Jake Parker wrapped his hands around the drumsticks and slowly tapped the cymbals. Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat.

He added snare drums and bass drums, quickening the tempo and making the sound louder and more robust.

He closed his eyes and nodded up and down until his body matched the rhythm of the drums. He relaxed his shoulders, opened his eyes and smiled into the empty auditorium.

"Whoa, that was cool," said Jake, 11. "When I play rock it's the same beat all the time on the drums. But when I play jazz I get to change it up. I get to add my feelings and relax and just play what I'm thinking and feeling,"

Jake, a rising sixth-grader at High Meadows School in Roswell, is one of about 50 students attending the Juilliard Summer Jazz Residency program this week at North Atlanta High. Most of the students come from metro Atlanta, while a few traveled from Florida to attend.

The program is result of about a year and a half's work to bring the prestigious musical university to North Atlanta High, which has a national reputation for the arts. The program cost $300 per child, and each student completed an application and submitted a letter of recommendation.

Students attended class and workshops run by Juilliard faculty and students. The sessions covered everything from the history of jazz to improvisational and performance skills to musical technique and theory. Students performed in large and small groups and practiced by themselves. Each day finished with jam sessions.

"The most important thing we can do is help students have an understanding and appreciation for the music," said Carl Allen, artistic director of jazz studies at Juilliard. "That is the foundation that will let students be passionate about jazz. If they are passionate, they become inquisitive, and that's when their jazz exploration begins."

The sounds of jazz flowed through the school one morning this week as students practiced individually. Music changed with each musician, so the hard and violent notes spilling out of one room became soft and ethereal in another.

Students jammed in auditoriums, classrooms and practice rooms. One student played a double bass at the end of an empty hallway.

James Robertson practiced the alto saxophone, which was about half the size of his 10-year-old body. The rising fifth-grader at West Manor Elementary in southwest Atlanta has been playing for two years.

"I like how the sound swings," James said, moving his arms from side to side. "Like it starts sounding like one thing and then it swings through different styles and sounds like something else. And you don't get in trouble if you make mistakes because sometimes the mistakes make it better."

Students said they've been trying to learn from instructors and one another.

Bethany Moore, a rising junior at Tri-Cities High School in East Point, played the baritone saxophone in a small practice room with two other students. Her notes sounded raspy, edgy and soulful.

"Jazz describes you," said Bethany, 16. "It captures your emotions. If you're mad or upset or afraid you play that emotion into the music and then you feel better. And because everyone has felt those same emotions, jazz touches everyone."