1st Edition

Sing Vocal Jazz, Teach Vocal Jazz A Holistic Guide to Vocal Jazz Performance Pedagogy

By Lenora Helm Hammonds Copyright 2026
288 Pages 42 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

288 Pages 42 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

288 Pages 42 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Sing Vocal Jazz, Teach Vocal Jazz: A Holistic Guide to Vocal Jazz Performance Pedagogy provides a step-by-step, research-based, field-tested set of pedagogical tools specific to vocal jazz. Covering topics from choosing the best jazz repertoire for one’s distinct voice to expressing the aesthetics of swing, improvisation, and blues, Sing Vocal Jazz, Teach Vocal Jazz provides a blueprint to... Read more
Part I  1 Who Can Sing Jazz?  2 How to Use Sing Vocal Jazz, Teach Vocal Jazz  3 Train the Voice, Then Teach the Style  4 Why Vocal Jazz Performance Pedagogy vs. Vocal Jazz Pedagogy?  Part II  5 Styles of the Vocal Jazz Genre  6 The Role of Vocal Jazz Ear Training  7 The Role of Jazz Theory in Vocal Jazz Performance  8 Vocal Jazz Improvisation: Unpacking “Learning How to Listen and Learning How to Hear”  9 The Magic Scale and Other Necessary Musical Tools  Part III 10 Chart Writing and Vocal Jazz Arranging. 11 Jazz Composition and Songwriting for Jazz Vocalists  12 The Reluctant Bandleader: Working with Your Teams 13 Shaping a Vocal Jazz Career  14 Vocal Jazz Experts—It Takes a Village  15 Resources

Biography

Lenora Helm Hammonds is a vocal jazz musician, composer, arranger, and educator who currently serves as Dean of the Professional Education Division at Berklee College of Music. Distinctions include TEDx speaker, former U.S. Jazz Ambassador, two-time Fulbright Senior Music Specialist, GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year quarterfinalist, Jazz Educator of Distinction award recipient from Jazz Music Awards foundation and Berklee Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee. Her academic leadership is conjoined to four decades as a jazz recording and performing artist p/k/a Lenora Zenzalai Helm who can be heard on over a dozen recordings with renowned jazz artists, in addition to eight solo recordings. As a published author her work is at the intersection of jazz, intercultural maturity, and digital humanities. Learn more at www.LenoraHelm.com.