May the Musical Shoe Fit: Meet Your Instrument Day

Each year, to welcome beginning musicians and set them up for success, Seattle JazzED hosts Meet Your Instrument Day. During the event, music educators leading the Summer Jazz Foundations Camp and the year-long Foundations program introduce and demonstrate all the available instruments for their new students. Throughout the day, students try out each of the following instruments: flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, bass guitar, cello, violin and drums. At the conclusion of the event, they are asked to select the top three instruments that they’d like to play in the program.

The staff's responsibility is to then carefully consider the students’ instrument preferences and allocate the instruments in a way that ensures balanced classrooms. This process ultimately results in assigning each student with an instrument that they will be playing throughout the program.

But why is Meet Your Instrument Day important?

PERSONAL CHOICE

Different instruments have different sounds and playing styles. It is important for a musician to choose an instrument that THEY enjoy playing and that sparks joy within themselves.

COMFORT

Playing an instrument requires physical coordination and endurance. A musician should choose an instrument that feels comfortable to hold and play, as it will allow them to play for longer periods of time and with greater ease.

MOTIVATION

When a musician is playing an instrument they enjoy, they are more likely to be motivated to practice and improve their skills. This motivation can lead to greater success and enjoyment in their musical pursuits.

BREAKING DOWN STEREOTYPES

Gender stereotypes continue to persist at all levels regarding student participation in music. Instrument choice has been associated with gender stereotypes, with some instruments considered more "masculine" or "feminine" than others. For example, the drums are often associated with masculinity, while the flute is associated with femininity.

Any person, regardless of their gender identity, should have the freedom to choose the instrument that they are most interested in playing. Encouraging young people to explore a range of instruments can lead to greater opportunities for collaboration and learning.

CREATIVITY

When a musician has the freedom to choose their instrument, they can explore different sounds and techniques. This can lead to greater creativity and innovation in their musical compositions.

Allowing young musicians to choose their instruments based on personal preference and comfort can have a profound impact on their musical development, creativity, and lifelong interest in music. By encouraging all young people to explore a range of instruments, we can create a more vibrant and dynamic musical landscape that reflects the diverse interests and talents of musicians of all genders and backgrounds!

Meet Your Instrument Day is a required event for students participating in the Summer Foundations Camp and will be hosted at Seattle JazzED’s site (380 Boren Ave N) on Sunday, May 21 from 11AM-1PM.

Thanks to a community of generous donors and community members, Seattle JazzED is able to offer free loaner instruments and sliding scale tuition to all participating students. Learn more about how you can show your support of our mission to increase access to music education across our community by clicking here.

A Message From a Music Mom on Monthly Giving

Sami Braman (l) pictured with mom, kathryn ROBINSON (r)

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a music mom. 

Our daughter is grown now, but from the age of 6 when we took her to her first concert, she knew exactly which instrument she wanted to play and exactly which style she wanted to play it in. 

Every parent reading this knows what came next: We wanted to support her as best we could in this excitement of hers. I mean, your kid develops a passion—you do whatever you can to encourage it, right?  

For us that meant renting her an instrument, scrimping for music camps, and plenty of reminding: "Have you practiced today?"

We were lucky because she usually had. We remain lucky because she now tells us that she’s grateful we kept encouraging her. In her words: “You were just helping me do what it would take to make my dream come true.” 

One of the joys of my life is my position as a board member of Seattle JazzED, and as such I’ve been thinking about that lately: Helping me do what it would take to make my dream come true. In making jazz education available to every child, regardless of their ability to pay, Seattle JazzED is an organization dedicated to doing what it takes to make kids’ dreams come true. 

How? Through the generosity of folks like you. Some donate volunteer time, some donate money through occasional gifts. I have learned that an increasing number of you are beginning to donate monthly—a sustainable method of supporting JazzED made even more valuable for its predictability. A regular pattern of support is support an organization can count on—support that enables an organization to take the steps it needs to keep getting better. 

A lot like the way practicing every day enables a musician to keep getting better. 

That’s why I have decided to make my JazzED support monthly. The truth is, JazzED is grateful for whatever is given, however it’s given. But just as my daughter can play best when her practice is routine and ongoing, I know that I can support best when my support is routine and ongoing. 

There are plenty of benefits to this set-it-and-forget-it method of giving, including that monthly smaller payments feel easier on the budget and are changeable any time. But the main benefit of our regular giving to JazzED? 

It’s what it takes to help make kids’ dreams come true.  

Will you join me in giving monthly to Seattle JazzED this GiveBig season?

Thank you for supporting Seattle JazzED today and always.

With gratitude,

Kathryn Robinson
Music Mom
Seattle JazzED Board Member

Make a monthly or one-time gift to Seattle JazzED by clicking the link here.

OP-ED: Cuts to Arts Funding Could be Detrimental to Students' Success

From Laurie de Koch, Executive Director

 At Seattle JazzED, we know that access to music education has a life-long impact on the well-being of students whether or not they decide to pursue music as a career.  A child who has access to music education develops courage and resilience. A child who has access to music education experiences the joy and validation of working in community with others, learning the value of deep listening, as well as the power of creative idea sharing.

As we witness the current budgeting shortfalls threaten a cherished music program at Washington Middle School (WMS), I am reminded of why Seattle JazzED was founded back in 2010. We are here to break down the barriers that exist in our current system. We are here to support young people as they explore their own pathways, and we work to ensure that there are opportunities for students to make music that they feel proud of, in community, with one another.

As a public-school parent whose children experienced the unsurpassed opportunity of working with Robert Knatt at WMS and Clarence Acox at Garfield High School, I witnessed up close the deep impact that these experiences had on my children, an impact that continues into their adult lives almost two decades later.  I also experienced the roller coaster ride of public funding that regularly threatened these important programs and often left many Black and Brown students behind.

Seattle JazzED was born out of an effort to ensure that the life-transforming opportunity of music education would continue to exist, regardless of public funding budgets, and not only for a select few who went to a certain school or lived in a certain neighborhood, but for every student in the city. In our community, we can support our young people by elevating arts education both in and out of our schools. We can insist that quality music education can be an indicator of a quality education.

In a perfect world, music would be fully funded in every single school and Seattle JazzED would not need to exist.  But for now, we are here, committed to creating the access that every single student in Seattle deserves.

Laurie de Koch is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Seattle JazzED. With a master’s degree in arts management and 25 years of nonprofit management experience, she has a deep commitment to equity in arts education.

Seattle JazzED was founded in 2010 with one simple mission: to make sure every young person who comes through their doors gets an excellent music education. The goal? That every JazzED student experience the life-changing magic of teamwork, accountability, and confidence that comes from a dedicated education in jazz, a quintessentially Black-American art form.