JAZZ CHANTS

Miles Craven presents a series of short jazz chants – a fun way to practise stress and rhythm in
the classroom, to help your students sound more natural when they speak English.
How to use Jazz Chants in the classroom
You can use these jazz chants in a variety of fun ways. You can practice stress and rhythm with your
class, to help your students sound more natural when they speak English. Also, because each jazz chant
focuses on different vocabulary and grammar, you can also use them to review important words and
structures! Here are some ideas on how to use these jazz chants with your class.
Practice stress and rhythm
Choose a jazz chant you want to use and make one copy of the chant for every pair of students in your
class.
Play the recording for the first time just for fun.
Give each student a copy of the recording script, and play the recording again as they listen and read at
the same time.
Put students into pairs and have them put a small circle above each word that is stressed. Check their
answers, then play the recording again as they listen and check.
Finally, play the recording one more time and have students sing along.
Review vocabulary
Check the vocabulary focus for each jazz chant and choose one you want to review. Make one copy of
the Recording script for every two students in your class.
Write the vocabulary focus on the board and put students into pairs to make a list of as many associated
words as they can.
Play the recording and have students note all the words they hear that are associated with the vocabulary
focus.
Give each student a copy of the Recording script, and play the recording again as they listen and read at
the same time. Tell them to underline all the target words.
Finally, play the recording one more time and have students sing along.
Review grammar
Check the grammar focus for each jazz chant and choose one you want to review. Make one copy of the
Recording script for every two students in your class.
Write the grammar focus on the board and put students into pairs to make a few example sentences
using the grammar.
Play the recording and have students note how many times they hear the target grammar.
Give each student a copy of the Recording script, and play the recording again as they listen and read at
the same time. Tell them to underline each example of the target grammar.
Finally, play the recording one more time and have students sing along.
Tip! For the final sing-a-long stage, why not divide the class into two groups, and have each group sing a
different section!
Tip! To help students identify the stress and rhythm, clap your hands in time to the beat. Encourage
them to do the same.
Tip! Remember, these are supposed to be fun! Keep the pace of the class quick and lively, and try to
always make sure students join in the singing.

What are Jazz Chants? “Jazz Chants are Carolyn Graham's snappy, upbeat chants and poems that use
jazz rhythms to illustrate the natural stress and intonation patterns of conversational American English.”
[from Oxford University Press]
Carolyn Graham: “A jazz chant is really just spoken American English with an awareness of the natural
rhythms.”
• Chants use natural spoken English
• Chants can be used in classes of any size
• Chants don’t require any special materials
• Chants can be used with all age groups
• Chants do not require musical ability
Why is this focus on stress, rhythm, and grouping so useful?
For native English speakers, stress is key to meaning. It’s what we listen for to know what’s important
and what to focus on.
Jazz chants are a fun, practical way to help students begin to notice and produce natural rhythm.

jazz chant NOUN

(In English language teaching) a sequence of rhythmic phrases chanted by students in
unison, often with accompanying music, as an exercise for learning intonation and
cadence.

What is Jazz Chanting? How to do it?

Almost anything can be jazz chanted. If you got the rhythm correct, you can’t help but move because of
its rhythm. This rhythmic quality in jazz chants is its distinguishing mark from speech choir. Speech choir
is merely reciting a piece. Jazz Chant is delivering a piece in a fast rhythm. It is almost like rap.
It should be remembered however that the delivery should not become a rap. To deliver a piece correctly,
one should not cut or pause word for word to create emphasis. To make the delivery effective, one should
feel the piece. It is quite similar with speech choir in the sense that three voices: light, medium and dark
may be used. Consider the words “I love you.” How do you think it should be delivered? To say it using a
dark voice might be scary. Rather say it like you mean it, somewhat like a whisper and endearing.
Generally, light voices are used if the piece calls for happiness or a young persona is speaking. Use the
dark voice for mourning or sad connotations or when the persona of the piece is an old person. Medium
voices are recommended for refrains or lines that has to be repeated; and, those lines that neither the
light nor the dark voices are appropriate.
Regarding the piece or the material, not a word of it should be deleted in the delivery. The lines should
never be modified.
There are two types of jazz chant, the conventional and the dramatic. A dramatic jazz chant has no
boundaries except for the agreed time limit. In a dramatic jazz chant, imagination is the limit. Musical
instruments, props and whatever one desires may be employed in this type. One can even modify a little
the piece like adding a word or repeating a line. However it is recommended that generally the piece
should still be as is. One should always remember though especially the judges that these additional
dramatic props should not overshadow the primacy of the jazz rhythm. The presentation should not
degenerate into singing or a stage play. The voice and the sound of the jazz chant should still be their
focus.
The conventional jazz chant as a type of contest is preferred because it cuts on cost and the objective of
jazz chanting which is to develop in students their English proficiency is still developed. Students can only
wear their school uniform. With the conventional Jazz chant, participants can only do few limited
movements like clap their hands, move their body to the rhythm, move their heads but they could not
move freely on the stage.
The criteria advised for conventional jazz chant should focus on delivery (primacy on the rhythm) and
audience impact (did they communicate to the audience and not merely to themselves?)
To be effective in jazz chanting, always practice correct pronunciation. Consult merriam.com if you want
to listen how words are pronounced. Always use American English in pronunciation and not British
English.
Prior to giving the material to the students (since they have to memorize it) the trainer must already have
a script which parts should be read by which voice (light, medium, dark).
In judging a jazz chant, Dr. Sunga (the resource speaker of my discussion above) said that they should
be scattered from all corners of the contest venue to determine whether participants can really project
their voices and still convey the accurate interpretation of their material.
Listen to Dr. Sunga’s jazz chant. Focus on the beat. Click the link below.
 What is Jazz Chant?

Jazz chant is a poem that use jazz rhythms to illustrate the natural stress and intonation
patterns of conversational American English. Jazz Chants provide an innovative and
exciting way to improve your speaking and listening comprehension skills while
reinforcing the language structures of everyday situation.

This is mine! That's yours!

Don't touch mine! Get your own!

This is mine! That's yours!

This is mine! That's yours!
This is mine! That's yours!
That's yours! That's yours!

Hey, what are you doing?

What are you doing with that? That's mine!

Hey, what are you doing?

What are you doing with that? That's his!

Hey, what are you doing?

What are you doing with that? That's hers!

What's mine is mine.

What's yours is yours.
What's his is his.
What's hers is hers.
What's ours is ours.
What's theirs is theirs.