Jazz is my forte. Yet in my entire career I have worked with small – sometimes tiny – jazz bands. I have started jazz bands from scratch several times. Here are four strategies for working with a small jazz band.
#1 – Jamie Aebersold Play-Alongs
These have been around at least since the 1980s when I was in high school. It used to be LP Records, then CDs; now they are digital and online. These play-alongs have a recorded rhythm section that repeats a lot so you can practice improvisation. I have even used this as the accompaniment for very small jazz bands with no rhythm section. I just started a jazz band this year. We use play-alongs. Here’s a link. You can also search for “Name of song” + backing track on Youtube to find free rhythm section backing tracks.
#2 – Combos With 2-3 Parts
This works if you have a great rhythm section. The minimum for a rhythm section is a set player and a bass player. If you have just these 2, you can make anything else work, especially if you have at least one of each instrument.
#3 – Wall Of Sound Arrangements
These are arrangements in which almost all instruments are playing at the same time. If you look at the score closely, a lot of doubling is happening. The bari sax is playing the same thing as the trombone. The 4th trumpet is playing the same thing as the 2nd tenor sax. In many advanced jazz band arrangements, every single individual has their own unique part. These usually don’t work well for programs in development as those arrangements sometimes feature the trumpet section for 16 measures, then the sax section, then the trombone section. The Wall of Sound arrangements feature everyone throughout the entire song. Many of these arrangements will also include parts for flute, Horn in F, baritone, and clarinet.
Don’t be afraid to ask students to double. Some of my best tenor players were actually clarinet doublers. I’ve also had a lot of success with flute players on trombone.
#4 – Improvise. A lot!
Call and Response. Start simple – make it harder as the students get better. Start with 2 notes. Keep adding notes until you have the entire scale. Teach them a blues scale. Improvise over 12 bar blues. Check out my curriculum Jazz From The Start.
Scales. Scales. More scales. Until they feel like a fish!
James is retired from full time teaching. He has served private, suburban, and Title 1 schools and now teaches half time at a charter school. Find out more about James at www.jamesdivine.net Subscribe to his podcast Almost Everything I’ve Learned About Teaching Band.
Have you ever wanted to teach improvisation to ALL students but you weren’t sure how? Check out www.jazzfromthestart.com for a curriculum to teach improv as soon as students know 5 notes.
Pre-order a copy of my latest book, Almost Everything I’ve Learned About Teaching Band coming out June 2025.