BRUNSWICK — With a bossa nova, swing or reggae rhythm, it was still the blues.

“You can play all different styles with the same scale,” jazz musician Denis DiBlasio told a master class of about 20 Brunswick Junior High School jazz band students Friday.

Band director Heidi Anderson said she arranged the special lesson with DiBlasio to inspire students who have become familiar with improvisational music.

As the band kicked into a rock rhythm, DiBlasio called out for a solo, “Who has it?”

Trombonist Elliott Nagler stepped in, working through combinations of six simple notes over 12 bars.

“Great,” DiBlasio said. “Now, let’s see what it sounds like with a swing rhythm.”

Drummer Jacob Forbes, a sophomore jazz performance major at USM, tapped out some of jazz’s earlier syncopations.

And over an Afro-Cuban beat, two measures at a time, nearly 20 students experimented with the Bb blues scale.

“You’re introducing them to something,” DiBlasio said after the 90- minute clinic. “It’s about being creative.”

For middle school students, just learning their instruments, that creativity can be tough to inspire, DiBlasio said.

“We’re asking kids to express themselves even though they might not have the instrument really together,” DiBlasio said. “You can stifle that really quickly in the wrong environment.”

DiBlasio’s playful scat singing solos to close the clinic opened the floor for a vocal call-and-response exchange.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do that without good teaching,” DiBlasio said.

After years of running similar clinics, DiBlasio said he can tell a lot about a teacher from working with his or her class.

Improvisation, Anderson said, is often part of rehearsals at the school.

“So, they kind of have an idea,” Anderson said.

Listening is a big part of that lesson, DiBlasio said.

“All of this stuff comes from lis- tening to how other people play it,” DiBlasio said.

The “it” is jazz, and from flute to drums, DiBlasio said there’s something to learn.

“There are no jazz instruments,” DiBlasio responded to a student’s question, “just instruments that people play jazz on.”

On Friday, those instruments were in the hands of 22 students in the auditorium seats at Crooker Theater as pianist Tom Porter, bassist Doug Kennedy and drummer Forbes led the students through a panorama of jazz styles with DiBlasio leading the charge.

For DiBlasio, the lessons he teaches around the country also have a broader goal.

“This music needs help,” DiBlasio said. “If we don’t train the audience, we’ll end up losing it.”

dfishell@timesrecord.com