9 Tips for the Online Jazz Educator

Hard to believe it was only a couple of months ago that the Spring 2020 concert and festival season was about to launch! Your ensembles were on the brink of blossoming into their best and you were looking forward to the musical rewards of all your hard work.

Then out of the blue, everything changed. The world came to a halt, your school closed, and the music stopped. Who could've foreseen at the time that by mid-March the world would turn on its ear and you'd be in your pajamas half the day, spending most of your creative time angsting over how it would be possible to move your entire curriculum online.

With no training or experience, it seemed like an unachievable goal. You barely knew how to work your Apple TV remote much less negotiate platforms like Zoom, Skype, and Google Drive, or locate, learn, and create teaching methods that work with the sea of online teaching tools available, plus all the tech that goes along with them. And perhaps the biggest challenge was in how to teach what you know how to teach, adapting your methods and style to this new unfamiliar format. You never signed up for all of this.

But, by now you've survived your first attempts at teaching online and have seen a few glimmers of light. Congratulations on what you're achieved so far! You are a hero for helping your students through this challenging time. And, hopefully you're ready to dig a little deeper into this new realm, transforming what started as an unwanted challenge into a satisfying win for you and your students!

Here are a few tips to help you move up to the next level:

1. If you can teach in the classroom, you can teach online.

You are the common denominator. Trust that the motivated-you will find a way to utilize online resources to get the job done with some creative thought and workarounds.

2. Shelve the idea of a live performance ensemble.

Yes it's sad, but due to latency (and other factors,) it's not viable for musicians in different remote locations to interact musically at the same time. But, you can turn ensemble classes into labs for building skills and better musicianship, which in turn will help you build a stronger ensemble in the fall!

3. Most topics taught in the classroom can be taught online.

Aside from ensembles, you can pretty much teach whatever you want: technique, styles, expression, song styling, jazz improvisation, listening and analysis, theory, rhythmic work, ear training, sight reading, music history and traditions, and so on.

4. First decide what you want to teach , then creatively figure out how to teach it .

This is where it gets fun because there are a bazillion tech tools at your disposal. For example here are a few very useful options built directly into the Zoom platform:

Chat allows for private or public messages between teacher and class members or individual students. One application for example is to run quick quizzes: you ask the questions, students type in private responses, and you can keep a record of it for grading if needed.

Share Screen allows you to simply share your screen, so any app or website you can call up on your computer can be used in a lesson. You can show PDFs and point to specifics on the page, listen to music YouTube, analyze the changes to a standard tune, and so on.

Whiteboard allows you to draw things on screen. Think musical notes, rhythms, terms, musical symbols, lists of any kind, homework assignments, etc.

Break Rooms allow you to divide students into small groups for projects or team work of any kind.

5. Hand signals are your friend.

From day one, establish hand signals to facilitate quick and clear communication with your students. A primary goal in online teaching is to break the sense of isolation! (Make sure everyone's hand is visible on camera.) Some examples:

• Thumbs up = yes, ok, I liked it, I understand.
• Flat palm down = no, not ok, I didn't like it, I don't understand.
• Flat palm facing camera = Teacher direction to stop or pause.
• Finger pointing to ear = Teacher direction to listen.

6. For performance activities, students need the ability to play an accompaniment in their location.

Want to work with soloists in class? Or hear individuals on a certain exercise? It's very workable to teach in a master class format, providing each soloist has an accompaniment on hand. The student's backing track should be played on a different component than what they use to access the class; usually a smartphone works well. You can offer comments and artistic direction just as you would in a traditional class: have your student sing or play, then pause (ask them to watch for your hand signals), then restart again after comments.

7. Listening activities work.

Guided listening is a great way to spend time in the online classroom. And what a luxury, to get to spend quality time sharing with your students the music that you love and know will enliven them too! Guide them in activities for strategic listening—the instrumentation, arrangement, key, tempo, rhythmic style, tone, expression, phrasing, and so on.

8. Step up your prep!

Somehow, you can get away with having a little bit of idle time in between activities when you're in the traditional classroom. But not so much online. Lapses can occur when for example you're searching for a certain track or PDF on your computer—it can be awkward in an online class. It's worth your time to prep ahead by writing a class outline so you know what the order of activities will be, and to make sure your materials (recordings, PDFs, websites, etc.) are ready to roll before class.

9. Utilize the plethora of online tools and resources!

It can really be a pleasure to find new cool tools (websites and apps) to use with your classes! Spend time Googling this to discover new options as there are many. Here is a sampling of useful apps or sites:

• AnyTune
• TimeStretch Player
• Virtually Vocal
• Shazam
• SmartMusic
• Sight Reading Factory
• iRealPro, ScatAbility
• MusicTheory.net