All About Jazz
What do you know about jazz music? Read to see what else you can learn.
What Is Jazz?
1. Jazz is a type of music that started in New Orleans over 100 years ago. People love jazz because no two performances sound exactly the same. Jazz musicians often improvise, which means they make up parts of the music as they play.
Jazz Instruments
1. Many instruments can play jazz music. The trumpet, saxophone, and piano are popular jazz instruments. The drums and bass guitar keep the beat. All the musicians listen to each other carefully while they play.
Where Can You Listen to Jazz?
1. You can hear jazz in many places. Some restaurants and coffee shops play jazz music. Many cities have jazz clubs where people can listen to live music. You can also find jazz music online or on the radio. Schools and Neighborhood centers sometimes have jazz groups.
All About Jazz
Comprehension Questions
Highlight parts of the story that help you answer the questions
1. Have you ever heard jazz music before, if so where?
2. List two new things you learned about jazz.
3. Why do you think people enjoy listening to live jazz music? (Check one)
4. What does improvise mean: underline the definition in the reading.
Write here:
5. Jazz musicians have to listen carefully to each other. What does this tell you about playing jazz?
Sentence starter: "This tells me that jazz musicians need to..."6. How does the bold headings help organize the text?
7. Complete the sentence:
Jazz music started in and uses instruments like and .
8. Link to match the sound to the right jazz instrument
Click on an instrument name, then click on the matching instrument image.
