This new play-along is challenging! The tempo is quick, there are a lot of chromatic notes, the rhythm has a lot of playing on the offbeats, and the play-along encourages one to look ahead when performing it. I would highly suggest slowing down the tempo on YouTube by clicking on the settings choosing the “Playback speed” and slowing it down to 0.75 or 0.50.” Or use the “Transpose ▲▼ pitch ▹ speed ▹ loop for videos” Chrome extension that will allow you to change the pitch and key of most YouTube videos. In addition, I would use the screenshots/file found here in the blog post so that your students can practice this before trying it with the video.

In the Mood by Glenn Miller

This new play-along video is from the video recording by Staff Sgt. Anthony Pocetti and audio recording by Staff Sgt. Ricky Furr. The song is performed by The United States Army Field Band, America's Big Band, The Jazz Ambassadors. I adore this recording and their performance and wanted to celebrate it for Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM).

Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" is a classic big band jazz instrumental that was first recorded in 1939. It has since become one of the most recognizable and popular songs of the swing era. "In the Mood" has been covered by numerous artists and featured in many movies and TV shows, making it a classic that continues to inspire and entertain music lovers around the world.

How To Teach This Play-Along

This play-along video is geared toward upper elementary and middle school music classes. It can be performed with class percussion instruments like rhythm sticks, chromatic-pitched instruments like keyboards, chromatic boomwhackers, or virtual instruments like playxylo.com.

Practicing the Chords

The screenshots below give the students a chance to explore and perform the chord in the order that they appear in the song. That is helpful so that they can anticipate when their note or chord will appear, as well as give your more advanced musical students the opportunity to analyze and name the chord.

Project the images on a large screen or place them on a learning management system, so that the students can practice the progression slowly. As they progress, increase their tempo. When they are ready, have them play along with the YouTube video. Begin at .50 speed, then increase it to .75, and then challenge them to try it at the performance tempo. And remember that the “Transpose ▲▼ pitch ▹ speed ▹ loop for videos” Chrome extension can increase the tempo in smaller increments.

Tips: I would also project playxylo.com to help teach the notes and chords. By having that as a visual on a large screen, the students are able to see and explore their notes and chords slowly while you or a student plays it on playxylo.com. I would also magnify the images so that the note names that are inside the noteheads can be seen.

Here is a copy of the manipulatives.

Good luck with this play-along!