Jazzing Up Your Music Program: Reignite Teen Engagement With Unison-Based Content

Secondary music classrooms are increasingly challenged by student disengagement—especially when traditional models fail to resonate with today’s learners. In this compelling episode, professional bassist and music educator Richard Frank introduces his Unison-Based Content (UBC) approach, a student-centered framework designed to revitalize music programs and re-engage learners of all skill levels.

UBC shifts away from the conventional jazz band structure, offering a more inclusive model that welcomes diverse instrumentation—including non-traditional instruments—and varying skill levels from the start. By blending formal (notation and theory) and informal (playing by ear) learning traditions, Frank creates a “blended space” where all students feel validated and empowered.

Educators will gain practical strategies for:

• Engaging mixed-skill ensembles with adaptable arrangements
• Incorporating tab notation and alternative instruments
• Encouraging improvisation through simultaneous group playing
• Promoting student agency through choice and music analysis
• Supporting SEL through confidence-building collaboration
• Connecting classroom music to real-world performance opportunities

Ideal for secondary educators seeking to refresh their approach or supplement existing programs, this method bridges the gap between traditional music education and contemporary student needs.

Explore ready-to-use resources at PlayTheGroove.com and discover how UBC can transform your classroom into a space where all students groove—and grow.

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Transcript

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Dr. Lisa Hassler 0:19

If your older students are losing interest in music class , don't give up . Using a unison-based content approach could bring the joy back . Music educators are calling it a breath of fresh air .

Music Class Engagement Crisis

Dr. Lisa Hassler 0:39

Welcome to the brighter side of education , research , innovation and resources . I'm your host , dr Lisa Hassler , here to enlighten and brighten the classrooms in America through focused conversation on important topics in education . In each episode , I discuss problems we as teachers and parents are facing and what people are doing in their communities to fix it . What are the variables and how can we duplicate it to maximize student outcomes ?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:05

Student engagement in school music programs is facing a quiet crisis . Over 3.6 million students in the United States do not have access to music education , and when music programs are available , student engagement has become the deeper challenge . A study led by Dimitra Kokosaki identified four key attributes that can dramatically increase engagement in the music classroom Autonomy , relatedness , competence and creativity . When students have more control over their learning , feel a sense of connection with others , believe in their own abilities and have a space to be creative , their motivation and participation flourish . This aligns closely with the work of Lucy Green , who challenged the traditional teacher-directed model of music instruction . Her informal learning theory emphasized peer collaboration , experimentation and improvisation , hallmarks of genres like jazz and pop .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:59

Green's work reframes music education as something students actively do , not something they passively receive . Music educator and researcher , richard Frank has taken these principles to heart , creating a music learning system called Play the Groove . Grounded in a unison-based content approach , his work bridges traditional and non-traditional music instruction . Through this student-led method , secondary students with varying skill levels and instruments collaborate to make modern-day jazzy ensembles that are re-engaging students around the world . Welcome to the podcast , richard . How are you today ?

Richard Frank 2:36

Doing fabulous . Lisa , so glad I could join you today .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 2:40

I want to know all about what you're doing in this field to make music really resonate with our

Understanding Unison-Based Content

Dr. Lisa Hassler 2:46

students . So what is UBC ?

Richard Frank 2:47

Well , ubc is short for Unison-Based Content , and when it comes into the music , it's about playing the melody in unison , where all the instruments can play the melody and the melody is then accompanied by a rhythm section , which is the groove part of things . So this unison-based concept is a unison approach with a groove component , and any sort of intermediate secondary group can experience music this way in a much more creative fashion .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 3:19

Right , and so you work mostly with secondary ensembles .

Richard Frank 3:23

Yes , secondary ensembles in the jazzy ensemble world you know , where there's trombones and trumpets and saxophones and guitar , bass , drums and percussion and all these different instruments . That world has been changing a lot because the traditional model has been traditionally four trumpets , four trumpets , four tromb and five saxes and a rhythm section . But that is hard to put together often these days . So this is where the jazzy ensemble comes in and this is where unison , bass content comes in , to be able to work with those ensembles .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 3:56

And you yourself are a musician . What musical instrument do you play ?

Richard Frank 3:59

I'm mostly known as a bassist . I play string and electric . I do play some piano , but just a little . You dabble . Nothing professional in that world , just bass . Yeah , very experienced in that regards as a professional musician .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 4:16

And you've done a lot of studies , written a lot of papers presented about the unison bass concept abroad . You have quite a large library of studies and research that you've done on this concept for quite a while .

Richard Frank 4:29

Yes , well , this whole thing started 10 plus years ago and I just went to a school that my son was going to and realized that things have not changed in like 50 years , and that was pretty unsettling because there's so much great creativity going on .

Richard Frank 4:47

So I undertook this deep dive in educational matters . I started taking graduate courses and got a master's in educational technology to understand a lot of software and digital applications and also a lot of the basis of the educational modalities that I'm starting to work with , and I started reading about all types of great things happening around the world in music . But how slow anything has been incorporated into the American scene . That took me to Finland , because they wrote a tremendous amount of

Bridging Formal and Informal Learning

Richard Frank 5:21

great material on modern learning discoveries . I decided to go to the Netherlands , in Utrecht , and went to the university in Utrecht for an applied musicology to continue that European view of music and how they teach music there , and try to incorporate all these different things into this unison-based content approach and also play the groove , which is where the content actually comes from . It's been a great whirlwind .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 5:48

And so the unison-based content method is something that you've really been developing over time .

Richard Frank 5:55

Right . The challenge that I see is this changing of the instrumentation from a traditional jazz ensemble to a more mixed ensemble with vocals coming into the picture . Perhaps there's a violinist or a clarinetist or a French horn player , or even if it's a small concert band that wants to do modern things . There's no vehicle for that in traditional music . It doesn't work as seamless because everyone has their own individual harmonized part , so you can't let a student go and say , hey , how can we do this differently ? How can we bring in improvisation ? How can we bring in small group discussions ? How can we explore cultural diversity in different countries and music from different parts of the world ? These were the questions that I got in all of my reading and studies that I wanted to address , and it can be addressed very smoothly through unison-based content .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 6:53

What is your approach then ?

Richard Frank 6:55

Well , basically , a teacher will access a piece of a song and in fact actually there's like five or six different approach steps and I don't know how many I want to get into right at the moment .

Richard Frank 7:07

But , I want to engage student agency , where the students have a say in what they do and where the teacher becomes a guide in the process and they facilitate students becoming more activated in who they are and their individualism can come out a lot more . So once a song is selected , either by the teacher or preferably by the students , you know , because that becomes voice and choice right , the students can analyze four to five different pieces of music and when they analyze different music , they have a chance to think about the music in different ways . Do they like it ? What do they like about it ? Do they like the groove ? Do they like the melody ? Do they like the fact that this person's from Africa or India , or music from Finland or Los Angeles or wherever the choices are coming from ? Do they like the worldly , global view of things or do they want to go more traditional ?

Richard Frank 8:03

There's all these approaches and this analytical thinking is critical thinking . So we're starting to bring in the life skills where there's communication and collaboration , because you may like a song and I may like a song , but Susie and Jose may like totally different songs . Well , how do we communicate and collaborate to get to this point ? So let's say they choose a song , then I have everyone play rhythm instruments to the recording .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 8:31

So flexible for multiple skill levels , bringing them all to that rhythm instrument .

Richard Frank 8:36

Yes , that's for any skill level . It gets everyone feeling the rhythm and the groove , even if they don't have much musical experience .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 8:45

Also it reduces idle time , improving classroom management .

Richard Frank 8:48

Yes , because what happens is they go from one thing to another thing , to another thing to another thing , so they would go from playing the rhythm instruments to then everyone working on the melody .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 9:00

The traditional people would have their part , and then they only play that part when their part would come up , and then for the rest of the time they are sitting and waiting . And so is this where this is different as well .

Richard Frank 9:11

They're struggling because they're not being supported by their part , because there's no doubling or very , very little doubling .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 9:18

Okay .

Richard Frank 9:19

And when you don't get the doubling , you don't have the support of Susie next to you , that knows it pretty well , and then Susie can turn towards someone else and say , hey , try this fingering or do this or do this . This peer learning can start happening . So when they all learn the melody , then it's like now let's get the rhythm section to learn the groove itself . And through all of these steps , lisa , they're performing to the recording . They're performing to that in tempo , in intonation , in rhythms and grooves . So that becomes more of the teaching tool than a teacher teaching the rhythm from the stage , from the podium , and trying to get everyone to play the specific rhythm .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 10:00

So how do you support informal learning theory with collaboration and the improvisation that can come with your jazzy ensemble concept ?

Richard Frank 10:10

What we're dealing with is a clashing of different systems of teaching . One side of this continuum you would have the Western approach , the formal approach , where they all learn the rhythms and they all learn the notes that they have to play in front of themselves . It's traditional Western theory . It goes back to Mozart . Now , on the right side is the informal Musicians don't know how to read music .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 10:35

They play by ear .

Richard Frank 10:37

They

Supporting Mixed Skill Levels

Richard Frank 10:37

play by ear . They don't understand theory in terms of chordalness or melodic or scales , or how to read notes or a chord chart , even not just notes itself but chords . There's a lot of things this non-formal side just doesn't know . But there's a lot of things on the formal side they don't know either , because they don't know how to use their ear effectively and they don't know how to learn a song without using the music . The space between these two sides is called the blended space , and the blended space is you would take someone that is non-formal and try to introduce some note reading , try to introduce some chords . They may know how to read tab if they're a guitarist or a bass player and a drummer can play by ear often . So they start to get introduced to rhythms on a piece of paper . On the left side , the formal side I encourage them to move to the right , so to use their ear more . Don't rely on the music so much . Use it as a guide , but use the feel from the group to drive the performance .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 11:44

Is that where groove comes in ?

Richard Frank 11:46

And that's where the groove comes in , because everything needs to groove , even Mozart needs to groove . And when it really sits in the pocket , it's beautiful , right .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 11:54

Yeah .

Richard Frank 11:55

So I got to find that groove sweet spot . What we're doing here , though , lisa , is we're not driving towards a product , but we're embracing the process . We're embracing that every person in the room is an individual . They have their own way of learning , so this process over product becomes more of the drive inside Unison based content approach , because it gives people the chance to become comfortable with making music without feeling like they don't know anything , because they can sit in that chair and not know notes for months and everyone else may know stuff around them , and they get frustrated and , as soon as they can , they drop out yeah , and there's a lot of disengagement in music classes .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 12:38

That begins very young , and so by the time they're in high school they've already mentally checked out . So this would then invite them back into that space in a different way . A jazzy ensemble might be a little bit more inviting because of that diversity of culture that you're offering more inclusivity when it comes to skill levels and then being able to play right away .

Richard Frank 13:01

I think you're nailing all the great points and even if someone doesn't play very well , when it does get to a performance and they don't want to , they could always play the percussion instruments and they're involved in creating their sound of the group . You know , the overall group is very inclusive of everybody . One distinction I want to bring out too that with unison-based content and the play the groove content itself , when a music teacher actually auditions people for a jazzy ensemble , they can try this unison-based content material where a guitarist can join , where they don't read notes , because with play the groove , we provide tab parts so they can get right into the mix and play and then the teacher can slowly take this person in the non-formal learning that knows tab . Okay , now we're going to start introducing you to some notes what's tab ?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 13:53

because I don't know .

Richard Frank 13:54

I don't know what tab is tab is a nomenclature , which is there's six lines and each one of the lines represents a string on the guitar and there's different notes on the actual graph of the six strings , plus different things below it that help a guitarist or bassist learn that music . But they're not reading notes .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 14:16

So this is a way to be getting some of those nonttraditional instruments that kids are more inclined to self-teach .

Richard Frank 14:24

And this all comes back on the teacher wanting to say , wow , can I include all these people ? How do I do that ? And it can be very challenging for a teacher to do that , to change their modes of teaching and explore all these different options Definitely . But that's why I believe that I'm wanting to make unison-based content and play the groove kind of a supplemental kind of approach . They can still have their traditional jazz brand approach and maybe lay off some of the competitions and conferences which only want you to do traditional material , but make it more school oriented or community oriented where the students can play more in their schools and more within their communities . Include these other players With unison bass content . You can have three or four guitarists playing or two bass players . It sounds crazy but you can .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 15:17

What band was it that we had spoken about earlier ? That takes a huge collection of varied instruments and they're playing around the audience and the audience is set in the middle . What band is that ?

Richard Frank 15:30

That's Snarky Puppy . They're a great band . Michael League is a tremendous leader . He's a collaborator . He's built a collective of people that is generally based around a core section because everyone does need to learn to think , to play together . With the exceptions of big bands , pretty much every pop group in the world is considered unison because you have a melody , a vocalist and you have a rhythm section . Now they could have horn players back there , right , and you could have background singers , but they're not necessarily needed . They're just there to augment the overall sound . This is why I find unison bass content so exciting is because , regardless of what happens after high school , I would say 95% of the time they're going to be doing unison music .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 16:17

So it's very applicable to the real world .

Richard Frank 16:19

Where they go . Yeah , if they want to keep playing rock , they're going to be in that unison bass content . If they're going to go on for college , they're going to have combos and play with buddies that are exploring and being creative with three or four horns and generally they'll play it in unison . Maybe they'll play it in harmony later , but they'll go to jam sessions and play traditional tunes all in unison . And I just like the idea of making the music much more modern and current and more global oriented and current jazz genres versus just traditional stuff .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 16:51

What kind of feedback have

Building Community Through Performance

Dr. Lisa Hassler 16:52

you gotten ?

Richard Frank 16:52

I have four basic ideas and stories to share , real briefly , and then one different one . So the idea that it supports mixed level groups where shy students can step up in a safe environment is one of the big pros that I've received . So when you have a mixed level group , that means you may have a trumpet player or a drummer that's really good , but then you may have a trombonist and a guitarist and bass player that aren't quite as good . So how do we challenge these different people is something a teacher has to wrestle with , right , because if you don't , they're going to get bored and they're going to go do different things . So with a trumpet player , you can actually give them a different piece of music . Instead of the B flat part , which is a transposed part for trumpet , you can give them a C part where they have to transpose in their head .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 17:41

It's a little more challenging .

Richard Frank 17:42

That's all they may get on the stage when they're playing . After high school is the C part , or you give the trumpet player no music so they have to learn it by ear . I see .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 17:53

Okay .

Richard Frank 17:54

So you would put them off to the side of the group and say , okay , great , you're going to learn this by ear , because everyone over here is going to learn using the music . Okay , learned this by ear because everyone over here is going to learn using the music . So that helps the beginners and the intermediate players of the melodic people learn the tune . When they get challenged , they get over there , not in a bad way . But if they're really more advanced too , they can start writing lines , they can do harmony , they can change the harmonic structure . With a bass player , you can always have another bass player playing the melody , which is the cool thing . And this transposition works the same thing for trombones as well as saxophones , and with a really good drummer , you want to have them learn other percussion instruments . As a beginning drummer is learning , you put them on the melody , so they have to play the melody in the performance there's all these different ways .

Richard Frank 18:44

A teacher can work with this beginner group and professionals . So we covered the mixed level group with the advanced students . Improvisation is a huge thing too , because Western improvisation often teach music , improvisation through Western theory , learning scales , learning arpeggios , learning structure and voice leading and all these different types of things , and in a more jazzy group that everyone knows the melody . So if it's time to solo , you can start off by playing the melody by yourself and that works just fine . You are soloing , you're the solo part .

Richard Frank 19:20

But when it comes to the rhythms of the melody , that can be analyzed in a theoretical way , in a non-formal way , not super formal , but try to use the rhythm of the melody using simple notes of the chord . So it's more of a rhythm and groove and as they become comfortable knowing that they can go , more of a rhythm and groove and as they become comfortable knowing that they can go and feel good about that and it actually sounds pretty good . You know , not just which may not sound so good , but when you can get that fluid , then you can bring in different things , the experienced players . They can be ripping and doing what they do . You know what I mean . So this soloing can happen by the end of the day and it's a safe environment . So it's pretty quick . If you give the students some simple ways to start doing things and you let the rhythm section go , so they're holding down the groove , you have everyone play an improv at the same time .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 20:23

Oh wow , how does that not become overwhelming ?

Richard Frank 20:25

For musicians that have played in a concert band or symphony orchestra before they walk out and bring everyone to attention , everyone's kind of warming up on their instrument . Yes , they are so focused on their own performance and their own playing they hear themselves just fine . It's a cacophony . It's also a great practice tool in a classroom , because then I'm not saying Susie , your turn to solo , and it's like no .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 20:55

Ah , okay , yes .

Richard Frank 20:56

They're able to play without anybody hearing them . Really yeah , but they hear themselves just without anybody hearing them . Really yeah , but they hear themselves just fine , you see .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 21:04

Yeah .

Richard Frank 21:05

And there's a lot of flexibility that can happen from a teacher point of view . So let's say a groove is being held down . A teacher doesn't stand up at the front and conduct , no , it's all on the rhythm section to keep it going and it gets everyone playing . So you'll start getting some people playing . It's a cacophony , right ? Yeah ? So a teacher walks over to the rhythm section and just listens to the rhythm section and just locks it in , just keeps everyone tight .

Richard Frank 21:30

Then they can walk over to Susie and they don't make any comments to them like , hey , try this , try this . But they just kind of listen and they say , keep going , keep going , play a little louder . You can always play louder . When you can play louder , that means you're more confident . If you're shy , you're going to talk like this . Right , you have to encourage the quiet ones to try and they can do it in this method . Then you walk over to another person and say , hey , try this , you know . And then you walk over to another person and this idea of bouncing back and forth , giving individualized attention in a big group of , say , 20 musicians within three to five minutes , is a very motivating thing , because no one's being called out .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 22:11

So this is how , then , unison-based content can then support social-emotional learning within the classroom social emotional learning within the classroom .

Richard Frank 22:23

That's right , because there's a couple of key things , and Scott Edgar , who is the master of social emotional learning and music education , brings out that the idea of confidence , of listening , of having a say in how they learn and what they learn , and developing a voice . Because you're giving students agency , you're giving them the opportunities to explore these tools and making this creative music on their own . And this is a major brain excitement at this point because , rather than just focusing on your notes in front of you , you're wow , I can try these two different things , I can experiment with this .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 23:01

Supporting that risk-taking . What kind of opportunities in the community have you seen these jazzy ensembles take ?

Richard Frank 23:09

Steve Holley did some great work with his students , actually have his group play at different public performances out in the community . So the first thing I like to say for the building the community performance is , if they learn to play the groove tunes , for example , or even one , they actually hold a noontime concert or after school , and it's very short , it's very quick and they invite their friends , or the teacher invites one or two other administration people or teachers . They play just the one tune , but they're in charge of that . The teacher's not conducting . They have to come into the room and set up , play and tear down in a very short period . After they do the first one , they're going to learn from that .

Richard Frank 23:50

You can talk about it . What can we do better ? Letting them choose what to do with it ? They're collaborating , they're communicating . They may even disagree with each other . It may even crash and burn , right , but what is it ? They can learn . And then the next time they do it again , they deal with those issues . Then they learn two songs and maybe within a month or two months they could take those songs out into the cafeteria and play for a lunchtime performance . So now they're expanding the community of who they're performing with as they reinforce their community of playing together and working together , because the teacher is stepping back . That's the goal guiding them enough but at the same point , putting it on them , putting the ownership , the responsibility on the students to do these things . They can still be working towards their fall performance , doing different things , but they can continue this process when it comes to the fall performance , and these jazz groups are being performed in the lobby before the actual fall concert begins .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 24:52

There's a lot more freedom with this and real life scenario applications .

Richard Frank 24:57

That's where I see this can go and where I've seen other groups go , and this came from an academic paper I read by Cody Gifford on the idea of doing informal performances as soon as possible . So these are ways that I took this academic world and brought it into a structure that can actually be done .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 25:18

What would teachers do ? How could they access your resources , and what does that look like ? How would they get started ?

Richard Frank 25:25

Well , I encourage them to go over to playthegroovecom and start looking at the content . The first two rows of music is generally perfect for any intermediate post-beginner group . Okay when it gets to the song selection process , and I have a lot of tutorials to show them how to do different things , how to engage voice and choice from day one in a supplemental way .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 25:51

You've got a ready-made toolkit . You have charts , loops , play along tracks . You've got teacher guides for a quick setup . You're providing a lot of support .

Richard Frank 26:01

Yes , a structured way to approach an unstructured aspect of music that's not explored . So I do provide the sheet music for all of these parts . They have the guitar in tab , there's drum parts , there's percussion parts , there's bass parts , there's all the other parts as well .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 26:18

So go to Play the Groove and access that student led peer collaboration and creativity that comes with the UBC method . Thank you so much for talking about what it means from an education standpoint and how to use that in the classroom .

Richard Frank 26:35

Well , thank you very much , Lisa , and they can reach out to me by email at richard , at richardjfrankcom . They can find a contact on the playthegroovecom site . But you're doing amazing work and thank

Accessing Play the Groove Resources

Richard Frank 26:48

you very much for having me a part of your series .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 26:50

If your teens have lost interest in music class , try creating a jazzy ensemble and use the unison based content approach to re-engage them . If you have a story about what's working in your schools that you'd like to share , you can email me at lisa at drlisahasslercom , or visit my website at wwwdrlisahasslercom and send me a message . If you like this podcast , subscribe and tell a friend . The more people that know , the bigger impact it will have . And if you find value to the content in this podcast , consider becoming a supporter by clicking on the supporter link in the show notes . It is the mission of this podcast to shine light on the good in education so that it spreads , affecting positive change . So let's keep working together to find solutions that focus on our children's success .

Richard Frank 27:39

Thank you .