Course Syllabus

WELCOME to the 2020-2021 WELLESLEY HIGH SCHOOL TWO O'CLOCK JAZZ BAND

Director, Mr. Steven Scott • Intensives: Alice Cook, Monica Duan, Alex Feinberg, Anjali Jain, Lin Jin, Alex Kim, Connor McDonald, Aleksandr Samarin, Weini Xue

 

Last Year’s Highlights: Hunchback of Notre Dame (Fall Musical) • Pep Band • Districts & All-State • Fall Concerts • Winter Band Step-Up Concert • 2:00 Jazz Band earns Gold Medal at MAJE Jazz Fest @ Reading HS • Wind Ensemble virtual performance of "Suite Divertimento" by Jay Gilbert • WHS Bands, Jazz Bands, Orchestras and Choruses collaborate with Air Traffic Controller for virtual performance of "Blame" for GRAMMY MusicCares COVID-19 Relief Fund ... over 4000 YouTube plays • "Blame" Virtual Performance played on air on 88.9 WERS Mornings with George Knight Show • WHS & WMS Choruses, Bands, Jazz Bands and Orchestras collaborate for massive virtual performance of "Oye Como Va" by Tito Puente

 

About

The Wellesley High School Two O’Clock Jazz Band is one of two auditioned instrumental jazz groups at WHS. All musicians in these bands also perform in the WHS Concert Band or Wind Ensemble. Many of them also perform in the Masterworks Orchestra and Pit Orchestra. The WHS Two O’Clock Jazz Band has been a consistent gold medal recipient at a number of area festivals, and has four-times been named one of the fifteen finalists nationally in the prestigious Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival in Lincoln Center, NYC with master classes from internationally acclaimed jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. The Two O’Clock Jazz Band has also three times placed first at the Berklee College of Music Jazz Festival in Boston. In 2011, they were selected as one of three public school big bands nationally for the Charles Mingus Competition at the Manhattan School of Music. Over the years, students in the Wellesley Jazz Program have worked with guest performing artists, clinicians and had master classes with: Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Justin DiCioccio, Herb Pomeroy, Tiger Okoshi, Greg Hopkins and the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra, Victor Goines, Byron Stripling, Rodney Whitaker, Ron Carter, Walter Blanding, Jim Snidero, Joe Foley, The Kenny Haddley Big Band, Dino Govoni and Trent Austin. Wellesley’s jazz band curriculum presents students with composers and pieces from throughout the history of jazz and in a wide variety of styles. This year the band is studying and preparing tunes by jazz composers from Buddy Rich to Charles Mingus to Miles Davis and Duke Ellington, and in styles from Swing to Salsa to Bop.

 

Welcome Message to Students and Parents

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the WHS Two O'Clock Jazz Band. I want to applaud and commend you all for maintaining a place for music in your lives. We all need music more than ever before. Our friends, family and community need your musical voice more than ever before. You have something important and special to share with those around you that can help make their lives better, and in turn yours as well. From the earliest videos back in March of people singing "together" on balconies in Italy, to the many "virtual performances" that ensembles (like ours) assembled during the Spring, to the innumerable social media posts and live streams from many of the worlds most popular artists, we can clearly see that music has a very special way it can comfort and connect us even when we are physically apart. We have been apart for a long time and need this feeling of meaning and connection. Music has a power to soothe and heal. By pursuing your study of music you will help yourself and each other. Gradually over the course of this Fall and our year, we will seek to bring our music to the community to help soothe, heal and connect with others.

For now, how we do jazz band will be different than it is normally. I am very committed to finding creative ways to make our experience as jazz band students musically challenging and inspiring. There is much that we can do right now to challenge and enrich ourselves as instrumental musicians, and I am confident we can all become better players and musicians through the various modes of musical study we will employ this year. I am also very committed to assuring that every student is getting what they need from this experience – whether we are remote, hybrid, or taking part in the RLS – I want to find a way to bring every member of our instrumental Band Family to our eventual return to "normal" when we can all finally play together as a band again. If you are a senior who has plans to major in music, or an incoming freshmen who enjoys making music with your friends in jazz band I want to hear from you what you need from music and from your band experience this year. As the year progresses I will be keeping an eye on the state and national guidelines for making music safely in person. I will also be closely watching how we do as a band and as a school and hope to gradually introduce safe ways we can play our instruments in person – gradual baby steps. For now, we will be working hard on our musicianship training in person while our instrumental practice and recording will be done safely at home. Much more on this will be covered in class.

 

SmartMusic

This year, all WHS & WMS bands and jazz bands will be employing a powerful piece of music software called SmartMusic (free of charge). SmartMusic is a web-based suite of music education tools that support efficient practice, helping musicians to develop and grow. It has an extensive PDF library of method books, solo pieces, band and jazz bandrepertoire at a variety of levels and styles. The software can provide students with their sheet music parts on screen, an adjustable metronome to play along with, full ensemble accompaniment track (as if you are playing along with the band), on-screen highlighting to visually guide students through their music, and it can listen and give clear and accurate feedback on how you are doing with regard to pitch and timing. Students can also record and submit assigned excerpts of their band parts to their teacher. We will start our year by getting oriented with SmartMusic and gradually getting ourselves comfortable using it. Then as we move to our hybrid learning format we will gradually add a wider variety of in-person musical activities while SmartMusic will continue to be used as our asynchronous remote work to be done at home on our instruments.

Learn more about SmartMusic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_lRZBSo_zU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU3-idBL76U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lVuFqrKRAw

 

In-Person/Synchronous Learning

As we progress to hybrid learning, our in-person classes will gradually add a variety of musicianship training modes and activities. These activities will include (more to be added as the year progresses)...

• JAZZ RHYTHM & RESTS - reading, counting and performance (swing, Latin, etc.).
• JAZZ THEORY - keys, scales, intervals, chords, form & structure.
• JAZZ LISTENING - expanding our knowledge of great repertoire, great bands and combos, and significant artists and band leaders.
• JAZZ HISTORY - musical periods and developments in various regions and genres.
• PERSONAL INFLUENCES & INSPIRATION - students will gradually assemble a journal of musical influences and "heroes" that inspire them. What inspires you to want to play your horn?

 

Remote Learning Tips for Students
https://create.piktochart.com/output/48752936-whs-remote-learning-tips

 

Lessons

All Jazz Band members should be taking weekly private lessons. Information about our IVEP Lessons can be found here:
https://wellesleyps.org/performingarts/ivep

 

Districts & All-State

This year's MMEA Districts and All-State auditions will be submitted via video recording. We are part of the MMEA Eastern District.

*DISTRICTS info can be found at: https://mmeaeasterndistrict.org

*ALL-STATE info can be found under “Auditions” at: http://massmea.org

 

Practice

A minimum of 4 hours of individual (home) practice per week is required of all WHS Instrumental Students. Your practice will be assessed and graded through your work in SmartMusic. Find your way to make this effective and fun! Most successful members of this ensemble practice much more than 4 hours per week. Remember, “time on horn” is the reason the pros sound like they do.

 

Sectionals & Combo Rehearsals

As this year progresses, we hope to gradually introduce small sectional and jazz combo rehearsals when possible. Local, state and national guidelines will be strictly adhered to, and the capacity of our spaces (indoor/outdoor) will also dictate what we can do. More on this as the year moves forward.

 

Additional Equipment

Everyone needs: headphones/earbuds for all in-person classes, SmartMusic account (to be provided by WHS Performing Arts in class – students do not need to purchase this), and download free metronome & tuner apps for your smartphone.

Trumpet and trombone players must own a straight mute (Tom Crown) and a cup mute (Dennis Wick). Jazz plungers for trumpet (4 ½”) and trombonists (7”), and jazz trumpet players often need a Harmon mute (Jo-Ral Bubble) and a pixie mute (Humes & Berg). Horn players must also own a Humes & Berg mute. **Please get these specific brands/models. Others’ sound will not match.

Percussionists must own a drum key, stick bag and at least 2B sticks. Jazz Drummers should own a drum key, brushes and 5A sticks.

Jazz Guitarists & Bassists must own and always bring their own patch cords and electronic tuner every day. For all gigs and festivals they should always bring an extension cord and power strip (you never know where your power supply is coming from), extra strings, picks, a small screw driver, small allen wrench set, and needle nose pliers. Make this your "daily carry" and you'll never get caught unprepared. Learn to handle minor repairs quickly.

 

Grading

Performances (including recorded virtual performances) - 25%

Music is a form of communication and is meant to be shared and celebrated. Performances represent the culmination of performing arts studies in the manner a final exam does for a science or history class. We will be assembling a variety of video virtual performances this year to share with our community. One example of our prior virtual performances can be heard in the link at the top, and also here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN6Kx742MwE

 

Daily Preparation and Class Participation (in-person & Zoom meetings) - 50%

Be active and engaged whenever we are meeting together – in person or in Zoom meetings. This portion of the student's grade will also include group-assessment activities after recorded SmartMusic assignments and virtual concerts. Students will hand in written evaluations of the group's progress done during class in response to recordings of the concerts.

 

SmartMusic Assignments - 25%

This portion of students' grades will include recorded excerpts from students' band music and other SmartMusic assignments. Students will submit their recorded assignments via the app.

 

About the Director

Steven Scott has been teaching instrumental music, songwriting and music technology at Wellesley High School for the past twenty-three years. Ensembles under Mr. Scott's direction have received state and national recognition—performing at venues including Boston Symphony Hall, Mechanics Hall in Worcester, the Boston Hatch Shell, Fenway Park, Berklee Performance Center, Manhattan School of Music, and at Lincoln Center with master classes from Wynton Marsalis. Ensemble accolades include consistent gold medal ratings at MICCA Concert Band Festivals and MAJE Jazz Festivals, regularly placing top three at the Berklee Jazz Festival including three times placing 1st, being named a National Finalist for the Charles Mingus High School Competition, and four times a National Finalist in the Essentially Ellington Competition. Mr. Scott has also served as a Teaching Associate at Boston University teaching music technology and instrumental repertoire. He and the WHS Wind Ensemble have been featured performers at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association All-State Conference where Mr. Scott has also been a music technology presenter in the past. Mr. Scott has taken part in a number of music education conferences and has had master conducting classes with Herb Pomeroy and Peter Loel Boonshaft. He earned a B.S. in Music Education from The College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y. where he was named the Theodore Presser Scholar, and a M.A. in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with composers Sidney Hodkinson and Fred Sturm. He is currently completing a second masters degree in Music Production at Berklee College of Music.

Students in the Wellesley Band Program begin instrumental lessons in 4th grade in our after-school Extension Lesson program. All lessons take place at WHS or WMS, and meet for a half-hour once per week. As students progress they join the Wellesley All-Town Band taught by Ms. Julie Verret and Mr. Dave Adams. All-Town Band meets weekly as separate groups in each of our seven elementaries, and then once per month as a full ensemble. At Wellesley Middle School students advance to the 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Bands all of which are also taught by Mr. Adams during the school day. At the end of the 8th grade all students may enroll in the WHS Concert Band and some advanced players are recommended to audition for the Wind Ensemble.