All That Jazz!

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

• Have you ever heard someone use the word jazz?

Maybe they said they wanted to jazz something up, which means to give it a little sparkle and flair. Or maybe they said they were jazzed about something, which means they were excited.

Jazz is an exciting style of music that started in the United States, and it has become famous around the world.

It began in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It developed from blues and ragtime music.

By the 1920s, jazz music had become so popular that period is now known as the Jazz Age.

One of the most exciting things about jazz is that it doesn’t have a lot of rules. Jazz music takes on the feelings and personality of the people playing it. So as jazz music spread around the world, it began to develop new and distinct sounds.

Two people performing the same jazz song might perform it very differently, and both are the right way to perform it.

Listen to two versions of the same song below.

• Would you have guessed that the musicians were both playing the same popular jazz song?
• What differences do you hear? What similarities?

Now, take a look at one of the most famous jazz performers of all time: Louis Armstrong.

Louis was a singer and played the trumpet. As you watch the video below, think about Louis Armstrong’s voice.

• Is it like any other voice you’ve heard, or is it unique and different?
• Do you think he has a nice voice?
• Do you think he would have been as popular if his voice sounded like a lot of other people’s voices?

• How did the music make you feel?
• Did you find yourself smiling and moving as you listened and watched?
• What did you think about the lady backup singer? Did it look like she was having fun?

Move on to the Got It? section to hear a fun, rhythmic story about some people who play really fun jazz music!