The original focus of this research paper was to ask the question, “Why are there so few versatile trombonists?” The research suggested that there were curriculum problems in higher education associated with the general lack of performance versatility amongst trombonists. In 2014 the Task Force for the Undergraduate Music Major (TFUMM) determined that the undergraduate curriculum was lacking improvisation and creativity. One of the core musical skills that is essential in improvising is audiation. After determining that audiation is one of the keys to performance versatility, I researched jazz pedagogy and how this area of higher education includes and utilizes audiation and improvisation in curriculum. I concluded that traditional conservatory-style pedagogy is lacking improvisation and audiation in its curriculum because of the bias towards the European music tradition and the institutional treatment of jazz as a legitimate art form that is not equal to the European music tradition.To address the issue of performance versatility amongst trombonists, I created the “Modern Trombonist Curriculum” in 2016. This was my first attempt to address undergraduate curriculum by exposing students to a three-studio model, literature versatility, and utilizing audiation as the foundation of their learning. I sent out this curriculum to ten educators and performers for critique and to provide their thoughts on the current landscape of performance versatility, audiation, and my curriculum. After the interviews and the insight of my dissertation committee, I created a new curriculum titled “The Versatile Trombonist” to address the constraints of time, colleague involvement, student engagement, mental health, fiscal concerns, and other issues that I did not originally consider. Although I plan to continually modify and adjust this curriculum, this current version can be used as a benchmark for future educators that desire to include audiation and performance versatility in their current or future trombone studios.

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In this case study, The King and Baxter Magolda (2005) Intercultural Maturity Model was utilized as the explanatory framework for the development of intercultural maturity in a globally networked learning environment (GNLE) with college students. Through ethnographic data collection strategies and qualitative analysis of interviews, observations, narrative inquiry, and student artifacts, I explored the developmental stages of the intercultural maturity of study participants in a GNLE with college students from three international universities in South Africa, Europe, and the United States. I sought to determine if any relationship existed between the development of intercultural maturity and the study of jazz. This research inquiry represented a distinct opportunity to examine if student activities in jazz subjects might ground new theories for the attainment of intercultural maturity. A globally networked classroom of jazz students presented a salient opportunity to observe if interactant traits could mature, instigated through jazz curricula, and whether such a model had explanatory potential in a web-based context. The findings were instructive for considerations comparative to traditional developmental models of intercultural maturity, with a particular focus on the efficacy of asynchronous and synchronous student interactions within the activities. The context of a GNLE, an interesting alternative to study abroad when considered as a teaching and learning paradigm instead of just a technology modality, facilitated rich descriptions and data to gauge students’ demonstration of the domains of the King and Baxter Magolda (2005) Intercultural Maturity Model. Adding jazz curricula and pedagogy to the GNLE environment, situated between cohorts geographically apart, allowed for a reimagining of the King and Baxter Magolda Intercultural Maturity Model to A Jazz Orientation of the Three-Dimensional Developmental Trajectory of the Intercultural Maturity Model.

In seeking to further exploration on the relationship between jazz improvisation and creativity, this study describes the pedagogical beliefs and practices utilized by jazz educators for the teaching of improvisation as a creative process. Improvisation has been an integral feature of the jazz performance tradition for well over a century. However, the field of creativity studies has only recently come to recognize improvisation as a site for the creative process. While the jazz performance tradition has traditionally operated with a more collaborative and community-based pedagogical model based on various playing opportunities such as apprenticeships and participation at local jam sessions, the growth of jazz courses and degree programs has raised questions on the efficacy of current teaching practices within academia. The following central research question guided this study: What is the relationship between jazz improvisation and creativity? A qualitative methodology served as a theoretical underpinning for framing two supportive research questions: (1) What pedagogical beliefs do jazz educators hold in how they conceptualize improvisation as a creative process? (2) What are the pedagogical practices utilized by jazz educators in teaching improvisation as a creative process? This study utilized Moustakas’ transcendental, phenomenological research design and defined the phenomenon as the process of teaching jazz improvisation. Seven expert jazz educators situated in a variety of teaching contexts throughout Northern California were selected as participants using purposeful, snowball sampling strategies. Twenty themes emerged and were organized through four features of improvised music found across a variety of genres: creative, spontaneous, social, and accessible. These findings challenge de-socialized ways of teaching and learning creativity and add to the knowledge base on the teaching beliefs and practices of jazz educators within the fields of creativity, jazz, and music education. In providing valid data through semi-structured interviews, observations of the participants in a teaching context, and documents such as syllabi, student handouts, and music recordings, this study is intended to inform jazz educators and academics of the importance of collaborative, fully-immersed learning opportunities for the development of the skills needed for jazz improvisation.

Saxophonist Chris Cheek has been a reference for his work as a sideman with some of the most established jazz artists in the international jazz scene of the last twenty-five years. Despite his importance, there is lack of detail in the available publications about Cheek. The short length and journalistic character of the publications only produce surface descriptions of Cheek's style. There is a need to further describe the melodic elements present in Chris Cheek's style in order to have a better understanding of the implications and importance of these elements across the history of jazz saxophone and jazz pedagogy. In the past, several scholarly works have described the improvisational styles of jazz musicians using a multitude of analytical tools. The design of those studies often fails to provide a comprehensive view of the improviser's style because of the limited scope of the analyzed sources or the specific focus of the analysis. This analytical study presents a comprehensive view of Chris Cheek's style through the motivic and voice-leading analyses of six improvisations by the saxophonist. This design allows the study to discern between motivic development processes, melodic structures, formulaic material, and harmonic structures that belong to the saxophonist's idiom. By presenting the elements in Cheek's style, this study is able to show the importance of motivic and voice-leading coherence in jazz pedagogy as well as the importance of Cheek's style as a reference for lyricism.

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While the concept of teaching jazz style to vocal students is not a new one, previous materials written on the subject have not addressed two important aspects of this process. One is the concept of selecting jazz vocal solo repertoire that is both musically and vocally purposeful and appropriate for the student. The other is how to teach stylistic concepts that will apply to both current repertoire as well as songs the student will learn in the future. This doctoral essay provides both a categorized list of solo jazz vocal repertoire as well as strategies for introducing stylistic elements of jazz into the private-lesson setting. Through a systematic analysis of jazz vocal standards, a list of repertoire selections was categorized by rhythmic style, melodic range, melodic harmony, melodic rhythm, and harmonic content. In addition, the stylistic need to add syncopations to swing songs with non-syncopated melodies was addressed. Suggestions are included on how to implement this categorized list in the music selection process for students. Furthermore, this essay provides jazz voice teachers with strategies to efficiently incorporate important aspects of jazz styles such as rhythmic feel, song form, improvisation, and harmony into the lesson setting. By showing connections between these concepts and the literature that is being taught, students can become more competent and confident within the vocal and stylistic elements of the jazz idiom.

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