Improvising on Happy Birthday

Materials: handout, Kazoo (or other classroom instruments) for each student

1. Begin by having students read the paragraph on the accompanying handout. Ask students to give examples of improvisation in every day life. One of the most obvious examples would be a typical conversation with a friend. Demonstrate an “improvised” conversation with a student volunteer. Ask students if they know why you were able to converse without rehearsing. Explain that jazz is a language and that in jazz, like in normal conversation, we almost always improvise with other people. In order for us to understand each other, we must both know a common language.
2. Explain the “Three-by-Threes of Jazz Improvisation.”
3. Pass out Kazoos and pair students together. They will be using the song “Happy Birthday” to make up their own improvisations. Use the track below for this lessons. Students will be able to play along with the melody and then have four choruses of “Happy Birthday” during which to improvise. Note that this version is in 4/4 rather than the song’s usual meter of 3/4. You might want to lead the students in a round of “Happy Birthday” as they are used to so they can better feel the difference between the 3/4 and 4/4 versions.
   Happy Birthday (backing track)
4. With students in pairs, demonstrate and discuss the Three-by-Threes (the only ones that need demonstrating are a., b., and c. of the middle column, but be sure to address all of them). It works best to demonstrate one concept at a time and then give the students time to experiment with their partner. Be sure that the students are able to be comfortable with the melody and are able to find and keep the pulse throughout. Call and response with the students is a good tool for you to use as you demonstrate these concepts.
5. After students have practiced for awhile, have each student pair perform for the other students.
6. Another great way to get students used to using this concept and the musical devises explained in the “Three-by-Threes” is to use call and response. Whatever you do, make sure it is done in time and in the groove!
7. The recording below, “Bistro Blues” (from the Building the Blues lesson) is an added resource for you in this lesson. The melody is stated and then there are four choruses for your students to use to improvise. As before, they should be comfortable with the melody and keeping the pulse before they start to improvise.
   Bistro Blues (backing track)
8. Use the activity, “Putting it all together” on the accompanying handout to reinforce the vocabulary words used with this lesson. Answers are below:
1. VIBRATO
2. FORM
3. RESPONSE
4. RHYTHM
5. MELODY
6. GROOVE
7. TRILL
8. SLUR
9. SECTION