The purpose of this action research was to document the musical achievement of students learning to compose and improvise in a middle school jazz band. Research questions guiding this study were: (1) What effect does learning to compose a blues melody have on students' improvisation achievement? (2) In what ways do learning to compose a blues melody influence student perspective of improvising? and (3) What is the relationship between students' compositional and improvisational achievement in a middle school jazz band? I obtained quantitative and qualitative data to gain a detailed understanding of students' experiences and my teaching practice in a natural rehearsal setting. Using a teacher-researcher created learning plan, students recorded pre- and post-test improvisations over the standard 12-bar blues form, wrote original blues melodies, and completed an exit survey detailing their perspective of the learning process over 15 regularly scheduled rehearsals. My field notes and in-depth review of three rehearsal videos provided a basis for me to richly describe my practices, as well as students' experiences improvising, composing, collaborating, and being creative together. Conclusions drawn from this study included: (a) students made meaningful musical connections when improvising and composing in the same musical context; (b) composing and revising an original blues melody encouraged students to compare the processes of composing and improvising, which may have improved students' improvisation achievement; and (c) composition and improvisation are mutually beneficial processes that may help students develop stronger overall musicianship skills
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest, 2017
