AJRB for VCE & HSC Repertoire - A Primer

Posted on 17 February 2026

Needing vibey tunes for students studying Senior Secondary Music subjects?

The AJRB probably now has the largest list of jazz, jazz-adjacent, jazz influenced and jazz informed musics available. Even if you don’t call it “jazz” there is much new music that has been made over the past 30 years with jazz perspectives, jazz informed processes and jazz DNA in much contemporary music. Perhaps you would call this alt-jazz, or post-jazz? Whatever you call it, people are doing interesting things and taking the music in new directions. Jazz is still fresh, and it’s inspiring to hear the creative directions that it is going in, particularly in Australia.

I have found it particularly encouraging to see VCE and HSC Music Curricula require that students play Australian compositions in their senior music performance exams (often referred to as recitals). These of course can be original compositions by the students themselves, which is always great to hear that they are on the path, and continuing down it. They will be the next generation of composers and songwriters; and only should be encouraged in doing so. (side note: in VCE Music Performance Contemporary; demonstration of Personal Voice, and creative decision making in Reimagining works is specifically addressed and assessed).

I always find it interesting when I’m at a music teachers conference discussing these things that there is such opposition to the idea of requiring the playing of Australian works, with the usual justifications given as if what we collectively compose here is consistently inferior; or that there’s nobody doing anything really interesting or unique; or that there is not actually much available. (all of these things have been said previously)

Sure, you could say that it is a problem with curation; that we collectively (or our cultural institutions or even people like me) don’t provide enough “open doors” into the scene, so that people can be gently introduced into a particular creative music scene with enough appropriate context (and complimentary sparkling wine and a cheese platter to make it tolerable if the music is particularly spiky/spicy). Or it could be a problem with representation and demographics, that particular generations fail to engage with particular legacy media enterprises; whether that be the ABC, newspapers, music press before social media, free to air synchronous television, etc. Alternatively, have those legacy media organisations failed to engage where the people are actually at? Even though brilliant things are being made here, they largely go unnoticed and uncelebrated, with the creators in a perpetual state of underrepresentation.

These are bigger questions to ponder and I’m getting off track, sorry about that.

I thought I’d have a go at curating a bit of a list of resources that could be engaged with in a VCE/HSC Music Context. It’s by no means exhaustive, but it’s a good place to start. Each of the tunes on the lists are from people that are alive, are out there doing it, have composed this in the last 30 years. Maybe take your student(s) to a live gig that they are playing at? Maybe something will click. They’ll likely learn something. They’ll likely hear something they have never heard before. Sometimes you just have to have the human experience of actually being in the room where great things are happening.

Maybe that will transform their lives as it has for so many people before:

The Honest Broker: The Live Music Event That Changed My Life

So, here we go. Here are the lists that I will be working on putting together for the next little while. Links will be updated as they are published. Keep an eye out on the Australian Jazz Real Book Newsletter and @ausjazzrb Insta page. Please don’t be offended if your favourite tune/artist is not on this list. As always, I’m keen to hear your ideas about what you think would make the lists better. Hit me up ausjazzrb@gmail.com

You can’t be what you can’t see, right?

12 GUITAR Tunes for VCE & HSC Students

12 VOCAL Tunes for VCE & HSC Students

12 BASS Tunes for VCE & HSC Students

12 HORN (Saxophones, Trumpet, Trombone) Tunes for VCE & HSC Students

12 PIANO Tunes for VCE & HSC Students

Why no drumkit tunes? Good question. I will never be down on drummers, for good reasons. I have consistently found over the past 30 years that the drummers I know are some of the smartest, most musical, and most knowledgeable people around. Also the most creative; drummers have the substantial opportunity to make very musical reinterpretation decisions which demonstrate personal voice and make valuable musical contributions towards an ensemble. Some books that could be useful are: