Aebersold’s Mediated Play-A-Long Pedagogy and the Invention of the Beginning Jazz Improvisation Student

Abstract

In this historical study, I present the emergence and evolution of Jamey Aebersold’s Play-A-Long volumes and their key role in bringing jazz improvisation to formal music education. Drawing on oral histories and using a framework from sound studies, I present chord-scales and pattern playing as Deweyan conceptual technologies that assist beginners in developing a mature technique. I recount how Aebersold learned these as a student of David Baker at Indiana University, then applied the idea through teaching improvisation with the Dorian mode over Davis’s “So What.” In 1967 Aebersold published volume 1, and the Play-A-Long evolved into a system over a dozen years as subsequent volumes included new scale types, like the blues scale; added idiomatic patterns; incorporated his new Scale Syllabus; and licensed standard repertoire. I then describe how these technologies imply the “soloist as such”: a generic model of learning improvisation as a process of learning tunes and tasks from simple to complex around a core unity of theory and performance. This model in particular addressed beginning improvisation and the slogan “Anyone Can Improvise.” Finally, I consider criticisms of the model, note that the chord-scale approach is Black music theory, and suggest future research.

Jazz Improvisation Pedagogy: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Beginning Jazz Improvisation Learning Environment for Middle School Instrumentalists

“…1 (Dunlap & Zisman, 2003) and Aebersold's (1992) "Song List for Beginners" (p. 57). Although several recognized jazz improvisation methods exist (see Aebersold, 1992;Baker, 1988Baker, , 1989Coker, 1964;Levine, 1995), Aebersold has most prominently addressed beginning improvisers through developing myriad resources, teaching beginners himself, and encouraging their development (Thibeault, 2022).…”

Music Education on YouTube and the Challenges of Platformization

“…The potential to interact, share, like, and comment sets platformized music education on YouTube apart from prior pedagogical products such as play-along recordings (Thibeault 2022) and similar media. Critically examining teaching and learning on YouTube requires more than just looking at the actions of the teachers and learners; the platform's influence and position must be considered.…”