Courses offered by the Jazz Studies Department are listed below. Please check the Schedule of Classes for course offerings each semester and consult individual course entries in this schedule for information on course prerequisites and corequisites.
Click here for jazz piano proficiency requirements for pianists and for non-pianists.
For Jazz majors and minors only. Techniques and methods of teaching jazz studies, including the training of jazz bands. Intended for students who have successfully completed the upper-division examination.
Techniques and methods of teaching jazz studies.
Survey of basic rhythm section techniques in jazz styles such as swing, shuffle, rock, funk, bossa nova, samba, Afro-Cuban, and ballads. The course will focus on developing basic skills on each of the rhythm section instruments (piano, guitar, bass, and drums) and understanding the role of each instrument in the rhythm section.
The history of jazz from origins to 1959 explored through selected recordings and readings. The course will focus on selected artists and styles discussed in the context of American history.
The history of jazz from 1959 to the present explored through selected recordings, readings, and a research paper. The course will focus on selected artists and styles discussed in the context of American history.
A survey of contemporary jazz and soul (rhythm and blues) music and musicians in the United States.
Individual research in the analysis, history, music theory, or literature of jazz schools, styles, performers, and instrumental idioms. For advanced students.
Historical and musical analysis of the core repertoire, seminal performers and composers, musical characteristics, and important recordings of all major jazz styles, origins to 1949.
Historical and musical analysis of the core repertoire, seminal performers and composers, musical characteristics, and important recordings of all major jazz styles, 1950-1969.
Historical and musical analysis of the core repertoire, seminal performers and composers, musical characteristics, and important recordings of all major jazz styles since 1970.
The study of classic big band literature (Ellington, Basie, Kenton, Herman, etc.).
Jazz nomenclature, chord/scale relationships, basic chord progressions, and voice leading. Examples from both jazz and classical repertoire will be given to show connections between the two idioms.
Introduction to basic skills required of the jazz musician, including listening, ear training, and transcription of jazz solos and their stylistic analysis.
Introduction to harmonic and analytical skills required of the jazz musician, including standard harmony, voicings, voice leading, harmonizing melodies, how keyboardists activate harmony, form, and line analysis (neighbor tones, enclosures, approach notes).
Introduces techniques of melody writing, line writing, motivic development, counterpoint, harmonic texture, lead sheet layout, instrument ranges and transpositions, and basic orchestration.
Fundamentals of jazz arranging for small ensemble including orchestration, instrument ranges and transposition, form and structure, nomenclature, and part/score layout.
Techniques for large ensemble arranging including traditional and contemporary orchestration, section writing, and woodwind double writing.
Survey and analysis of jazz styles from ragtime and early jazz to swing and bebop. Repertoire, improvisation, instrumentation, role of instruments, major innovators and important groups. Includes transcription of jazz solos and their stylistic analysis.
Survey and analysis of jazz styles from the cool school and hard bop to modal and contemporary styles. Continuation of O318 areas of focus. Includes transcription of jazz solos and their analysis.
Introduction to jazz improvisation. Chord/scale relationships, generic melodic patterns, standard harmonic patterns, basic bebop vocabulary, and tune learning.
Theory and techniques of jazz improvisation, including bebop and hard-bop harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic devices. Practice and study techniques and aural skills in the bebop and hard-bop styles.
Advanced jazz rhythmic and harmonic techniques applied to improvisation and compositions for improvisation: contemporary jazz rhythmic practices such as note grouping, odd meters, and metric modulation applied to standard tunes. Harmonic substitution, superimposition, and slash chords. Various post-bebop approaches to improvisation.
Modern concepts since 1955. Theory and techniques of jazz improvisation with an emphasis on the vocabulary, style, and repertoire of jazz since 1958.
In this course students will create a capstone project and an online portfolio that documents their creative work in a way that can be readily shared with others. The capstone project will be a self-directed project, with guidance from a faculty mentor, related to the student’s professional goals.
Jazz nomenclature, chord/scale relationships, basic chord progressions, and voice leading. Examples from both jazz and classical repertoire will be given to show connections between the two idioms.
Study of advanced techniques and analytical skills in relation to modern jazz composition with an emphasis on motivic development, expanded forms, and non-functional harmony.
Fundamentals of jazz arranging for small ensemble including orchestration, instrument ranges and transposition, form and structure, nomenclature, and part/score layout. Fundamentals of jazz arranging for small ensemble including orchestration, instrument ranges and transposition, form and structure, nomenclature, and part/score layout.
Techniques for large ensemble arranging including traditional and contemporary orchestration, section writing, and woodwind double writing.Techniques for large ensemble arranging including traditional and contemporary orchestration, section writing, and woodwind double writing.
Introduction to jazz improvisation. Chord/scale relationships, generic melodic patterns, standard harmonic patterns, basic bebop vocabulary, and tune learning.
Theory and techniques of jazz improvisation, including bebop and hard-bop harmonic, melodic and rhythmic devices. Practice and study techniques and aural skills in the bebop and hard-bop styles.
Advanced jazz rhythmic and harmonic techniques applied to improvisation and compositions for improvisation; contemporary jazz rhythmic practices such as note grouping, odd meters, and metric modulation applied to standard tunes. Harmonic substitution, superimposition, and slash chords. Various post-bebop approaches to improvisation.
Modern concepts since 1955. Theory and techniques of jazz improvisation with an emphasis on the vocabulary, style, and repertoire of jazz since 1958.
In this course students will create a capstone project and an online portfolio that documents their creative work in a way that can be readily shared with others. The capstone project will be a self-directed project, with guidance from a faculty mentor, related to the student’s professional goals.
Recital preparation for jazz studies master’s students working with a faculty coach.
Development of basic jazz keyboard skills and techniques for the non-piano jazz major, non-jazz piano major, and non-music major. Basic voicings for common harmonic formulae used in jazz, chord/scale relationships, and simple rhythmic comping patterns.
More advanced voicings; substitutions; comping patterns.
Jazz keyboard skills and techniques. Meets the keyboard proficiency requirement with a grade of B or higher for graduate non-pianist Jazz Studies majors. Voicings for common harmonic formulae including the II/V7/I chord progression and the blues, simple modal voicings, rhythmic comping patterns, and simple comping patterns for Latin jazz styles.
