The purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate a comprehensive first semester college jazz improvisation curriculum. Specific problems concerning the evaluation of the curriculum were, (a) to assess achievement in music theory fundamentals, (b) to assess achievement in jazz listening, (c) to assess improvement in jazz improvisation performance, (d) to assess student attitudes toward jazz improvisation and the curriculum. Based on the findings, the conclusions were as follows students benefited from the study of jazz improvisation, utilizing the developed curriculum, in the areas of, (1) knowledge of music fundamentals, namely, chord spelling, scale spelling and harmonic analysis; (2) identification of jazz tunes, composers, musical forms and prominent jazz performers; (3) improvisation performance in a jazz style, and (4) positive attitude toward improvement in jazz improvisation.

This thesis is about composing music which originates from the possibilities of the voice. With the different qualities of the voice in focus one can discover how the musical choices you make have a direct impact on the direction and meaning of the music itself. The purpose of this project is to deepen the understanding of the voice as an instrument and further uncover how to use the qualities of the voice as inspiration in composing music and lyrics. By mapping the qualities of the voice I realized how techniques, sounds, expressions and skills are connected and was able to create an artistic framework on which I could base my compositions. I wrote five new compositions, all with different vocal focus points. As a result, I discovered how my extended awereness of my instrument contributed to the energy and direction throughout the concert performance of the compositions.

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.

xxv, 492 p. ： music / This study applies Schenkerian theory to Chet Baker's jazz improvisations in order to uncover the melodic, harmonic, and contrapuntal hallmarks of his style. Analyses of short excerpts taken from multiple recorded improvisations reveal Baker's improvisational vocabulary, which includes recurring underlying structures that Baker embellishes in a wide variety of ways and places in a wide variety of harmonic contexts. These analyses also explore other traits (rhythmic, timbral, etc.) that appear in Baker's improvisations throughout his career. The dissertation culminates in three illustrative analyses that demonstrate the ways in which Baker constructs single, unified improvisations by masterfully controlling the long-range voice-leading tendencies of his improvised lines. As he weaves his vocabulary into these lines, he creates improvisations that unfold in a way that is logical, satisfying in the fulfillment of expectations, and motivically cohesive on multiple levels of structure. / Committee in charge: Steve Larson， Co-Chair； Jack Boss， Co-Chair； Stephen Rodgers， Member Anne Dhu McLucas Member； George Rowe， Outside Member； Timothy Clarke， External Contributing Member

The purpose of this study was to develop and test systematically a theoretical model that delineated the constructs and subsumed variables of jazz improvisation performance. The specific research questions were; what specific performance variables are related to single line jazz solo improvisation performance? and; what is the most cogent groupings of variables into underlying constructs which characterize single line jazz solo improvisation performances for all performers, student performers, and professional performers?

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This study examines the evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's scat syllable vocabulary during a key developmental period in her career when she was recording for Decca Records. Between 1943 and 1952, Fitzgerald established the syllabic vocabulary that would serve as a defining characteristic of her improvisational style for the rest of her career. Fitzgerald is commonly praised as the greatest vocal improviser in jazz history, but while much has been written about Fitzgerald's melodic and harmonic approach to jazz improvisation, little has been written about her syllabic approach. Timbre and articulation are considered to be vital elements of any jazz musician's style; the study examines the changes in Ella Fitzgerald's syllabic approach through transcription and analyses of thirteen scat solos recorded during this time period, using scat syllable choices to discuss timbre and articulation. This analysis provides a model for further research of its kind, as well as informing historically accurate performance practice by both teachers and students of jazz singing.

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.

Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard und Booker Little, alle 1938 geboren, gelten als stilprägende Trompeter des Modern Jazz um 1960. Ausgehend vom Trompetenspiel Dizzy Gillespies, Miles Davis’ und Clifford Browns in den 1950er Jahren werden in der vorliegenden Studie anhand aufwendig angefertigter Transkriptionen ausgewählter Trompetensoli improvisatorische Eigenheiten Morgans, Hubbards und Littles aus der Zeit um 1960 aufgezeigt. Dabei werden als methodische Besonderheit die Spielweisen jeweils im Blues, in Balladen sowie bei Stücken im Uptempo miteinander verglichen. Eigenkompositionen finden ebenso Berücksichtigung wie die Aktivitäten der drei Trompeter als Sidemen. So entstehen umfassende musikalische Porträts von Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard und Booker Little in einer besonders bewegten Phase der Jazzgeschichte. / Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Booker Little, all born in 1938, are considered style-defining trumpeters of the modern jazz era around 1960. Based on the trumpet playing of Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Clifford Brown in the 1950s, the present study uses elaborate transcriptions of selected trumpet solos to illustrate the improvisational characteristics of Morgan, Hubbard and Little from around 1960. As a methodological peculiarity, the playing styles in the genres of blues, ballad and in uptempo pieces are compared. Original compositions are taken into account as well as the activities of the three trumpeters as sidemen. Thus, comprehensive musical portraits of Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Booker Little emerge in a particularly turbulent phase of jazz history.

Jazz improvisation provides a case context for examining information in music; entropy provides a means for representing music for retrieval. Entropy measures are shown to distinguish between different improvisations on the same theme, thus demonstrating their potential for representing jazz information for analysis and retrieval. The calculated entropy measures are calibrated against human representation by means of a case study of an advanced jazz improvisation course, in which synonyms for "entropy" are frequently used by the instructor. The data sets are examined for insights in music information retrieval, music information behavior, and music representation.