Improvisation

Jazz improvisation is always a difficult topic, especially for those who have no experience in the idiom. With listening experience and the correct pedagogical concepts, any musician can learn to improvise. Do not be afraid of improvisation; if you are not already improvising begin as soon as you can!

As soon as you have mastered the major scales you should begin to improvise. Ask the rhythm section players in the program to play with you. Begin by having the rhythm section play four or eight measures on each chord in the cycle and you can improvise! This can include major 7ths, dominant 7ths, and minor 7ths. This will not be new to you if you have been working on your scales and chord exercises. If you cannot find any rhythm section players to “jam” with purchase the Jamey Aebersold play-along recordings. For these types of exercises, “Volume 21, Gettin’ It Together” works very well. “Volume 24, Major and Minor” also works well.

Here are a few activities you can use.

Compose a four bar phrase and perform it in rehearsal, then learn it in all keys.
Practice call and response with a partner. Each phrase must start on the root and be three notes long. These types of activities are great for melodic and rhythmic ear training.

The next item that you should work on is the 12 bar blues. Be sure that you are listening to recordings as this is one of the fastest and best ways to develop and improve your ear!

The blues in its simplest form is built on I-IV-I-V-I harmonic pattern. There are many variations on this harmonic pattern. Included in Jamie Aebersold’s “Volume 21, Getting’ It Together” are blues progressions in the keys of F and Bb and “Volume 42, Blues in all Keys”. Also provided are chords and scales for practice.

The fastest and easiest way for students to learn to improvise on the blues is to limit your improvisational language. This is where you use major pentatonic (1,2,3,5,6,), minor pentatonic (1,b3,4,5,b7), and the blues scale (1,b3,4,b5,5,b7).

The usage of these scales over the blues is rather simple. The minor pentatonic (in the tonic key) and the blues scale (in the tonic key) can be used over the entire blues progression. The major pentatonic can be used on each dominate chord but the scales must change key with the chord. Ex. F7 = F major pentatonic, Bb7 = Bb major pentatonic.

The next step is to work on the chords and scales to the blues progression. Play the scales in time to the progression. If the chord lasts for only two beats, you should use the digital pattern of 12345. Also play the chords to the blues in time to the progression. The following process may be used to build to that point and should be played in time:

Play the roots through the progression.
Play 123 on each chord of the progression
Play 12345 on each chord of the progression
Play 135 on each chord of the progression
Play scale to the 7^th on each chord of the progression.
Play chord to the 7^th on each chord of the progression.
Play scales through progression
Play chords to the 9th or 7^th through the progression

Throughout the process of learning the blues, you should compose solos and perform them. Record yourself and allow others to listen to what you have written and performed. This will allow others to analyze your work and give helpful suggestions. Remember: Improvisation is composition; by writing the solo down, you are only slowing the improvisational process down.

It’s time to learn melodies to blues tunes such as “Freddie Freeloader”, Now’s the Time,” and “Sonnymoon for Two.” You should also begin to develop a repertoire of recordings of your own. You should also start to transcribe ideas from recordings and to imitate great jazz artists. There are numerous Jamey Aebersold recordings that contain blues tunes, as mentioned above “Volume 42, Blues in all Keys” is an excellent resource of blues tunes. Along with the Aebersold recordings, it is highly recommended that you read the texts carefully. They are very self explanatory, highly motivating, and contain a lot of valuable information.