John Kao

John Kao: A Pathway of Improvisation

John Kao A Pathway of Improvisation By Ella Wilcox This article first appeared in the October 2021 issue of Teaching Music. Thought leader John Kao finds that music fosters creativity,…

choir

Group Improvisation in the Choral Rehearsal

Group Improvisation in the Choral Rehearsal Three Improvisation Paradigms By NAfME Member Christopher L. Clark, PhD Chris Clark presented on “Group Improvisation in the Choral Rehearsal” during the NAfME 2021…

guitar advocacy

Best Practices for the Guitar Classroom

Best Practices for the Guitar Classroom Using Moveable Major Scales for Improvisation By Jayson Martinez, NAfME Council for Guitar Education Eastern Division Representative   Guitar teachers who wish to include…

Male And Female Students wearing black shirts and pants Singing In Choir

Creative Expression through Free Improvisation

Creative Expression through Free Improvisation   Increase Creativity, Connection, and Communication   By NAfME member Carole Ott Coelho and Tadeu Coelho Free improvisation has been shown to increase creativity, connection,…

improvisation

Intimidating Improvisation Simplified

Intimidating Improvisation Simplified Focus on the Blues By NAfME Member Sarin Williams   Like many music educators today, my background was strictly in classical music—until I sought out an independent…

improvising

The Beginner’s Guide to Improvising

The Beginner’s Guide to Improvising A Three-Step Process for your Beginner Jazz Students By NAfME Member Richard Grennor This article originally appeared on “Dr. Grennor’s Music Academy” blog.   There…

improvisation

Building Better Improvisers

Building Better Improvisers Dedicating Class Time to Improvisation? By NAfME Member Dr. Russell Ballenger   I know, I know—“But our concert is in a couple weeks, and we need every…

Call and Response: Teaching Jazz Improvisation

Call and Response Teaching Jazz Improvisation By NAfME Members Bob Habersat and Paul Levy   Teaching improvisation in a school setting is often the biggest challenge for a jazz band…