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Jazz Certificate/Minor

The School of Music offers MU undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue the following credentials in jazz, America’s original musical art form:

  • Jazz Studies Certificate (for BA and BM music majors, and BSEd music education majors)
  • Jazz Studies Minor (for students majoring in any other field)

Areas of study include performance and improvisation, jazz history, jazz theory, and arranging. The Certificate and Minor are not intended for beginners; rather, they are for students with basic musical knowledge. Hence, some of the required courses have pre-requisites, and auditions are required both for ensembles and for admission to the programs.

A live audition can be accomplished one of three ways:

  • As part of an audition during one of the Mizzou Music Days
  • By appointment
  • During scheduled audition hours the first week of each semester

Entrance into the program is contingent on successful admission into the University.

Jazz Studies Certificate

The Certificate in Jazz Studies is a 12-hour (minimum) program and open to students majoring in music or music education. The certificate can be usually completed in two to three semesters without interrupting the normal plan of study.

Course Requirements (student must pass with a ‘C’ or higher):

  • Music 4645: Jazz Improvisation (2 credits)
  • Music 4210: Jazz Harmony and Arranging I (2 credits)
  • Music 4211: Jazz Harmony and Arranging II (2 credits)
  • Music 4317: Historical Studies in Jazz and Popular Music (3 credits)
  • Music 1620: Jazz Piano Class (1 credit)
  • Music 1841/1846: Jazz Ensembles (2 credits)
    • One semester of large jazz ensemble
    • One semester of small jazz combo

 

Jazz Studies Minor

The Minor in Jazz Studies is a 15-hour (minimum) program and open to students with a major outside music or music education.

Course Requirements (student must pass with a ‘C’ or higher):

  • Music 4645: Jazz Improvisation (2 credits)
  • Music 4210: Jazz Harmony and Arranging I (2 credits)
  • Music 4211: Jazz Harmony and Arranging II (2 credits)
  • Music 1311: Jazz, Pop, and Rock (3 credits)
  • Music 1620: Jazz Piano Class (1 credit)
  • Music 1841/1846: Jazz Ensembles (2 credits)
    • One semester of large jazz ensemble
    • One semester of small jazz combo
  • Music 2445: Studio Instruction or additional hours in Jazz Ensembles (3 credits)

 

Audition Requirements

Instrumentalists (other than drummers):

  • Prepare one jazz standard and one blues in the key of your choice, improvising on each piece.
  • Provide your own accompaniment (Aebersold or other play-along CD).

Drummers:

  • Perform the following grooves at the prescribed tempos:
    • Swing at 120 bpm
    • Double-Time Swing at 240 bpm
    • Bossa Nova at 100 bpm
    • Samba (double-time bossa nova) at 100 bpm (half-note)
    • Funk/Hiphop at 100 bpm
    • Ballad (with brushes) at 80 bpm
    • Alternating four (4) measures swing with four (4) measures solo at 120 bpm

Vocalists:

  • Prepare one medium up-tempo jazz standard and one ballad, no more than one chorus of each.
  • Provide your own piano accompaniment (Aebersold or other play-along CD).

In addition, all students interested in the jazz certificate or minor will be required to take a written jazz theory exam. The exams are scheduled the first week of classes each semester.

Standards are generally defined as songs from the “Great American Songbook” (composers like Gershwin, Kern, Porter, Rodgers, Hart, et al.). The definition of ‘standard’ has expanded to include famous jazz pieces written and performed by jazz artists like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and others.

Standards may include, but are not limited to the following tunes. You may select any tune you wish that qualifies as a jazz standard based on the definition above:

  • All the Things You Are
  • Blue Bossa
  • All Blues
  • There Will Never Be Another You
  • A Foggy Day
  • Have You Met Miss Jones
  • Summertime
  • On Green Dolphin Street
  • Just Friends
  • Stella by Starlight
  • There is No Greater Love
  • The Song Is You

For more detailed information, or to schedule an audition, contact the Director of Jazz Studies, Dr. Arthur White at whitear@missouri.edu or 573-882-3430.