The Benefits and Importance in Jazz Education and Appreciation
Christopher P. Horvath December 2006
Among the many different genres of music, jazz stands out as unique, daring, and different.
Jazz is a dynamic genre of music that is always changing and expanding
through unique ideas and innovations of artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, to name a few. Jazz has become an art form containing several different styles and types that all embrace the use of improvisation. Jazz is an important art that should be embraced by community, society, and the education system because of the positive benefits that it has on its musicians and listeners in several aspects of character, attitudes, mindsets, behaviors, and life. It took a long time for jazz to gain recognition in America for a number of reasons. Many people who preferred the older classical music were adverse to change and tried to sabotage the growth and influence of jazz by creating false rumors about it. It was said that jazz promoted irresponsibility, vulgarity, juvenile delinquency, and riots (Konowitz 87). However, all of these were false accusations. All of these hampered the growth of jazz as an acceptable music, and gave it a stigma that stuck for a long time. Commentator on musical eras, Mary Dupree, describes the mindset of the public as: “the place for jazz was Broadway, not the concert hall� (289), because jazz wasn’t accepted as a genuine art form, but rather as dance music. Consequently, it was only seen as appropriate in theatres or used as background music in plays, but not as music to be appreciated or sang to. Even after jazz gained some respect, music educators still resisted teaching it because they still believed in the false stereotypes that it had been given. Jazz was actually first accepted as an art form overseas and around the world before its recognition in the United States.
In the past century, the developing
technologies and increased global community helped amplify the exchanging of cultures
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and consequently presented jazz music overseas.
Band director and editor for Jazz
Educators Journal, John Kuzmich, says, “Jazz has grown to achieve worldwide acceptance and has influenced the creative force of art forms around the world” (42). Eventually, after other countries realized the beauty and artistic value of jazz, America caught on and began to cultivate jazz. Concurrent Resolution number fifty-seven of the U.S. House of Representatives “…designates jazz ‘as a rare and valuable national American treasure to which we should devote our attention, support, and resources’” (Kuzmich 42). This is the beginning of an encouragement of jazz in education alongside standard music education that comes with the understanding of the artistic value and benefits that jazz has. Jazz education shares many of the same benefits as general music education since both teach the use of instruments, singing, and introduction to new music.
Jazz
education, however, has more benefits because it also implements improvisation and jazz music which can have a greater effect on students’ creativity. Still, when used alongside general music education, both have an increased potential for student influence through wider exposure to music and the greater versatility of instruments that students learn. Therefore, all of the benefits that music education offers are mirrored through jazz education. Music education can have significant effects on the development of students in a number of ways, the first of which is in an emotional manner. When students are able to allow music to affect them emotionally, they are better able to control and understand their own emotions in their own life.
Research analysts, Klaus Sherer and Marcel
Zentner, examine the impact of music on emotions and find that music has the ability to produce short but highly intense emotions. Also, music can affect attitudes for a long
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duration and quickly affect mood for a long duration with behavior impact (363). Students of music education are better able to sense the feelings that musicians put into the music they are hear. Jazz legend John Coltrane once said, “Overall, I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things that he knows of and senses in the universe. . . That’s what I would like to do. I think that’s one of the greatest things you can do in life and we all try to do it in some way. The musician’s is through his music.” Coltrane and other artists want to get across a message, and try to convey their feelings through music. Singing is also involved in music education, and can have effects on emotions as well.
A study examined by music education proponent Fieke Werner, shows that
“…people who learned to sing as children…. [were] more satisfied with their life, more balanced, more certain and had more self-confidence, their mood was better and felt more social responsibility than the nonsingers” (15). To show that this kind of education can have such a big impact on very important aspects of character, is an astounding finding.
A music education background puts people in better touch with their own
emotions because they have learned to express their own feelings through their music and can better sense conveyed feelings. The education of music also has an impact on the intellectual development of students. Performing music requires a new kind of thinking in which “knowing, thinking, and acting are interwoven” (Werner 6). This new manner of thinking aids musicians in other aspects of life to multitask, look at things differently, and be more responsive. In addition, music lessons affect thought processes in areas of IQ, literacy, and spatialtemporal abilities. A study of 132 six year old children found that the students receiving
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vocal or keyboard lessons showed a greater increase in IQ than those who either received no lessons or drama lessons.
It also shows that singing can have a similar effect as
instrument use, which makes sense because the voice is simply a natural instrument. Two groups of students with reading problems were pre-tested for their literacy, and one group received music sessions. After a six month period, the groups were retested, and the group with music sessions showed a significant increase in reading ability while the other group retained the same reading level. In another two groups of kindergarten children each student was measured by spatial-reasoning tests. One group received piano lessons while the other did not, and at the end of eight months those with lessons scored higher than those without the lessons (Werner 13). Socially, students playing music have an increased self-esteem and sense of self fulfillment.
They have this increased confidence because there is a sense of
accomplishment in something as beautiful as making music. When confidence is higher, people tend to get along better with each other because it overcomes any type of insecurity someone might have, and that also avoids certain situations such as bullying or depression. “Children in schools with extra music lessons were less likely to reject their class mates” (Werner 14). Due in part to the extra attention that these children are given in lessons, they are less likely to act out in different ways to get attention. While general music education offers all the previously mentioned values to its students, jazz education alongside it reinforces all these while providing additional benefits. “Jazz groups of all sizes are the perfect musical ensembles for the teaching of life’s most valued characteristics: sensitivity to others, the ability to listen, to interact positively with others, to make a creative, personal statement, to develop original thought”
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(Kuzmich 43).
Jazz education fits perfectly into the system because it follows the
philosophy of the Educational Policies Commission which states one goal of education as “the encouragement of the creative or inventive spirit, and the establishment of wholesome attitudes toward order and change” (Konowitz 87). Through the education of jazz these values are instilled in the students. Improvisation really sets jazz apart from other music, especially classical music. “In classical music, it is considered that how a work is performed is never as important as the work itself. In jazz, the work itself is never really as important as the way in which it is played” (Kuzmich 42). A jazz performance uses a piece of work as the basis for rhythm and melody, but each person interprets it differently, and by the use of improvisation the work takes on a whole new style and sound. The room for creativity and interpretation is what makes jazz especially versatile and adaptable. This is the reason why so many songs are continuously redone by jazz bands and other individual artists, because each person has something different to add to the song, while still keeping the same base. “The effect of jazz lies in spontaneity of execution, in its wealth of rhythm, in the extraordinary vitality of the performance” (Gonda 376). This again restates the importance of how the piece is played, and that the real power of jazz lies in its improvisation and creativity of the players. Jazz education promotes the use of improvisation, which consequently increases individuality, and creativity.
Improvisation allows for more individuality in melody
interpretation and invention, style and rhythm (Kuzmich 42). For any piece of music, every student plays a spontaneous piece differently, and sets students apart from each other. There is so much creativity that a student develops while learning improvisation
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and is immediately visible in music, but also comes through in other areas because it becomes applicable to every part of life.
“…jazz is the art of the performer, the
performing ensemble, and the arranger. The quality of the art is dependent upon their creative ideas” (Kuzmich 42).
The quality of a performance in jazz really relies on the
creativity of the members which is developed through experience and learning. Rapid thinking and adaptability to change are two other qualities that are promoted by the learning of improvisation. Rapid thinking is developed while playing, since the student has to think about what is currently being played as well as what to play next without having set guidelines of what to play. Students have to adapt to the beat and melody of the music they are playing when they improvise, and therefore need the ability to adjust to change. This is something else that these students acquire, and is excellent for individuals to learn because life is all about change and the ability to adapt makes these students more ready for the world. Students with musical background become more well-rounded, open-minded individuals who think for themselves. When music teachers try to expose their students to a wider variety of music, students really begin to appreciate the value and beauty of these other types of music. Then students are less susceptible to influences of the world around them. Wanda O’Brien, a music education teacher describes the good judgment students can develop: “The more musical experience students reported in their background, the less they reported the influence of their peers, danceability, and hearing the song on the radio” (28).
Once students are able to choose their own tastes in music free from
environmental influences, the freer they are from the questionable morals and values that the media conveys. Students then become more individualistic, but at the same time open
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to new ideas and things different from the norm. Music research analyst Koen Van Eijck reiterates this idea: “The involved musical enthusiast, who also sings or plays an instrument, apparently wants to inquire beyond what is presented to her or him in large quantities by the media” (1171). Many parents today are very concerned by the influences of media on their children, and hence try to censor many things.
This approach is not very effective
because it does not teach children to make better or individual decisions but tries to make decisions for them and they end up being influenced anyway. A more proactive approach would be to teach children to make their own choices in life, through stronger music and jazz education. The most influences reach kids “at an age which the society defines as particularly important in the formation of patterns of behavior that carry through into adult life-the ‘teens’” (Merriam 1175).
Since Jazz education alongside music education has
been shown to increase independent thinking, it would be useful to help children make better decisions. Schools need to adopt a requirement of learning an instrument and alternating jazz education and music education by year, up until high school, and then offer a variety of band groups for students to join. This would require that schools assume a more positive attitude towards the arts and music while understanding its real value rather than as simply expendable.
This really needs to implemented in schools for
students at a young age since “their attitudes and preferences stem from early childhood exposure to music” (O’Brien 27). Then, while these children are growing up they will be influenced by the media around them, but because of their music background they will use better discretion and choose music with more artistic value.
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People who listen to jazz music also enjoy a wide variety of other genres. These people also tend to be more educated and of a higher class than those who are more narrow minded and listen to only the music that they are presented with by the media. “The jazz audience is composed of better-than-average educated listeners� (Kuzmich 45). This is because jazz is not really the popular music that is widely broadcasted, but through further education, people expand their horizons and minds and realize that there is much more than what is presented to them. Then, by exploring the unknown they find beauty and art in places previously hidden. Also, those with higher education become more concerned with culture, and through discovery of different cultures, different types of music come into perception.
A study of the Dutch population for finding social
differentiation in musical taste patterns shows that those with a higher education level tend to enjoy a wider range of music than those of a lower education level. Trends show that the percentage of people who listen to chamber music, symphonic music, opera, operetta, jazz, blues, and pop/rock increased steadily with level of education. The only genres that decreased were in the areas of folk, chanson, accordion, and Brass Band. (Eijck 1172 Table 1). This clearly shows that there is a greater amount of people who listen to more music with a higher education, than those who have a lower education level. However, the enjoyment of all other types of music and the benefits that these include should not be limited to those with higher education, but should instead be introduced early on through music education. Apart from performing music and jazz, there are significant benefits to those who listen to jazz. Probably the most well known area within jazz is the upbeat, bebop style jazz. This kind of music is invigorating and energizing for its listeners, which is actually
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more useful than many might think. The stimulating effect of this jazz can help listeners who are tired and need to get things done or to be productive.
Applications are
numerous, and can be used in a workplace to stimulate productivity, in factories to increase morale, or in a store to improve employee attitudes. The music can also create a happier, livelier mood in people to take the place of a lack of energy or motivation. Also when people are happier, they are generally more patient because they are not as easily irritated. In a study performed in an Australian restaurant, several types of music were played on different nights. Then, at the end of customers’ meals, they were asked about how they felt about the restaurant.
When jazz music was played, the qualities that
customers consistently rated higher than other genres were those of upmarket, sophisticated, invigorating, and stimulating. It also scored near highest in the areas of fun, exciting, happy, and restful. Jazz was also found to be the least passive, but further proves the point of creating an energetic feeling (Wilson 99-100). All of these qualities exhibit the atmosphere created by jazz music, and really does lend itself to a more productive environment for any intended use. While jazz was playing, patrons of the restaurant also rated the service highest, stayed longest, and were willing to pay more (Wilson 103, 107). Consumers rated the service higher because they were in a better, happier mood, and were more patient as a result, and were less aware of how long service took.
Due to the invigorating
environment of jazz, the customers stayed longer, generally showing a greater liking for the restaurant. This shows that jazz creates a good environment in which people are generally more joyous and accepting.
Furthermore, because customers were in a great
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mood they were more carefree and less worried about their own problems and as a result willing to spend more in the enjoyable environment. In a marketing study of music tempo in an economically stable, supermarket store in a southwestern city, the purchases and speed of shoppers were measured. It was found that music with an upbeat tempo increased the speed and flow of shoppers in a store (Milliman 89). This is applicable to upbeat jazz, as it would create the same results. Shoppers went quicker because the tempo energized them and made them get what they needed faster. While this is not the ideal for store owners, it can be beneficial for the people themselves to get through daily tasks more quickly. The other side of jazz music is on the slower tempo side, but without that fake, unoriginal, smooth jazz which does not deserve to be under the same genre. The slow jazz also has a lot to offer that listeners can take advantage of, as it is a much more calming music that can help people to relax. It can be the perfect thing at the end of a long, tough day that can be used to unwind and relieve stress. Generally, it is also a more romantic, emotional type of music that can be used to help connect with other people. In the supermarket study it was found that the slower tempo music results in a slower pace of shoppers but also in higher sales (Milliman 90). The slow tempo music could be equated to the slow jazz, and would also create the same effects. The reason for higher sales is that a slower pace incurs more thinking, less forgetfulness, and therefore the shoppers purchased all that they needed, including most things they may have forgotten. Slower jazz makes for more conscious thought through a relaxing environment, and shows a less stressed mood in the listeners.
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The point, however, is not that jazz is so much better than other genres, or that it is the only music to listen to, but rather that it helps to make a person well-rounded and interested in other things. After all, the person who only listens to jazz is just as closeminded as the person who only listens to popular music. Jazz has the ability to make people open minded, more creative, and more agreeable.
Once people become
influenced by jazz, they tend to explore other genres of music and begin to make decisions for themselves. This applies to other things as well; a person who is more open minded is willing to venture outside the known and wants to explore other possibilities. The idea is to acquire attributes that make people better citizens of life, which can be accomplished through jazz and jazz education. That is what makes jazz education so important and valuable. Teaching jazz in education could have a considerable effect on students with enough support and proper instruction. In order to have the utmost effect, it should be taught to students from childhood up through high school while they are forming their own morals and values. This would enable the youth to be more individualistic, creative, open-minded, self-confident, adaptable, yet more well-rounded people. Therefore, they would have a wider range of musical tastes through their own exploration and be less susceptible to the questionable values that the media portrays through popular music. This is the power that jazz music and jazz education can have, and this is why it is so important and valuable to society.
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Works Cited Chinitz, David. “Rejuvenation through Joy: Langston Hughes, Primitivism, and Jazz.” American Literary History 9 (1997): 60-78. Dupree, Mary Herron. “‘Jazz,’ the Critics, and American Art Music.” American Music 4.3 (Autumn 1986): 287-301. Eijck, Koen Van. “Social Differentiation in Musical Taste Patterns.” Social Forces 79.3 (2001): 1163-1185. Gonda, J. “Jazz Research and Musical Science.” Studia Musicoligica Academiae Scientiarium Hungaricae 13.1 (1971): 373-382. Hayes, Ivey. “Club Scene New York.” (Cover Page Image) Konowitz, Bert. “In Answer to ‘Jazz: A Place in Music Education?’” Music Educators Journal 51.1(Sept – Oct 1964): 87, 88, 148, 149. Kuzmich, John Jr. “New Styles, New Technologies, New Possibilities in Jazz.” Music Educators Journal 76.3 (Nov 1989): 41-46. Merriam, Alan P. “Music In American Culture.”
American Anthropologist 57.6 (Dec
1955): 1173-1181. Milliman, Ronald.
“Using Background Music to Affect the Behavior of Supermarket
Shoppers.” Journal of Marketing 46.3 (Summer 1982): 86-91. O’Brien, Wanda. “Opening Doors: Forming Positive Attitudes toward Classical Music.” Music Educators Journal 72.7 (Mar 1986): 25-28. Sherer, Klaus R., and Marcel R. Zetner. “Emotional Effects of Music: Production Rules.” New York: Oxford UP, 2001: 361-392. 18 Nov. 2006 <http://www.unige.ch/fapse/emotion/members/zentner/pdf/SchererZentner.pdf>
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Wilson, Stephanie. “The effect of music on perceived atmosphere and purchase intentions in a restaurant.” Psychology of Music 31.1 (Jan 2003): 93-112. Werner, Fieke. “Is Early Music Education Necessary in Order to Reach a Professional Level?” Universiteit Utrecht. Polifonia, 2005: 5-15. 14 Nov. 2006 <http://asterix.library.uu.nl/files/scrol/d1/r123/Is%20early%20music%20educati on%20necessary.pdf>.
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