If you are a musician looking to explore different types of music and skills, you should check out jazz band. Meeting Wednesdays after school in room 197 with Mr. Buckley, the club is a place where students can be part of a community and learn how to become better musicians together.

One of the skills students are taught in this club is learning how to improvise and being more comfortable doing so. Improvisation is when musicians add their own mark to the music they are playing. According to Mr. Buckley, improvisation is something students do every day when talking to their peers or teachers and the way it happens depends on the vocabulary they have. In jazz band, he “tries to give them as much ‘vocabulary’ as possible” with “notes, phrases, and licks to play”. He believes students should have more opportunities to improvise “otherwise it will always be just playing other people’s music”.

Jazz band is also an opportunity to give to the community. Every spring, the club visits two elementary schools and plays for the 5th graders. This introduces younger students to jazz band and encourages them to join in the future. In occasions like the pep rally, they bring the “thrill” of live music to all.