Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In this article, jazz music is used as a lens through which early childhood music pedagogy is viewed, specifically thinking about swing and improvisation—the listening and responding to what is heard and seen, and the openness to possibility. These two concepts are defined by prominent jazz musicians and are traced in the child development literature as inherent ways of relating both to both music and others. Practice that involves finding innovative and mutually supportive ways to share musical space creates opportunities for collective growth; attending to the spaces between thematic, predetermined structures creates opportunities to observe and engage with spontaneous moments of musical innovation. Such an approach to teaching and learning suggests a theoretical framework attuned to the connections between jazz and childhood development that translates to artistically authentic classroom strategies relevant to students. Direct and indirect implications are offered.

Keywords

jazz music early childhood pedagogy education

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Armstrong, L. (1936/1999). What is swing? In R. Walser (Ed.), Keeping time: Readings in jazz history (pp. 73-76). New York: Oxford University Press.

Berliner, P.F. (1994). Thinking in jazz. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Berliner, D. (2001). Give and take: The collective conversation of jazz performance. In K. Sawyer (Ed.), Creativity in performance (pp. 9-41). Greenwich, CT : Ablex.

Bjørkvold, J. (1989). The muse within: Creativity, communication, song, and play from childhood through maturity. New York: HarperCollins.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding flow: The psychology of engagement in everyday life. New York: Basic Books .

Custodero, L.A. (1998). Observing flow in young children's music learning . General Music Today, 12(1), 21-27.

Custodero, L. (2002). Seeking challenge, finding skill: Flow experience and music education. Arts Education Policy Review, 103(3), 3-9.

Custodero, L.A. (2005). Observable indicators of flow experience: A developmental perspective of musical engagement in young children from infancy to school age. Music Education Research, 7(2), 185-209.

10.

Custodero, L.A. (2008, July). Responsive pedagogy: The influences of infants and young children on adult music teaching and performance. Symposium conducted at the International Society of Music Education World Conference, Bologna, Italy.

11.

Custodero, L.A. (in press-a). Intimacy and reciprocity in improvisatory musical performance: Pedagogical lessons from adult artists and young children. In S. Malloch & C. Trevarthen (Eds.), Communicative musicality. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

12.

Custodero, L.A. (in press-b). Musical portraits, musical pathways: Stories of meaning making in the lives of six families. In J. Kerchner and C. Abril (Eds.), Music learning and teaching throughout our lives. New York : Rowman and Littlefield.

13.

Field, T. (1998). Maternal depression effects on infants and early interventions. Preventive Medicine, 27(2), 200-203.

14.

Harris-Kelley, D. (2004). Revisitng Romare Bearden's art of improvisation . In R. O'Mealley , B. H. Edwards , & F. J. Griffin (Eds.), Uptown conversation: The new jazz studies (pp. 249-255). New York: Columbia University Press.

15.

Marsalis, W. (1995). Marsalis on music. New York : W. W. Norton.

16.

Moorhead, G. , & Pond, D. (1978). Music of young children. Santa Barbara, CA: Pillsbury Foundation for the Advancement of Music Education. (Reprinted from the 1941-1951 editions)

17.

O'Meally, R. (1998). Preface. In The jazz cadence of American culture (pp. ix-xvi). New York: Columbia University Press.

18.

Young, S. , & Giles, J. (2007). Towards a revised understanding of young children's musical activities: Reflections from the "day in the life" project. Current Musicology, 84, 79-99.

Living Jazz,Learning Jazz

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References