The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation

The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation dispels the misconception that one must be a jazz expert to give students a solid foundation in jazz improvisation. Authors John McNeil and Ryan Nielsen argue that all individuals possess an innate ability to improvise and that, given sufficient exposure and repetition, anyone can improvise in music as successfully as they improvise in life. Drawing on their shared 54 years of teaching experience and extensive work as professional jazz musicians, McNeil and Nielsen offer classroom-tested lesson plans for music educators of all backgrounds, removing the guesswork and mystique along the way.

John McNeil is a jazz trumpet player living in Brooklyn, New York. He has played with Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, and many others. He is also an active writer/producer on the New York jazz scene and is the author of The Art of Jazz Trumpet and Flexus: Trumpet Calisthenics for the Modern Improvisor. John recently retired from the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music, where he taught for nearly 40 years.
Ryan Nielsen is the trumpeter in the Kobie Watkins Grouptet. Their first album, Movement, was released to international critical acclaim and was named one of the ten best albums of 2018 by Howard Reich, former member of the Pulitzer Music Jury. Ryan has performed and/or recorded with Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Delfeayo Marsalis, and the Summit Brass. He is currently Associate Professor of Trumpet at Utah Valley University.

Chapter 1 Getting Started
Everyone Can Improvise
Training the Subconscious to Make Choices
Beyond Rote Memory
How to Use This Book
Tips for Getting Started
Reconsidering Beginning with the Blues
Chapter 2 Basic Concepts: The Root Triad and Jazz Rhythms
Chord Versus Scale
Reading Jazz Chord Symbols
Lesson Plan 1: Improvising on the Root Triad
Rhythm Section Tips
Lesson Plan 2: Adding Rhythm
Teacher's Notes
Why Start with the Root Triad?
Choosing Chords to Begin With
Adjusting Range
Designing Rhythm
Rhythm Section
General Tips
Piano: Basic Voicings
Guitar: Basic Voicings
Bass: Walking Bass Lines with Triad Pitches
Drums: Basic Ride Cymbal Technique, Hi-Hat Usage, and Kicks
Chapter 3 Adding the 2nd (1-2-3-5)
Lesson Plan 3: Adding the 2nd Degree
Lesson Plan 4: Building Longer 8th-Note Lines
Teachers' Notes
Other Possibilities on 1-2-3-5
Moving from Chord to Chord
The Metronome in Rehearsal
Tunes to Begin With
More Advanced Rhythms (3/4 + 2/4)
Chapter 4: Approaching Chord Tones from Below
Lesson Plan 5: Approach Tones (Half-Step-Below)
Teacher's Notes
Upbeats and Anticipation
Different Chord Qualities (Major)
Rhythm Section
Drums: Lightly Kicking the Upbeats
Piano/Guitar: Approaching 3, 5
7, 9 Voicings from Below
Chapter 5 Approaching Chord Tones from Above
Lesson Plan 6: Approaching Chord Tones from a Scale Step Above
Lesson Plan 7: 8th-Note Lines with Approach Tones
Teacher's Notes
Rhythm Section
Bass: Adding Approach Tones to Bass Lines
Chapter 6: Approaching Chord Tones by Two Notes
Lesson Plan 8: Two-Note Approach Tones (Above/Below)
Lesson Plan 9: Approaching Chord Tones from Two Notes Above or Two Notes Below
Chapter 7: Approaching Chord Tones by Three or More Notes
Lesson Plan 10: Approaching with Three Notes (Part 1)
Lesson Plan 11: Approaching with Three Notes (Part 2)
Lesson Plan 12: Approaching the 7th
Teacher's Notes
Approaching with Four or Five Notes
Simplifying Three Note Approaches for Less Experienced Students
Chapter 8: Improvising on the Entire Chord/Scale (Part 1)
Lesson Plan 13: Diatonic Thirds
Teacher's Notes
Singing Tetrachords
Adding Syncopation to Diatonic Thirds
More Advanced Use of Thirds
Descending Lines
Rhythm Section
Bass: Using Diatonic Thirds in Bass Lines
Piano: Using Diatonic Thirds in Comping
Chapter 9 Improvising on the Entire Chord/Scale (Part 2): Longer Lines and Harmonic Changes
Lesson Plan 14: Creating Longer Lines with Thirds
Lesson Plan 15: Moving from One Chord/Scale to Another
Chapter 10 General Scale Skills: Triads, 7th Chords, and Other Intervals
Lesson Plan 16: Triads and Other Structures
Lesson Plan 17: Mixing It Up
Teacher's Notes
Organizing Other Structures in the Chord/Scale (7th-Chords, Intervals)
Combining Lessons
Chapter 11: Understanding Chord Symbols and Respelling Chords
First, Chord Symbols
What Is Respelling?
How to Respell
Examples of Respelling
Extra Credit: Parallel Structures
Teacher's Notes
Respelling the Dominant
Respelling the Altered Dominant
Respelling the Half-Diminished Chord
Respelling Lydian
Rhythm Section
Bass: Only Respell When Soloing
Piano/Guitar: Voicing the Altered Dominant, When to Respell
Chapter 12: The II-7
V7
Id7 (Part 1) - Using 7 to 3 to Move from Chord to Chord
Lesson Plan 18: Hearing 7 to 3 on the II-7
V7
Id7
Lesson Plan 19: Using 7 to 3 to Improvise on a II-7
V7
Lesson Plan 20: Using 7 to 3 to Improvise on a V7
Id7
Lesson Plan 21: Using 7 to 3 to Improvise on a II-7
V7
Id7
Teacher's Notes
Singing Backgrounds
Tips for Building 8th-Note Lines
Rhythm Section
Piano/Guitar: Using Stepwise Motion
Chapter 13 II-7
V7
I (Part 2): Melodic Arpeggios and Dominant Cycles
Lesson Plan 22: Towards Improvising on a II-7
V7
Id7
Lesson Plan 23: Introducing 9 and 9 on the V7 Chord
Lesson Plan 24: Dominant Cycles (Part 1) - 1-2-3-5 and 1-5-3-5
Lesson Plan 25: Dominant Cycles (Part 2) - 3-5-7-9 Arpeggios
Lesson Plan 26: Dominant Cycles (Part 3) - Adding and Dropping Beats
Lesson Plan 27: 3-5-7-9 + Approach Tones - Dropping and Adding Beats
on a II-7
V7
Id7
Chapter 14: Playing the Blues (Part 1)
Why We Didn't Start with the Blues
What the Blues Means to Us
Lesson Plan 28: Using Approach Tones to Hear the Harmonic Form of the Blues (Less Advanced)
Lesson Plan 29: 1-2-3-5 on the Blues (Less Advanced)
Teacher's Notes
Harmonic Options on the Blues
The Turnaround
Rhythm Section
Piano: An Example of Comping on the Blues
Chapter 15: The Vocal Form of the Blues
Lesson Plan 30: Introducing the Vocal Form of the Blues (Less Advanced)
Lesson Plan 31: Instrumental Blues (Part 1 - Less Advanced)
Lesson Plan 32: Instrumental Blues (Part 2 - Less Advanced)
Lesson Plan 33: Instrumental Blues (Part 3 - More Advanced)
List of Blues Tunes
Teacher's Notes
Rhythm Section
Recommended Blues Tracks for Piano
Chapter 16: A Guide to Transcribing (Learning by Ear)
Getting Started
Make It Their Own
A Few Examples of Creative Practice Inspired by Transcribing
Chapter 17: The Benefits of Play - Why We Teach Jazz
A Word About a Word: Play
The Effects of Jazz: Talking Points for Admin and Parents
Appendix: Chord Symbols
Index