2026 Maine Music Educators Association Conference

This session will examine the rhythm section and its role in the jazz ensemble. We will discuss the collaborative interactions between rhythm section players and strategies for fostering authentic and creative music making in the context of rhythm sections in early to intermediate stages of development. We will focus on strategies that address moving students away from reading notated charts to understanding lead sheets and generating interactive and improvised accompaniments to big band arrangements. A combo of USM music education students will serve as the rhythm section to model the strategies and activities addressed in this session.