Volume 2, No. 1 September 2004

Kenneth E. Prouty, Ph. D.
Indiana State University

kenprouty@indstate.edu

Abstract

This essay examines how jazz educators construct methods for teaching the art of improvisation in institutionalized jazz studies programs.  Unlike previous studies of the processes and philosophies of jazz instruction, I examine such processes from a cultural standpoint, to identify why certain methods might be favored over others.  Specifically, jazz education is treated as a fusion of two distinct historical and cultural forces: those of musical academia, and of the jazz community.  I argue that methods of teaching improvisation reflect a dual identity, in which these two cultural traditions sometimes exert an uneven influence upon the learning environment.  Improvisational curricula, pedagogical methods, and evaluative strategies all reflect this dual influence, and the tensions they engender impart a powerful influence on the ways in which students and teachers interact with each other, with the institution, and with the larger community of jazz performers.

Article and References

Kenneth Prouty received his undergraduate degree in jazz performance from the University of Maine at Augusta in 1993.  He later completed graduate work at the University of North Texas in jazz studies, where he was a trombonist with the program's renowned One O'Clock Lab Band.  In 2002, he completed his doctoral degree in ethnomusicology (Ph.D.) at the University of Pittsburgh, where his research interests included jazz and African American music.  While at Pitt, he was awarded an Andrew Mellon Pre-Doctoral Fellowship to support his dissertation research on the cultural systems of jazz education.  Additionally, he has been active as a freelance trombonist since the early 1990s.

Dr. Prouty has served as an instructor at the University of North Texas and the University of Pittsburgh, teaching courses in jazz history and world music.  Currently, he holds the position of Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies at Indiana State University in

Terre Haute, Indiana, where he teaches courses on African and African American music and culture.  He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and has been a frequent presenter at scholarly conferences, including the Society for American Music, the Society for Ethnomusicology, and the International Association for Jazz Education.

His current research interests cover a wide range of topics, from jazz education to popular music.