Having recently garnered 30,000 followers with his nightly online music show Jim's Piano Bar, Jim Clayton is using his newfound streaming success to help teachers and students while the pandemic takes its toll on curriculums nationwide. The award-winning Toronto jazz pianist and vocalist has created Music With Jim, a free 45-minute 'Introduction to Music Fundamentals' lesson available to America's 4th- through 8th-grade classrooms via livestream. Teachers can register online at www.Music With Jim.com.
This interactive class streams live on Wednesdays from February 9 until the end of March. For the first 30 minutes Clayton teaches music fundamentals — including the basics of musical notes (duration, pitch, dynamics and timbre) — and performs songs that demonstrate these concepts. He uses the remaining 15 minutes to field questions from students and teachers. Teachers can also register for the follow-up free livestreaming lesson 'Introduction to Music Fundamentals Pt. 2,' which covers rhythm, repetition, and song form.
Clayton conducted a test run of Music With Jim earlier this month, and the response was overwhelming: over 2400 students from 80+ classes, coast to coast, participated in the lesson. Teachers live-streamed Music With Jim in their respective classrooms and via virtual-teaching platforms such as Google Classroom or Zoom.
