High School Jazz

Book excerpt: "High School Jazz is the culmination of 40 years of teaching jazz. It is designed to give you clear instructions as well as the reasoning behind why I make these suggestions. I currently travel to high schools around the country doing clinics with jazz bands. The band directors are among the best high school jazz band directors in the country, and yet I am able to transform their bands in 15 minutes. In this book I am going to tell you exactly my procedure and how to do it. At first some of these things I say and do may sound strange or even counterintuitive, but I have used them hundreds, maybe even thousands of times, and they work for me." - David Berger I already have an excellent high school band. What can I learn from this book? High School Jazz is designed to serve all high school band directors regardless of experience and expertise. It deals with the most basic issues to the most complex in a deep way. Even the most seasoned teachers will find information that is known only by top professionals and is of great value to their students. I teach a teaching methods course for music education majors at a college. Would this book be appropriate for my students? Absolutely! It would be indispensable. Very often the high school concert band conductor will be responsible for teaching the jazz ensemble. High School Jazz explains how to teach, what to teach, and gives valuable resources.