Jazclass

=Jazclass=

AUTHORITY
Jazclass is a .com site created and maintained by Michael Furstner. The site has been in operation since 1995. The author claims that approximately 1,000,000 individual student learning sessions are ordered from the site each year and that currently 96% of Jazclass users return for future lessons.

The author provides the following background and resume information which I have summarized:

Born in Holland in 1937, Michael Furstner was a geologist who decided to redirect his career to one of music study and jazz music instruction in 1983. He studied saxophone in the jazz department of Adelaide University. He has published two textbooks: __Overtone Practice on the Saxophone__ (1986) and __Scales and Arpeggios for the Jazz Pianist__ (1988). He wrote a jazz piano syllabus for the Australian Guild of Music and Speech (A.G.M.S.) in 1989. He has also been a saxophone and jazz workshop guest lecturer at various schools in Holland and Australia. He currently resides in Australia, traveling by car from Darwin to the Sunshine Coast depending on the season.

INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT
There are four main functions of Jazclass: The site also includes links to other resources. The lessons on this site are written solely by Michael Furstner and he makes it very clear that he is a musician who wants to share jazz education topics with others. The lessons and sources are not dated.
 * Free online lessons are available on the site and the lessons rotate every 15 days. The main topics of study are: basic theory, jazz theory, the woodshed, songs, learning to read music, and learning how to play bridge (unrelated to jazz study, of course). The lessons include some pictures and sound clips. Some articles of interest are also available.
 * Email lessons are available for purchase. These lessons consist of chord basics, blues, and improvisation ($34 each, $11 for each additional course in the same order).
 * CD-ROM courses are available for purchase. These lessons cover concepts such as rhythm, saxophone, and jazz theory.
 * A few Jazclass books are also available for purchase from this site.

National Music Standards that may be addressed by this site:

2) Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music 3) Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments 5) Reading and notating music

PURPOSE, VIEWPOINT
The author states that he is a musician who enjoys understanding theory and background information about music. He informs the site user that he is interested in sharing this information with others who would like to learn. Jazclass is also intended to sell lessons and books, but this function of the site seems secondary since many lessons are available for free. The author uses part of the money earned through the site to sponsor children from third world countries through a program called World Vision. The only possibility for bias on this page comes from the fact that the author presents jazz lessons based on his personal beliefs on jazz education. Users will have to trust his musical opinions when using this site.

REPUTATION
Jazclass is cited or linked by approximately 60 other sites, most of which are websites created by individuals or websites of public schools and small colleges. I found Jazclass [|here.]

OVERALL EVALUATION
This site is pretty easy to navigate and includes a reasonably large amount of learning materials and links for people who would like to learn more about music theory, jazz, blues, etc. The free online lessons are easy to understand. I could not review the email or CD-ROM lessons due to the cost involved, so my review is based on what I was able to access for free.

Jazclass is a good example of what individuals are able to do with personal web pages. As I was looking through the site, I was picturing that it would be mainly used by jazz/blues-loving adults who had decided to pick up a musical instrument. However, I think the lessons are also very accessible for high school students.

Rating ***

//Reviewed by Stacey Kolthammer, April 10, 2006//