A guided approach will provide tutorials, drills and tests in both written theory and ear training.
Plans call for computer-based analysis and judging of each student's improvisational choices.
Content will focus on several areas of theory, including scales, modes, melodies, chords, progressions, form and style. A panel of nationally known jazz artists and educators is now being selected to serve as members of a design and curriculum advisory unit to review lesson content for pedagogical soundness and real-world applicability. It also will be tested at the community college level by Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Arenson, who will serve as project director and co-principal investigator responsible for curriculum design and domain expertise, teaches jazz harmony in the department's minor in jazz studies program. An accomplished jazz pianist, he regularly performs in both solo and ensemble contexts.