Create an Executive Board

The size of your board will vary depending on your club size.

Officer Positions and What They Do

• President
  • Holds meetings.
  • Communicates with clinicians and guest artists.
  • Organizes and facilitates events.
  • Oversees the club.
  • Finds funding sources. (Many universities have multiple internal organizations that may have funds to be used.)
• Vice President
  • Assists the president.
• Treasurer
  • Collects and records club dues.  (Dues allow you to attend events,  clinics, and lessons with guest artists.)
  • Runs fundraisers.
• Senator
  • Attends club senate meetings.
  • Official university club representative.
• Secretary
  • Takes notes at the executive board meetings.
• Event Coordinator(s)
  • Scheduling events.
  • Advertising for event.
  • Logistic details of events.
  • Execution of events.
• Vocal Jazz Representative
  • Represents vocal jazz at meetings.
  • Helps facilitate and create vocal jazz themed events.

Work to cater to players of all ability levels and bring in a large crowd.

Hold the jam session in a restaurant or cafe.

• They appreciate the extra business and you get a chance to hang out, eat, and get outside of the music building.

Have a host for every jam.

• This will help get people there right at the beginning to hear the opening set.

Have a signup sheet where students can put down a tune and figure out instrumentation.

• This ensures that anyone who wants to play can, and makes sure that everyone knows whatever tune is called.
• The signup will help with time between songs since everyone knows what song they are playing on.

Have a theme.

• This encourages higher attendance from both performers and spectators.
• Example- “Twin Jam”.  Older students choose a Freshman student to “twin” with.  This gets younger students involved from the start.  Have a costume contest and the winner wins a free slice of pizza or coffee.

Have a tune of the week.

• This caters to less experienced jazz players.  This tune is determined ahead of time so anyone can learn the head and changes.  Lead sheets can be posted on the JEN bulletin board the week before.  On that specific tune, let anyone and everyone play.  Switch out the rhythm section members as the tune goes on.

Keep it consistent.

• Choose a night of the week and time of the month that you can always have the jam session.  This will help with organization and attendance.

Who can be involved?

Everyone!

• Experienced jazz players
• Students who did not make jazz band.
• Music educators with no jazz experience.
• Student directors.
• Vocal jazz students.

Structure

• Choose a student director for the week.
• Choose easier charts with a theme.
  • Example- Focus on Basie charts and what it means to play in the Basie style.
• Read the chart down.
• Group discussion about ways to improve, facilitated by the student director of the week.
  • This gives the more experienced members a chance to practice rehearsing and the less experienced members learn how to play in the jazz idiom.

Benefits

• Great way to keep students who did not make jazz band.
• Gives music educators with no jazz experience an opportunity to play jazz.
• Gives student directors a chance to run a rehearsal.
• Great opportunity to practice sight-reading!
• Vocal jazz session allows singers to sing with a big band and the band experience backing a singer.

Where?

Find a classroom to meet in.

What to listen to.

• Have a sheet for people to write down listening suggestions.
• Occasionally have a theme to focus listening.
  • Example:  Blue Note Quintets
• Listen to both classics everyone should know and newer music that hasn’t been heard as much.

Have a “drop the needle” contest.

• Play random short excerpts of several famous jazz recordings
• Whoever gets the most correct (song name, album, year, and personnel), wins a prize.

Dream big and make it happen!

• Seek financial help from the university and other resources.
  • Outline the educational benefits and benefits to the department and university
• Team up with other clubs to fund events.

Guests Artists

• Invite artists to perform and do clinics.
• Students who have paid their dues can be in a raffle to win a lesson with the guest artist.

(CWU is putting on a Women in Jazz Day and brought in John Clayton as a guest artist.  Dream big!)

Choose A Concert.

• Purchase tickets in bulk for a reduced rate.
  • Club could pay for part of the ticket and attendees pay the rest
• Rent a university van/bus

Check into becoming an official university club.

• Becoming an official club through your university could allow you to get funding.

Fundraising Idea – Jazzy Pizza

• Buy pizza in bulk.
• Sell on a specific day each week in the music building.

Share what you learn at JEN Conference.

• Share notes with those unable to attend via a shared site like Google Docs.
• Have a conference highlights meeting.  Students that attend the conference share what they learned with those who were unable to attend.

Clinic focused on teaching jazz basics to future music educators.

• Reserve a room or rooms to hold the clinic.
• Decide on clinics being offered
  • Rhythm section
  • Vocal jazz
  • Beginning improvisation
• Find students, faculty, and community members to teach basics of jazz on each instrument.
• Gather equipment needed
  • sound equipment
  • extra instruments
  • music