Using Narrative Inquiry to Portray Learning in Jazz

Abstract

Historically, jazz musicians learned to play by ear as they developed their individual voices to express their musical ideas. When jazz entered the schools, however, learning to play jazz became relegated to reading printed music, and directors rehearsed jazz ensembles similar to concert bands. Jazz, then, moved almost entirely into the realm of formal music learning in school music programs and the aural aspects of learning became diminished. Not all of these voices in jazz disappeared, and exemplary examples of learning jazz music via aural, oral, and physical ways still occur. As jazz musicians and narrative researchers, we explore how narrative inquiry can aid with portraying the varied dimensions of learning in jazz. Using Lefebvre’s (Rhythmanalysis: Space, time and everyday life. A&C Black Publishing, London, 2004) theoretical framework of sociological and historical orientation of human spatial experience, we define how we use the term narrative inquiry followed by an exploration into how the processes of narrative inquiry and learning in jazz share many parallels. We then use examples from our research to demonstrate how narrative inquiry can aid with portraying all voices embedded in the spaces where learning jazz music occurs.