Dynamic Teaching Ideas for Music Theory and Jazz in the Intermediate Years

Judith Bell –  Dynamic Teaching Ideas for Music Theory and Jazz in the Intermediate Years 

Join the Wellington Branch of the Institute of Registered Music Teachers on Sunday the 28^th of May for an afternoon of learning (afternoon tea provided).

Date: Sunday 28^th May  1 – 5pm  
Venue: Queen Margaret College, 53 Hobson Street, Thorndon, Wellington
Cost: Non-IRMT Members: $30, IRMT Members: $20, Provisional IRMT Members: $10

For more information and to register for the event, please contact:
Camille Nelson, Secretary, Wellington IRMT
Phone: (04) 386 2376
Email: wellington@irmt.org.nz

Schedule for the afternoon:
1 – 3pm: Taking the Stigma away from Theory
3pm: Afternoon tea
3.20 – 4.20pm: Jazzing up Your Jazz
4.30 – 5pm: Preparing for teenage years

Taking the Stigma away from Theory:
Try out a range of effective, outside-the-square, tried & true theory activities from the very popular Chisnallwood School Theory Club. Games are suitable for a range of ages and easily adaptable for different levels and music abilities but ideally from ages 7 – 12. Some activities use technology and others are completely unplugged. They are suitable for use in groups – even of mixed levels and you’ll be amazed at the learning that comes out as well as the amount of fun.

Jazzing Up Your Jazz:
Student repertoire includes a range of styles. Learn some easy tips and tricks to make your jazz repertoire and improvising sound more jazzy and more authentic. Part of this workshop will be hands-on.

Preparing for Teenage Years:
The importance of the pre-teen years can be overlooked. Judith will share what she has learnt from working with this age group for the last 20 years.

Judith Bell has a MusB (Hons) in composition from the University of Canterbury. She is a registered music teacher in flute, clarinet and saxophone, and also performs on trombone and guitar. Judith has been leading the music programme at Chisnallwood Intermediate School since 1999. She has developed a program that provides instrumental lessons for around 200 students a year and offers performance musicgroups including rock bands, jazz bands, orchestra, percussion, Irish, ukulele, as well as a popular theory club, a computer music course, and sound tech training. 

Prior to teaching at Chisnallwood, Judith taught early childhood music classes for 10 years, and was an itinerant and private music teacher. She also does arranging andtranscribing. Judith played in the band Barock for over 25 years and now plays intwo big bands, Sideline Swing and Christchurch’s All Girl Big Band. She is a musicdirector for Christchurch’s Strum Strike and Blow Festival for ukuleles, marimbas andrecorders, and started Christchurch’s Junior Jazz Jam (for Primary school jazzbands), and is the main organiser of the Christchurch Big Band Festival. She is co-chair of Music Education Canterbury, is on the MENZA board. She has recently become a MusicEdNet Mentor and has been using music technology to integrate music with other curriculum areas; her recent focus has been integrating musiclearning with computational thinking to engage with the new Digital Technologies curricula that are rolling out in NZ and Australia. 

Judith has presented workshops and papers in NZ, Australia, Lithuania, Italy, Greece, Scotland, Canada, USA and Switzerland mainly at Music Education and MusicTechnology conferences including the International Society of Music Education.