructor (where applicable).
Student activity
Generating internal publicity for the band's concerts, and selecting repertoire.

Examination and assessment

Mode(s) of assessment
Assessment by the band instructor at the end of each semester.
Criteria
General criteria: creativity, improvisation, sheet music, sense of harmony, rhythmic idioms, timing and tempo control, musical interaction, intonation, reading skills, sound, interpretation, style awareness, form principles, tonal balance, preparation, accompaniment, active participation and attitude.
Performing (by heart) a repertoire of 10-20 jazz standards studied and rehearsed in a band setting.
Performing with a band and at sight (with brief preparation) an intermediate jazz arrangement with improvisation.
Recognizing the most important jazz styles by ear.
Pass requirements
The student has completed this module if being awarded a minimum grade of 5.5 at the end of the second semester.
Examination procedure
Written assessment by the instructor at the end of both semesters. Assessment at the end of the autumn semester is formative and expressed in terms of satisfactory/unsatisfactory. It indicates a student's progress in this module. No ECs are awarded and there is no resit. Modules can only be absolved, and ECs awarded, after the end of the spring semester. The end-of-semester assessments comprise evaluations of students' performance during the rehearsals and public performances.
Resit options
See the Education and Assessment Plan.

Module summary

This module allows students to extensively study their chosen style. All relevant elements of this style are discussed, in addition to more general aspects of ensemble playing and performance.