About

We have been teaching at the Jamey Aebersold School of Jazz Studies for over ten years now. And in that time, we have had several opportunities to teach across the globe. Ironically, one of the biggest issues we have observed has been the lack of an effective resource guide that educators could use when teaching jazz improvisation. In an attempt to address this need, we decided to create Teaching Jazz. Teaching Jazz is an all-inclusive, easy to teach jazz course that’s easy to follow and easy to understand. Whether you are a rural high school band director in America, or a beginning jazz educator in Poland, Teaching Jazz will bring clarity, insight and results to any educator’s improvisation class.

Teaching Jazz is supported by NEA Jazz master educator Jamey Aebersold and creator of Jazz Everyone, Willie Thomas. Using some concepts from Jazz Everyone, and Jamey Aebersold’s Play-a-Longs recordings, we have created 10 lesson plans ranging from scale vocabulary to Rhythm changes. Each lesson plan includes step by step instructions so there’s no guess work for the instructor. Teaching Jazz’s lesson plans also include demonstration videos. In these videos, we demonstrate style, phrasing, articulations, and offer commentary that assists in the teaching process.

We also felt it best to include three live video sessions for every educator who decides to use Teaching Jazz.  These video sessions allow us to interact with your class in a unique way and offer assistance as needed.  Teaching Jazz is a truly unique teaching tool that’s long overdue.  With    Teaching Jazz, your class will gain a deeper understanding of the jazz improvisation and will grow into confident improvisers!

Dr. Ansyn Banks & Samir Kambarov