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Emerson Jazz in the Schools
Preparatory Lesson
Recommended for Grades 3-6
Imagery in Jazz
Concepts: Students will understand how composers and musicians can use their instruments to
create vivid pictures of everyday life.
Length: 25-30 minute class period.
Objectives:
 Students will recognize that music can be used to imitate and represent sounds and
experiences in our everyday lives.
 Students will recognize specific musical techniques used to create imitative effects.
Materials: Recording of “Daybreak Express” (click here). Poster, “Daybreak Express: Parts of the
Train” (download on website).
Vocabulary:
Imagery
Duke Ellington
Tempo
Scoops
Bends
Muted Brass
Growls
Rhythm Section
Missouri DESE Music GLEs: AP1B3, AP1B5, IC1A3-6, IC1B3-6, HC1D3
National Standards: MU6, MU8, MU9
Cross-Curricular Connections: English, Visual Arts
Further Resources: For more information on Duke Ellington, click here. For a deeper definition
and examples of imagery in literature, click here.
Introduction
Just as writers do with language and artists do with
paint or clay, musicians and composers can use
instruments and musical effects to invoke emotions
and even more tangible objects and experiences.
Legendary bandleader, composer, and pianist
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was known for
using his orchestra to depict scenes of everyday life,
from life in a Harlem apartment building to one of his
absolute favorite subjects, trains.
Ellington was born in 1899 and grew up in
Washington D.C. He learned to play stride piano at a young age and wrote his first song at age
15. He gained his regal nickname from his dapper style and elegance. Along with music, Duke
harbored a deep love for art and was even offered an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute. After
success as a musician in D.C., Ellington and members of his band moved to New York, where
they eventually became the house band at the legendary Cotton Club. There, they performed for
a national radio audience, making Duke into a celebrity.
Emerson Jazz in the Schools
Preparatory Lesson
Recommended for Grades 3-6
Ellington became a prolific composer, writing over a thousand pieces of music including ballets,
operas, liturgical music, and movie scores. Ellington and his band served as cultural
ambassadors, traveling the world and showing off America’s music, jazz. He won 13 Grammy
Awards and was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969. Ellington passed away
in 1974 from lung cancer.
One of Duke’s great passions in life was trains. He loved the big, loud coal locomotives and even
had his own train car that he and his band traveled on! Throughout his career, Ellington liked to
write music that evoked the sound of trains. Compositions like “Choo-Choo” (1924), “Way Low”
(1939), “Jack the Bear” (1940), “Across the Track Blues” (1940), and “Happy Go-Lucky Local”
(1946) all pay homage to Duke’s favorite mode of transportation. This lesson focuses on one of
his most obvious representation of a train, “Daybreak Express” (1933).
In preparation for this lesson, introduce the concept of imagery in another discipline, such as in
literature or art.
Activity
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Re-introduce the concept of imagery in literature or art. How does a writer use descriptive
words to appeal to our senses? How does a painter or a sculptor? How could someone use
imagery without words or visuals?
Play “Daybreak Express” for the students and ask them what comes to mind as they listen.
Ask them what made them think of a train as they listened to the music.
Go over the musical components and techniques used to mimick the train listed below. You
can use the visual provided as you go through them with the students.
o Tempo: Tempo refers to the speed at which the music is played. For the first 18
seconds, the piece starts slow and gets faster to imitate a train picking up speed. At
2:38, the tempo slows to a halt as the train comes to a stop.
o Scoops and Bends: The trumpets, trombones, and saxophones bend pitches and
scoop into notes to imitate the loud train whistle. Listen at :22 and :33.
o Muted Brass: The brass players (trumpets and trombones) put specific mutes in the
bells of their horns to alter the sound. This gives their tone a different color. Ellington
was known for using muted brass in his compositions to great effect. Listen to the
muted trombones play short, punctuated notes at 1:01 and 1:11. At 1:15 and 1:43,
listen as the trumpets us plunger mutes (which are, in fact, just regular plungers) to
get a “wah” sound out of their horns. These effects help portray the muted sounds of
the world outside as the train passes by.
o Growls: The trumpets, while using their plungers at 1:15 and 1:43, also make a growl
sound by humming as they play. To see a demonstration of brass mutes and growl
effects, click here.
o Rhythm Section: The rhythm section consists of the bass, drums, piano, and, in this
case, a banjo. As their name implied, their role is very rhythmic, playing the role of
the engine throughout the whole song.
Lead the students in a discussion of ways they can use imagery in other disciplines to invoke
a train. Follow up by having them write descriptions and draw pictures of a train.