Music of George Gershwin
For the Austin Jazz Workshop Concert this Friday.
Learn more about the Music of George Gershwin
On Friday, January 8, Kiker 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students will be hearing a performance of the Austin Jazz Workshop. They will feature the music of an important 20th century composer, George Gershwin. Here is a way to learn a bit more about this composer. Below is a link to a biographical web page.
Answer a few questions.
After reading through the biography web site, answer a few questions about him.
George Gershwin on Film
Below is a film with George Gershwin performing one of his hits--I Got Rhythm.
Gershwin play I Got Rhythm (full)
Jazz music uses something called "Improvisation".
In the video above, Gershwin is playing is song as he wrote it. However, he is also adding some improvised parts. What is improvisation? Here is a video with Jazz pianist Billy Taylor explaining musical improvisation. Watch the video.
How Jazz Musicians Improvise - Billy Taylor
Now, what do you know about improvisation?
Answer the next question after viewing the Billy Taylor video.
What is The Austin Jazz Workshop?
This group performs at every elementary school in Austin ISD each year. To find out a bit more about this amazing group, go to the web site below.