This study attempts an examination of improvisation as part of the process of jazz

education. It will question whether it can be taught, for example in an academic setting

through one to one tuition (in music colleges for example), or whether improvisation is

best learned by students through their own experiences via a ‘master apprentice’ model.

Whether a jazz student can only acquire the skills of improvisation through participation

in an aural experience or alternatively by being immersed in jazz pedagogy will form the

platform of discussion. The relationship between teaching (or is it simply ‘learning’) how

to improvise will be examined in the context of different approaches to instrumental

teaching styles (Spruce, Davidson et al). Although this study centres on improvisation in

a jazz context it also examines whether other cultures, for example North India, where

improvisation is seen to be closer to mainstream musical thought and process, have

developed a system for teaching improvisation, or whether it is a universal problem and

not just confined to jazz. Simply – is jazz improvisation taught or caught? Before

examining these questions it would be a good idea to clarify the word ‘improvisation’.

What is improvisation?

Throughout this thesis the term ‘jazz improvisation’ will frequently be used when

discussing improvisation, although this is not to be believed that it is any different from

‘improvising’. Improvisation shares the same meaning regardless of the music to which it

refers, whether the music is from Western or non-Western origin. Before we go further,

let us consider the etymology of the word ‘improvisation’. The description below is taken

from the Cambridge Music Dictionary:

1
 The creation of music ‘on the spot’, as it is being performed – making up the
music as one goes along. A section or passage within a composition may be
improvised, or a complete piece. An improvisation may be entirely of the
performer’s own creation, or it may be based on one or more given themes. It may
consist of varying or decorating a section of music when it is repeated, or perhaps
of adding harmonies to a melody and bass line.
(Bennett. Pg.148. 1990)

This brief definition of improvising not only explains the use of improvisation in jazz but

can also be applied in all music that includes improvisation (which will be discussed

later). In Western and non-Western cultures the term improvisation implies a musician

(or a group of musicians) creating part of the music as he/she is performing. For the

purpose of this thesis the type of improvisation being examined is not ‘pure’

improvisation; this kind of improvisation relates to avant-garde art music and late 1950’s

jazz known as ‘free jazz’ that was pioneered by musicians such as Ornate Coleman and

John Coltrane. This music was appropriately named because it had no reference to a

harmonic framework or form (free-form) that allowed the musician to be totally liberated

with their improvisation. Having some kind of structure for a musician to build their

improvisation on is not only subject to jazz, but also non-Western music that uses

improvisation as part of their musical tradition. For example, a Javanese gamelan (where

improvisation is restrictive) and an Indian raga (which sounds as if it has no apparent

structure), have some kind of foundation, a structure or ostinato pattern, to base their

improvisations on.

Improvisation used in a Javanese gamelan provides the musician with less freedom to

improvise when compared to a jazz musician or an Indian musician and the improvisation

2
itself is subtler. A Javanese musician has the freedom to ‘develop’ a theme, to ‘edit’ a

piece of music, to vary the tempo and dynamics, and to ‘improve’ (by means of

improvising) the music as it is being performed. Improvisation used during a gamelan is

specifically for instrumental and/or vocal music played in the Javanese tuning system

(known as karawitan). This enables the Javanese musician to decide what set pattern (a

garap) he/she wishes to use to vary the skeletal melody (the balungan) of a gamelan

composition.

A gender [gamelan instrument] player, for example, may study a given balungan
and choose patterns from the repertoire to suit it according to its shape, direction
and pathet [sub-modalities within each of the two tuning systems], but may play
any one pattern in a variety of ways.
(Sorrell, Pg.76. 1990)

Improvisation in gamelan music is the art of choosing a given pattern (a set pattern or

varied) during a performance that will ensure its continuation and creativity. Therefore, a

garap is the act of musical analysis during a performance; which can be compared to a

jazz musician having to be aware of complex chord progressions and scale usage. For

example, a chord progression to a jazz standard very rarely stays within a certain key,

borrowed chords can be found in most jazz standards (appendix I: You stepped out of a

dream pg.42 is an example of this). Hence, a jazz musician needs to be thinking about

what chord he/she is playing over, select a scale or arpeggio to suit that particular chord

(which will be discussed in detail later), whilst being aware of the borrowed chords that

are to come. However, it is not merely selecting the correct scales and arpeggios for the

convoluted harmonic progression; the jazz musician has to create a spontaneous

3
composition that captures the listeners’ attention (a common analogy is to describe this as

‘telling a story’). Although a jazz musician has more freedom than a gamelan musician

who has only set patterns (that can vary) to dictate their improvisation, John Coltrane

used a similar style of improvising for his composition ‘Giant Steps’ (see appendix II:

Giant Steps pg 43). This tortuously dense harmonic progression forces the musician to

change scale every two measures that is played at fast pace. Coltrane outlines each chord,

a typical bebop characteristic, though because of the quick tempo Coltrane devised a

method of improvising using note groupings, three or four in each group, ascending and

descending throughout his improvisation.

Some of the descending patterns include 5-3-1, 8-5-3, 5-3-1-b7, 5-3-2-1, 8-5-3-1,
9-b7-6-5, and 7-5-3-1 scale groupings. Ascending patterns include 1-3-5-7, 1-2-3-
5, 3-5-8-10, 3-5-7-9, and 5-8-10 groupings. Patterns based on ascending and
descending motion include 8-1-3-5, 10-5-8-10, 5-6-7-5, and 3-1-2-3 groupings.
(Reeves Pg 170 1989)

Improvisation is significant in North Indian music. Indeed, it is a fact of musical life (a

view also shared amongst jazz musicians; interestingly we can discover elements of

Indian music in jazz). Rather than use a chord progression as a foundation for

improvisation, an Indian musician uses a raga (melodic framework – ‘modes’), providing

the musician with a tonal framework for composition and improvisation. However, this is

its technical term; a raga is more than just a framework it is thought of as an emotional

state, a season or time of day, which is as relevant as its melodic structure. The term raga

implies to evoke a particular emotion, that it should colour the mind, bring delight, to

move the listener and stimulate an emotional response.

4
 A raga is more than its physical form... its body. It has a soul which comes to
dwell and inhabit the body. In the language of Indian poetics this soul – this
principle – is known as the rasa, or flavour, its sentiment, its impassioned feeling.
(Gangoly, in Bailey, Pg.5. 1980)

There are basic materials in a raga that an Indian musician uses i.e. basic intervals (sruti

and svara), a set rhythmic cycle (tala), and a fixed melody (gat). Other elements in a raga

include the ‘feel’ (laya) of the tala and a free-time section (alapa). A raga can be divided

into two parts – free-time (alapa) and measured-time (tala). The raga begins very slowly

with an alapa, which has no rhythm (tala), just a pulse. This enables the musician to

explore the melodic possibilities of the raga by improvising over a drone using a sruti (a

twenty-two micro-tonal scale) and a svara (a seven note scale known as a mode). The

musician begins with the first note of the chosen svara, and improvises in turn around

each note one after the other with no pre-set duration restrictions. This leads into the gat,

which can be any one of a myriad of traditional folk songs, yet allows the musician to

compose new songs spontaneously and to generate a variety of melodic sequences. This

is played over the tala, an ostinato pattern, which is played at a faster tempo than the

alapa. The tala plays an important role for the improviser as it produces the laya i.e. the

feel of the music. Although the raga clearly sets a foundation for an Indian musician to

base his/her improvisations on, the basic intervals (sruti and svara), rhythmic cycle (tala

and laya), folk songs (gat), and the framework (raga) are all unfixed; therefore every

element in a raga is variable.

It was this sense of freedom and expressiveness in Indian music that appealed to jazz

5
musicians during the late 1950’s through to the early 1960’s. Miles Davis’s critically

acclaimed album Kind of Blue (1959) displayed strong links between methods used in

North Indian music and jazz. Instead of applying numerous scales and arpeggios to a

complex chord progression that provided the harmonic framework that acted as a

springboard for improvisation (popular in the jazz music known as bebop that was

popularized during the 1940’s and early 1950’s by musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and

Charlie Parker), Davis began to move away from harmonic structures giving melodic

exploration more importance. Using modes allowed Davis to focus on linear expansion

and by doing so changed his approach to improvisation. Rather than constantly having to

change scales to suit the underlying chord progression, he could concentrate on one

particular mode over a relatively long period. So What (see appendix III: So What. Pg.44)

is the opening piece to Kind of Blue and displays how simplified this jazz standard is

when compared to a more traditional jazz standard (such as You Stepped Out of a

Dream). Although Davis was not the first to uses modes (George Russell wrote a book

titled The Lydian Concept of Tonal Organization publish in 1953), he was one of the first

to compose a jazz standard with no real harmonic progression that enabled his sidemen

more freedom to improvise in a way that they have never done so heretofore. The music,

before Kind of Blue was recorded, that the musicians grew up listening to (therefore was

most probably the music that they learnt to play on their instrument) had a harmonic

structure that consisted of myriad chords. These musicians were used to listening to and

playing Tin Pan Alley songs (popular Broadway songs from the 1920’s that were re-

arranged into jazz standards as vehicles for improvisations) that contained numerous

perfect cadences. So much attention was drawn upon what the musician would play over

6
a super-tonic to dominant to tonic chord progression that it was difficult to keep a

melodic idea continuous. So What has no cadences, it consists of only two chords (Dm7

and Ebm7), not even a dominant chord, therefore undoubtedly effected their approach to

improvisation.

John Coltrane, who was saxophonist for Davis during the recording of Kind of Blue, was

also influenced by this new concept. The use of Western and non-Western exotic modes

became a hallmark of his individualistic performances. Coltrane’s compositions began to

show elements of Indian music, though this did not give his music an exotic flavour, it

was still in a jazz genre, but it was subtly embedded in the music. Coltrane’s composition

Naima (appendix IV: Naima. pg.45), one of his first well-known pieces, is an epitome of

this.

The tune is built... on suspended chords over an E pedal tone on the outside. On
the inside – the channel – the chords are suspended over a B pedal tone. The tonic
and dominant are used in the drone from which improvisations are developed, just
as in the music of India.
(Coltrane, in Farrel, Pg.190. 1997)

As stated above, a jazz musician has a framework, though more restricted than a raga, to

base his/her improvisations on e.g. a melody, a chord progression and in most cases a

simple ternary form (theme/improvisations/theme). The composition Solar, by Miles

Davis (performed by Pat Metheny), demonstrates how jazz musicians use a jazz standard

as a framework to base their improvisations on (see example 1: Cd: track 5). This

example demonstrates how the soloist changes scale to fit the underlying chord

7
progression. A simple overview of the tonality are: bars 1-2 C minor, bars 3-6 F major,

bars 7-9 Eb major, bars 10-11 Db major, and bar 12 C minor (see appendix V: Solar.

pg.46). Though the changing tonality does not restrict Metheny’s creativity; in fact it is

difficult to hear when Metheny changes scale because one idea seamlessly flows into the

next. These ideas are so strong that it would be challenging for someone, who has not

heard Solar, to distinguish whether the third chorus (chorus 1 is the melody and chorus 2

is the melody repeated an octave higher) is the beginning of Metheny’s improvised solo,

or part of the composition. Miles Davis’s improvisation to So What is another example of

an improvisation being so perfect and coherent that it sounds pre-arranged i.e. as a

notated composition. Many jazz musicians strive for this in their improvisations; to sound

like an extension of, rather than their improvisation sounding like a separate section.

Metheny’s improvised solo has a strong sense of freedom, although this sense of freedom

is not only subject to the soloist, it can also be heard in the accompaniment by bassist

Dave Holland. Holland is playing over a precise chord progression, although when

listening to this piece the chord progression is not clear, it can be heard, but only if the

listener is focusing on the bass player. Example 1 is a transcription of the opening bars of

Metheny’s improvised solo that displays how he improvises over the changing tonality.

Because Metheny’s improvisation becomes more unconstrained as the solo develops, and

as an example of each musicians freedom and how they react to one another’s playing,

the recording can be heard in full on the audio example (Cd: track 5).

Example 1: Solar

8
 (Gress, Guitar-One, Pg 151. 1999)

The solo is generally regarded as being the only part that is improvised simply because in

this genre the solo is the focal point in the music; however, as Solar demonstrates,

improvisation is also used in the accompaniment as well. For example, in a quartet setting

i.e. saxophone, piano, bass, and drums, the drummer has more freedom than the soloist

because he/she do not have to consider the harmonic implications that jazz standards

generate. The bass player has the freedom to weave in and out of the chord progression,

not being restricted to playing only the chord tones (triads and arpeggios) but to use non-

tonal notes to create tension. The use of non-chord tones are mostly used during a

chromatic ascending or descending run (passing notes) linking one chord to another

(known as ‘walking bass’). The pianist, when accompanying, improvises with different

chord voicings, rhythmic patterns (which can be influenced by the soloist or drummer),

and may insert the occasional short improvised phrase. An epitome of the

accompaniment using improvisation can be heard in the composition Outta Town by

Mike Stern (Cd: track 6). Although, in this example a rhythm guitarist replaces the pianist

as accompanist during the solos; however, the same methods of accompanying still

applies. This recording display’s each musician listening carefully to one another’s

playing, helping to enhance any ideas that may arise whilst supporting each other. This is

most noticeable between the soloist and drummer because both musicians are at the

9
forefront (simply in terms of volume). Outta Town displays a modern jazz band

communicating rhythmically as well as harmonically and melodically. For example,

when the soloist decides to create tension, he/she will play non-tonally, to emphasise this

tension they may disrupt the rhythm. The drummer will hear this and will likewise

displace the rhythm (similarly the pianist or rhythm guitarist and bassist), listening very

carefully to know when the soloist will release the tension, so both musicians arrive at the

same point at the same time. An example of this can be heard two minutes and twenty

seconds into Outta Town between the guitarist and drummer.

The chord progression to any jazz standard provides the main framework for the

improvisation. Although, the soloist may also choose to base his/her improvisation on the

melody, whether he/she uses fragments of the melody (as Metheny did in Solar) or

simply be thinking of the melody whilst improvising. At the beginning of the improvised

solo, the musician may wish to embellish (paraphrase) the melody, which is an effective

method of smoothly progressing into the improvisation and can act as a foundation to

build their improvisation on. The musician may decide to use fragments of the melody as

motifs, which may be used as reference points, especially if the solo is of some length

(This can be heard halfway through Metheny’s improvisation of Solar). Using a

framework to base an improvisation on is applied in non-Western music (as discussed

earlier), although not as obvious as in jazz standards. Ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl

states that jazz shares the same structural principles as non-Western cultures:

We may take it that each model, be it a tune, a theoretical construct, or a model

with typical melodic turns, consists of a series of obligatory musical events which

10
 must be observed, either absolutely or with some sort of frequency, in order that
the model remain intact.
(Nettl, in Townsend, Pg.13. 2000)

Nettl makes the comparison between jazz and non-Western music by using the

terminology ‘density’. The genres that use improvisation have various points of

reference. In jazz these reference points are the changing chord progression (change in

tonality) that gives the piece a structure. These structures differ depending on how many

points of reference there are and how closely they occur.

In comparing various types of model, we find that those of jazz are relatively
dense, those of Persian music of medium density, and those of an Arabic taqsim
or an Indian alap relatively lacking in density.
(Nettl, in Townsend, Pg.13. 2000)

Comparing improvisations used in a Javanese gamelan, an Indian raga, and jazz, it is

clear that the term ‘spontaneous composition’ best describes improvisation. Whether the

musician has the freedom of an Indian musician, or has the restrictions of a Javanese

gamelan musician, the musician has the opportunity to create something new for the

composition whilst performing. However, David Elliot (1995) claims that using the word

‘spontaneous’ may suggest that the improvisation is thoughtless, unpremeditated,

unstudied, or an unconscious activity. This concept that jazz musicians are simply

‘making it all up’ suggests that it is an easy task, anyone can do it, and it is because of

this that the word ‘improvisation’ (according to Bailey) is very little used by improvising

musicians.

11
 Idiomatic improvisers, in describing what they do, use the name of the idiom.
They ‘play flamenco’ or ‘play jazz’; some refer to what they do as just ‘playing’.
There is noticeable reluctance to use the word and some improvisers express a
positive dislike for it. I think this is due to its widely accepted connotations which
imply that improvisation is something without preparation and without
consideration, a completely ad hoc activity, frivolous and inconsequential, lacking
in design and method. And they object to that implication because they know
from their own experience that it is untrue. They know that there is no musical
activity that requires greater skill and devotion, preparation, training and
commitment. And so they reject the word, and show a reluctance to be identified
by what in some quarters has become almost a term of abuse.

(Bailey, Pg. xxi. 1980)

A professional jazz musician would have had to study all the great jazz standards,

listened to myriad recordings by various artists, analyzed their solos, and spent hours

practising improvising over numerous jazz standards. Charlie Parker was known to have

developed his concepts by practising approximately eleven to fifteen hours a day for over

a period of three to four years (Kirchner. 2000). Once a jazz musician can improvise over

jazz standards with freedom (technically and musically) then he/she would have

undoubtedly performed these pieces many times, with various artists, in different settings

(for example a duet, trio, or quartet). This is not to suggest that improvised solos are pre-

arranged; a jazz musician does create ‘spontaneous composition’. To clarify this point we

can compare improvisation to speech. The words one uses when speaking have been used

time and time again for many years; however, it is the order in which the words are used

to create sentences. There comes a point where one does not have to think of each

individual word, what order they go in, and what tone to use before one speaks; it is a

12
subconscious act. World-renowned jazz musician Pat Metheny supports this view:

Improvising on chord changes is a lot like giving a speech about a fairly complex
subject using fairly complex grammar – there is no way you can just wing it, you
have to have done a lot of research into the subject and have a pretty wide ranging
vocabulary that makes the language in all its potential available to you. Much in
the same way that all of us are capable of kind of ‘improvising’ our sentences
without thinking too much about verbs, adjectives, pronouns, etc., a really good
improviser who has studied harmony and its implications for years can sort of just
‘play.’ But there is no getting around it, if you are serious about playing on a tune
like ‘Lakes’ or even ‘Phase Dance’ for that matter, you will have to know
everything there is to know about the grammar of improvising as it has developed
over this century. There are no quick fixes.

(Metheny, Pg.447. 2000)

John Coltrane’s improvised solo on his composition Giant Steps clearly demonstrates the

level of concentration that a jazz musician needs to improvise over this extremely

complex chord progression. For Coltrane to be able to improvise over this chord

progression, at such a fast tempo, he would have had to develop an extraordinary high

level of musicianship. Coltrane not only needed to have an understanding of complex

harmonic theory, but also would have had to be able to think harmonically in action

(similar to how gamelan musicians analyse their music during a garap). Therefore,

although Coltrane did not know precisely what he would improvise, he knew everything

that he needed to know in advance of creating a spontaneous composition.

13
Can jazz improvisation be taught?

There is an ongoing conflict amongst jazz musicians and educators on whether jazz

improvisation can be taught but there seems to be no conclusive answer. Some musicians

believe that jazz, like all music, has a formula and so it can be taught (Timms. 1998).

Wynton Marsalis shares this view:

Everything that we do... except natural bodily functions, somebody taught us.
Somebody taught you [how] to speak, so the whole question... the thing that you
can’t be taught how to play jazz that’s some of the most absurd... you can’t be
taught into a genius for something, it’s a spiritual thing, it’s a condition, but you
can be taught.
(Marsalis, in Shipman, 2001)

On the other hand, musicians such as jazz trumpeter and composer Ingrid Jenson

disagree, insisting that jazz, by its nature, cannot be taught and those who do so will

homogenise the music.

As far as teaching jazz... that is a contradiction in terms because this music came
strictly from an aural tradition of people sitting around listening and going ‘oh
that was really cool I gotta figure out what he just played’. And the reason why
I’m so adamant about this way of learning is because this is how I learnt.

(Jenson, in Shipman. 2001)

Theory

The theory behind jazz improvising, the foundation (chord theory and scale knowledge),

can be taught successfully, not just from teacher to pupil (in a one-to-one situation), but

also teaching in large groups (class room situation). A jazz musician not only needs to

14
have a wide knowledge of scales (Giant Steps and You Stepped Out of a Dream are an

epitome of this) but also to know how each scale works over different chords and what

effect it creates. For example, the melodic minor scale played a semitone above the

dominant chord is commonly used amongst jazz musicians (see example 2: Tensions

created over a G7 chord). Using an ascending Ab melodic minor scale (also known as

jazz minor scale) over a G7 chord combines tonal (major third, minor seventh, and root)

and non-tonal (b9, #9, b5, #5/b13) chord tones. When the Ab melodic minor scale is

played over a G7 chord i.e. as part of a super-tonic to dominant to tonic chord

progression, these non-tonal chord tones create different degrees of tension over the

dominant chord to be released during the tonic. For example note Ab (b9) being the most

dissonant note, whilst note Bb (#9) creating a milder tension, both can be resolved to a C

major chord.

Example 2

Tensions created over a G7 chord

G7 Chord Ab melodic minor scale

b9 #9 3rd b5 #5/b13 7th root

Ab melodic minor scale: Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F G

Tensions created: b9 #9 3rd b5 #5/b13 7th root
G7 chord tones: 3rd 7th root

The melodic minor scale can also be played a tone below the dominant chord (F melodic

15
minor scale), or a perfect fifth above (D melodic minor scale), both creating different

tensions. You Stepped Out of a Dream is an example of how harmonically complex a jazz

standard can be and gives an insight to the level of music theory that a jazz musician has

to learn before he/she can improvise over a jazz standard.

Natural learning

It is clear that the foundation of jazz improvisation (music theory) can be taught, but can

learning how to improvise i.e. to make something creative out of the scale and chord

knowledge that students are taught, only be gained through self development? In fact,

Marsalis’s bold statement ‘improvisation can be taught because we were taught how to

speak’ has no real corroboration. Where is there solid evidence that we are taught (from

teacher to pupil) how to speak? Marsalis states that ‘somebody taught you to speak’,

suggesting a teacher/pupil concept but perhaps we learn how to speak naturally? In a

study by Margaret Barrett (Barrett, in Spruce. 1996), the writer suggests that children

acquire (oral) language with no apparent formal instruction, and that they learn

independently through living in an environment in which the language is used on a daily

basis.

Learning how to talk... is a stunning intellectual achievement, almost universally

successful, extremely rapid, usually effortless, painless and durable.

(Cambourne, in Spruce. Pg.63. 1996)

Of course, children need guidance when acquiring the skill of how to speak but they are

16
encouraged to take responsibility for their learning and to learn at their own pace. Below

is a summary of the principle characteristics of natural learning. It is initially used to

explain how children acquire spoken language but equally applicable in outlining how

musicians learn to improvise:

 The learning begins with the immersion in an environment in which the skill
is being used in purposeful ways.
 The environment is an emulative rather than an instructional one, providing
lively examples of the skill in action.
 Reinforcement contingencies, both intrinsic and extrinsic, approach the ideal
of immediate rewards for almost every approximation regardless of the
distance of the initial response from the ideal response.
 Bad approximations... are not reinforced.
 Practice of the task is determined largely by the learner.
 The environment is secure and supportive... free from any threat associated
with the learning task.
 Development tends to proceed continuously in an orderly sequence marked by
considerable difference from individual to individual.

(Barrett, in Spruce. Pg.64. 1996)

These guidelines suggested by Barrett of immersion, demonstration, engagement,

expectations, responsibility, approximation, and response, strongly supports the argument

that improvisation is largely learnt by the student through experience and by taking

control of their own learning (eventually through ‘just listening’ that will be discussed

later).

17
Immersion.

According to Barrett music learning can take place through a variety of approaches, the

first approach being immersion. For a student to be immersed in a musical environment,

whether it is from a supportive family (not necessarily a musical family), from having

friends who share a love of music, or simply from having frequent exposure to all sorts of

music, will undoubtedly affect the speed that the student will learn. Jazz trumpeter Dizzy

Gillespie was fortunate to have a musical family and to have a variety of musical

instruments to experiment with at an early age.

My father was a musician, and he had all these instruments in the house, and I’m
the youngest of nine, and he died when I was goin’ on ten. And he didn’t know I
was going to be a musician, but he tried to beat it into the rest of my older
brothers and sisters, and they wouldn’t go for it. But I used to fool around – I
remember I could pick out something on the piano before I could reach the
keyboard.
(Gillespie, in Enstice and Rubin. Pg.174. 1992)
Demonstration

It is important for a jazz student to witness performances, in the genre that he/she is

studying, by professional musicians/educators. Although there are innumerable jazz

recordings that a student can acquire, even recordings of live performances may capture

some of the ambience that a live performance creates; it is not equal to seeing a group of

performing musicians. Not only being able to hear the performance but to see it as well.

For the student to witness the interaction between the musicians, as well as seeing the

enjoyment on the faces of the musicians and the audience is a highly motivational tool.

The student will see what can be accomplished if he/she continues to study jazz (or music

18
in general) and may set that particular performance as his/her goal i.e. to be able to play

at the same standard as the professional musicians. Of course, this is not only subject to

jazz, for a student studying any genre, seeing highly skilled professionals perform, or

even being able to speak to them (in a workshop situation), will help the student realise

that the relentless hours spent practising on his/her chosen instrument are worth while. A

recent investigation, by Jane Davidson and Jonathan Smith, explored aspiring musicians’

attitudes on music and its role in their lives (Davidson, Howe, Sloboda, in Hargreaves

and North. 1997). This study suggests that young learners seeing a performance or

speaking to a musician (or a group of musicians) who are known to them via radio,

recording, or television is a highly positive motivator. In a sample of 28 student

musicians aged between 14–20 years of age, Davidson and Smith found that virtually all

students mentioned ‘being inspired’ by professional musicians. One example Davidson

and Smith use is from a sixteen-year-old female violinist:

I had already started violin lessons, and I suppose it was going OK. You know, I
liked the instrument, and my Dad used to help me with the practice, but then I saw
Nigel Kennedy on the TV, and I thought: ‘Wow, he’s great!’ I suppose it’s a bit
like being a fan or something. He’s great because he plays so fantastically, and
he’s a really cool person. He’s not at all stuck up, like lots of classical musicians.
I want to be like him: mellow and technically brilliant. He’s my idol!

(Davidson, Howe, Sloboda, in Hargreaves and North. Pg.200. 1997)

Engagement

Being immersed in an environment, where jazz plays an important role, and to be able to

see musicians play jazz at a high standard will certainly enthuse the student but more

importantly keep them motivated. However, the student should be encouraged to not only

19
observe but to participate in what is known as a ‘jam session’, which will help build their

confidence so they can express themselves without the fear of making mistakes. One of

the first musicians to run an improvisation workshop in England, John Stevens (Bailey, in

Spruce. 1980), discovered that the most effective method of engaging students is to

encourage them to work empirically. To instil them with enough confidence so they will

try to attempt to play something before they know how to do it. John Stevens explains:

My object is to incorporate all the people in the room in an experience. A free

playing experience. You get them to apply themselves to this joint experience and
some point arrives where we are all ‘doing it’. When they walk away from there,
that’s when the other bit comes in. They are going to examine that experience and
try to decide how it happen[ed] and what they did to help it happen. And they are
going to try and work out how to make it happen again. And the teaching comes
in when you provide them with the group experience. Which they provide
anyway. And even though this is to do with free playing and it is possible to enter
into this without being able to play in tune, or to be able to do anything really, if
you are going to continue in music – any kind of music – that group activity
experience should be useful to any musical situation you might find yourself in.
So it has a general usefulness, I think.

(Stevens, in Spruce. Pg.230. 1996)

The use of experimentation during a ‘free improvisation’ session is extremely important

when learning how to improvise. During these sessions it is acceptable to play non-

tonally, there are no incorrect notes, and the student has the freedom to play without the

restrictions of scales or chord progressions, therefore whatever the student plays will be

praised. Improvisation is learnt through trial and error, to be creative in an improvisation

20
requires an element of risk, an experimental session (free improvisation) would certainly

help each student gain the confidence that he/she needs to take risks in their

improvisations. Though, this is not to suggest that the students are taught how to do this.

In fact, this quote by Stevens shows no sign of teaching. The students are left to their own

devices; they are not shown how to improvise or what scales to play. After they have

experienced the ‘free improvisation’ session, they are left to analyse that experience for

themselves. Therefore, in a ‘free improvisation’ situation there are no scales, chord

progressions, or melodies to teach the students. As a result the teacher can only lead the

group, to take a back seat and allow the group of musicians to experience improvisation

for themselves, to experiment and creatively produce something out of nothing.

Expectations

For a student to have the confidence to take risks during his/her improvisations stems

from the instrumental teacher displaying that they have confidence in their students’

ability. Davidson, Howe, and Sloboda (1997) discovered that children who successfully

acquired musical skills were more than likely to have regarded their teacher as a friendly,

chatty, relaxed, and encouraging person, in comparison to the less successful children.

Indeed, in analysis of the adjectives children used to describe their teachers, it was
apparent that first teachers of the musically successful children who were rated as
having better ‘personal quality’ factors than the children who ceased music
tuition; that is, they demonstrated such characteristics as friendliness and
chattiness.
(Davidson, Howe, Sloboda, in Hargreaves and North. Pg.202. 1997)

21
Responsibility

It is important for a student to take control of his/her learning, to operate independently,

and not to rely on his/her instrumental teacher as the only source of information. A

student should be motivated to want to solve problems that he/she may encounter and to

attempt to find answers to their own questions before asking his/her mentor. One of the

best methods of learning how to improvise is through trial and error:

Improvisation is characterised by problem-solving and a high level of personal

interaction… There is no consensus as to how people can be helped to practice
improvisation – commitment leads - tuition and the motivation is ‘delight’.

(Swanwick. Pg.154. 1994)

The emphasis on commitment also applies to the amount of time that the student chooses

to practice his/her instrument. The acquisition of musical skill (Davidson, Howe,

Sloboda, in Hargreaves and North. 1997) varies on the amount of time that each

individual spends practising ‘formally’ (set by teachers) and ‘informally’ (self-taught).

The best students in the performance class of the conservatory had accumulated
around 10,000 hours of practice by the age of 21, whereas less accomplished
students in the pedagogy department had accumulated only half that amount, on
average.
(Davidson, Howe, Sloboda, in Hargreaves and North. Pg.192. 1997)

This information was obtained from students studying the violin at a conservatory over a

number of years, with no improvisation, and having formal practice sessions (scales,

22
graded pieces, and technical exercises). However, Davidson, Howe, and Sloboda,

compared this information with individuals who had no formal experiences; one of these

musicians being New Orleans jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. Although Armstrong did

not have a formal musical background, he had frequent exposure to New Orleans music

and there were many opportunities for freely exploring a variety of genres. Even before

Armstrong began to learn to play the cornet (and later the trumpet), he was singing in

street corner choirs, where he would witness the ‘tonk bands’ that would play in the

streets. Armstrong was not classically trained, he learnt audibly rather than visually;

however, he would have had to accumulate the same number of hour’s practice as the

classical violinists from the conservatory (as discussed earlier). The data that Davidson,

Howe, and Sloboda, had gathered confirmed that the high achieving young

instrumentalists who undertook many more hours of informal practice, self motivated

(not instructed by a tutor), than the low achievers. Their study also shows that the

children who eventually gave up playing their instrument did not engage in any informal

practice activities.

Approximation

Approximation is strongly linked to ‘engagement’ as the term means to ‘have a go’.

Barrett (1996) defines approximation as making mistakes: ‘Freedom to approximate is an

essential ingredient of all successful learning’ (Barrett, in Spruce 1996). Through

approximation the student can evaluate his/her improvisation. One method is to record an

improvised solo and then listen back to the solo to hear what worked and what did not.

This lends itself to the previous section ‘Responsibility’ i.e. for the student to take control

23
of their learning. For a student to make mistakes when practising is actually a positive

exercise. By doing so, suggests that the student is taking risks to try and make a bold

statement in their improvisation. It would be pointless if the student did not learn from

his/her mistakes. A teacher may use a faded strategy (Elliot. 1995), so the student will

gradually take the responsibility to problem-solve on his/her own, and not to rely too

heavily on the teacher. Figure 1, illustrates how a teachers’ support should slowly fade,

not only over a long period, but even during a single lesson, as the student tackles

musical problems that may arise.

Fig 1 The fading strategy

Student takes
responsibility

Teacher’s support fades

Student takes
responsibility

(Elliot. Pg.280. 1995)

Response

It is vital for a student to receive feedback from his/her peers, though it is extremely

important how the teacher gives their response. Barrett (1996) suggests that ‘responses by

the teacher or the expert should be relevant, appropriately timed, readily available and,

above all, non-threatening’. Keith Swanwick agrees that a critical response should never

be threatening and uses this concept of how we acquire spoken language as a comparison:

We can learn from studies of language acquisition just how important it is to

24
 respond to children in ways that affirm the existence of meaning, even if their
utterance is not completely formed and crystal clear.
(Swanwick. Pg. 94. 1994)

Negative feedback from a student’s teacher can have a damaging effect on their

confidence and may result in the student giving up the instrument. Jazz bassist Charles

Mingus describes how negative feedback affected his early music studies:

This teacher who taught my sister and the choir conductor at the church, he
played trombone, so my parents asked him if he would give me lessons. So he
came and gave me lessons. He said to learn the lines and spaces. He didn’t write
them out for me. He said, “Ask your sister. She plays piano.” So he gave me a
week to learn the lines and spaces. He came back and said, “You’re stupid, you
don’t know one line from another, you’ll never make a musician,” and I didn’t
know what to say. It took me years to find out that I wasn’t really stupid, and that
he was the one who was stupid, ’cause he was the choir conductor, and the choir
is usually written – other than the bass sections – in the treble-clef. And why
didn’t he recognise that I was reading off the treble-clef scale and say, “Well, you
have to learn the bass clef”? So I always hated him so much for wasting my time,
’cause I probably would have been a much better musician if I had started earlier
in my studies.

(Mingus, in Enstice and Rubin. Pg.217. 1992)

This also proved to be the case in the study by Davidson, Howe, and Sloboda (1997).

They reported a number of instances where able young musicians found their peers’

attitudes to their music to be disabling, to the extent that they considered giving up

playing their instrument. Barrett (1996) suggests steps to an effective response from

teacher to student:

25
 1. Acceptance of the learner’s musical statement, regardless of the distance from
the ‘correct’ response at the initial stage.

2. A simple celebration of the learner’s attempt and appreciation of the efforts

that have been made.

3. An evaluation in terms of the extent to which the stated goals have been
achieved, and the degree to which the learner has demonstrated some mastery
and control of the medium.

4. A demonstration of other possibilities, and a more refined approximation if

appropriate.
(Barrett, in Spruce. Pg.71. 1996)

From the evidence that has been presented it is clear that jazz improvisation (not theory)

is learnt ‘naturally’ by the student through experience. It is extremely important for a

student to learn music theory, the foundation on which improvisation is built on, although

learning how to apply this knowledge into a creative ‘spontaneous composition’ is

absorbed subconsciously through time. Being immersed in jazz (immersion), having the

opportunity to see live performances (demonstration), to participate in ‘jam sessions’

(engagement), take control of his/her own learning (responsibility), and to simply ‘have a

go’ (approximation), the student will gradually absorb the ability to improvise.

‘Expectations’ and ‘response’ are the only two areas in the ‘natural learning’ process that

requires a teacher, but there is still no sign of teaching improvisation within these areas,

only how a teacher should act and respond with a student. This is not to suggest that a

student wishing to learn improvisation does not need an instrumental teacher, it is vital

that a student’s progress be assessed and that he/she is encouraged and motivated by a

26
mentor. In jazz this is known as a ‘master apprentice’, who is also used in non-Western

music, such as North India, where a student learns improvisation from his/her mentor - a

Guru.

Master apprentice

This view of learning how to improvise through self development is also shared by non-

Western music that value improvisation. As discussed earlier in the essay, it is clear that

an Indian musician can be taught the tools for improvising i.e. sruti (micro-tones), svara

(modes), gat (melodies – traditional folk songs), tala (rhythm), and raga (modal

framework). This can be compared to a jazz musician needing to have knowledge of

scales, arpeggios, chords, and a structure, as a foundation to base their improvisation on.

Although jazz and Indian music come form different origins (Western and non-Western),

both have a strong emphasis on self-development, a jazz student diligently learns from

his/her mentor, whilst an Indian musician learns from his/her Guru. Viram Jasani

describes how an Indian musician learns improvisation:

A Guru doesn’t, or your teacher doesn’t, really tell you how to improvise. That is
purely up to the student to gain by experience and to intuit the various methods of
playing the music. He gives you the scope and the field in which to gain your
experience and if you’re a good student you take advantage of this opportunity
that he gives you and then it becomes something that one develops on one’s own.

(Viram Jasani, in Bailey. Pg.8. 1980)

It is not only improvisation, the spontaneous creative aspect of the genre, in jazz music

that cannot be taught, but is a common problem in all music that use improvisation, and

27
as Viram Jasani explained, is because a student learning improvisation can only be

guided in the right direction by his/her mentor. The student has to take the responsibility

of learning how to improvise, through the ‘natural learning’ process, and by simply

listening to jazz and through transcribing (which will be discussed later).

Just listening

It has already been established that the foundations on how to improvise (music theory)

can be taught and is fundamental for all jazz students to comprehend. However, this is

not to suggest that an understanding of harmony and knowledge of scale relationship is

all that is required. Listening endlessly to past and present jazz recordings is an important

exercise in learning the art of improvisation in a jazz context. Jazz musician Pat Metheny

and jazz educator Jamie Aebersold share this view:

I would always encourage anyone reading anything about any aspect of jazz to
discount about 99 percent of what they read on the subject. Just listen to the music
– it more than speaks for itself.
(Metheny, Pg.446. 2000)

Jamie Aebersold is the author of many jazz books and, like Metheny, believes that the

listening part of the learning process is not stressed enough:

I think the old days were better in some ways, because people were forced to use
their ears and really listen. Jazz education has changed, and of course I’m a part
of that too. Now people use books, as a visual medium – people using their eyes
instead of their ears. They’re taking the information in on the left side of the

28
 brain, while the right side, the creative side, isn’t being used the way it used to.
When I was coming up, the eyes weren’t important, the ears were – listening was
the key. The right side took in the information, while the left side, the analytical
side, tried to figure out what was going on. Now, it’s almost reversed, and I think
we oftentimes have players who don’t get lost and play the right notes, but aren’t
saying much.

(Aebersold, in Bucheger, Pg.4. 1994)

Jazz improvisation can be learnt without picking up an instrument. Through listening to

records by Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis et cetera,

listening to their phrasing, the different rhythms, question and answer phrases, the use of

tension and release, accents, and so on. Lucy Green (2001) describes this as an

unconscious approach to learning. Green interviewed numerous musicians of different

calibres for her study (though the book is titled How popular musicians learn, her study

also covers jazz and other genres). Here are two examples of two musicians discussing

how ‘just listening’ helped them. The first example is Nanette; Green asked her how she

learnt a demanding jazz repertoire?

I spent all my time just listening really, listening to loads of different types of
music and whenever there’s a challenge, try to meet it, really. That was the main
thing.
(Nanette, in Green. Pg.67. 2001)

Will was asked whether he had been shown how to play by teachers, by teaching himself,

a mixture of the two, or some other method?

29
 Um, first of all, I would say listening, because I was really listening to rock
music; and then learnt how to play jazz through what I was taught, because I
wasn’t listening to it really, apart from when I was playing it; and then I was
shown how to play country music, the licks, where it was coming from. I was
shown how to play singer-songwriter type thing, but I think I’ve picked them up
from listening, because I listened to a lot more country, jazz and singer-songwriter
than I used to. So I think I’ve picked them up myself and I’ve taught myself
different styles since then, like, I don’t know what style you’d call it, um, AOR
(Adult Orientated Rock or in the USA, Album Orientated Rock).

(Will, in Green. Pg. 67. 2001)

The next step from ‘just listening’ is for a student to practice improvising along with jazz

recordings. By doing so he/she will begin to vaguely mimic the different rhythms and

certain ways of phrasing that the jazz artist uses in their own improvisation. One other

method would be to copy the whole solo i.e. to play the piece, note for note, from

memory. This was and still is a common method of learning how to improvise in jazz.

For example, Wes Montgomery was self-taught, like many jazz musicians of his time,

and within eight months of learning the guitar had memorised all of Charlie Christian’s

improvised solos from the album Solo Flight (Gress. 1998). This method of learning how

to improvise does clearly work because thousands of jazz musicians learnt this way.

Although, without music theory books as an aid, or a mentor (master apprentice) to

answer questions that the pupil may have, the learning process is longer and bad habits

can occur. More importantly, this method only lends itself to performing jazz because it

does not prepare the student to teach because he/she would not have the terminology.

30
Transcription

Transcribing is one method of learning how to improvise that is recommended by all jazz

musicians and educators. The etymology of transcription is basically taking aural

dictation, notate it, and then analyse the notated solo:

In jazz the act of fixing in notated form music that is entirely or partly improvised,
or for which no written score exists; also the resulting notated version itself. The
term is also applied to the traditional practice of memorising and reproducing a
recorded improvisation without necessarily notating it.

(Tucker, in Kernfeld, Pg.545. 1988)

All jazz musicians, at one time, have practiced transcription, as it is the nearest they will

get to having a lesson, or master class, from a jazz master. During an interview jazz

guitarist Larry Coryell speaks to Paul Rubin and Wayne Enstice about the importance of

transcribing:

Rubin: You mentioned studying other jazz guitarists. Do you mean that you
listened to records and played solos note by note?

Coryell: Exactly. Especially Wes Montgomery. To learn his solos gave me an

idea how he thought. And that just opened up a door. I fed all these informations
into my computer, as it were, and when you feed enough of it in there eventually
what comes out is your own.

Enstice: He was a natural conversationalist on the guitar.

31
 Coryell: Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say earlier. I really didn’t know how to
speak. I didn’t know how to make that conversation, you know; I didn’t know
how to use the language. I knew the vocabulary, but I didn’t know how to use the
vocabulary. That’s what it was, ’cause I spent all those years practising by myself,
and I had vocabulary, up there, you know – I had plenty of that – but let me see,
to use a parallel, I was very poor in grammar. And he was a prime example of a
man who really used the language well. Beautifully. And it’s only now that after
having played for years and years that I’m finally getting to a point where I can do
that.

(Coryell, in Enstice and Rubin, Pg.106. 1992)

Transcribing is a self-taught skill; there are no fixed rules for learning how to transcribe,

though there are three basic steps to transcribing a piece of music.

Step one of the transcribing method begins with imitating a recorded solo i.e. when a

student listens to a particular solo many times over. To learn each phrase one after the

other, gradually working their way through the piece until they can play the solo from

memory - note for note. By doing so, without even analysing the solo, the pupil will

begin to inculcate the feel and nuances from the jazz masters into their own

improvisations.

Once this has been achieved, the second step is to notate the solo as precisely as possible,

so it can be analysed as a composition. Below is an example taken from my own

transcription of Like Someone in Love (see example 3), performed by Mike Stern (Cd:

track 7).

32
Example 3.

Like Someone in Love.

The final step is to analyse the notated solo. When analysing the piece the student will

learn what scales, modes, triads, and arpeggios, that particular jazz musician prefers to

use over certain chords. The most common chord progression to analyse is super-tonic to

dominant to tonic (as discussed). The student can analyse the tensions that the musician

creates over the dominant chord and how he/she uses the tension to resolve to the tonic.

Example 3 displays how Stern changes scale to suit the chord progression. Stern plays the

note A (major third) over the F7 chord (bar 2), but when the chord changes to Fm7 (bar

3) he plays the note Ab (minor third). Although, in bar 4, Stern deliberately uses notes

that are not in the chord (Bb7alt) to create dissonance, most noticeably note B instead of

Bb. By doing so creates a b9 tension that has the strongest dissonance because it is only

one semitone higher than the root. Stern releases the tension created during beats 1 and 2,

by sliding note B down a semitone to Bb, therefore bar 4 can be divided into two parts -

beats 1 and 2 are discord whilst beats 3 and 4 are concord. However, it is not only scale

usage that can be analysed. When a solo is notated, rhythmic displacement, anticipation,

and motifs, becomes easier to find because once notated they become visual. Example 3

33
clearly shows the rhythmic idea that Stern uses (bars 1-4) avoiding the strong beats (beats

1 and 3) in each bar.

No matter how hard musician’s aim for accuracy in their transcriptions they cannot

capture the aesthetic values of the music or the creative spirit of its practitioners. Lee

Castle acknowledged this dilemma in his preface to Louis Armstrong’s Immortal

Trumpet Solos:

I have tried to compile what I think to be typically Louis. It wasn’t easy, for black
dots on white paper just can’t express what’s in his soul.

(Castle, in Kernfeld, Pg.546. 1988)

Whether fully transcribing a recorded solo, or simply to learn the solo from memory

(practising step one, but disregarding step two and three), learning an improvised solo

will help the student to begin to understand the basic principles of improvisation. A

teacher, who has already transcribed a recorded solo, can teach this because he/she could

analyse the solo systematically with the student. However it is better practice for the

student to transcribe the solo on their own because the first step to transcribing (listening)

is an excellent ear training exercise. The more recorded solos that a student transcribes,

not necessarily notating each piece, the response time will become quicker i.e. the shorter

time it takes the student to figure out each phrase and repeat that phrase on their

instrument.

34
Conclusion

The information presented indicates that there are two sides to acquiring the skills for

improvising with in the jazz genre. The first being music theory – harmony, scales,

arpeggios et cetera, and secondly, creativity i.e. knowing how to use this knowledge to

invent a ‘spontaneous composition’. Teaching the fundamentals of jazz improvisation i.e.

scale knowledge and an understanding of complex harmony is vital (You Stepped Out of

a Dream, Solar, and Giant Steps are an epitome of this), which can be taught from

teacher to pupil, on a one to one basis, in a classroom situation, or even through books

with no guidance from a teacher (though having a teacher present to answer any

questions is recommended). However, it is not simply being aware of what scale options

a student can use over a particular chord but how to be creative with the scale and chord

knowledge that the student has acquired. It is not possible for a student to be taught how

to be a creative improviser in the same way as harmony and theory can. It is something

that the student absorbs, subconsciously, over a long period of time through guidance

from their mentor (Guru). It is not only musical experiences that enhance a musician’s

improvisation, their ‘life’ experiences play just as important, if not more, role. This is a

philosophy that was expressed by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker.

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it
won’t come out of your horn.
(Parker, in Korfsky, 1970: 88).

Through ‘just listening’ to numerous jazz recordings by various artists will help the

student discover the essence of jazz and will absorb the ‘feel’ of jazz, which can only be

35
acquired through self-development i.e. the student taking control of his/her learning. By

comparing learning how to improvise to acquiring spoken language verifies this point.

Each of the guidelines that have been presented (immersion, demonstration, engagement,

expectations, responsibility, approximation, and response) plays an important role when

learning how to improvise, and although self-development is indeed an important factor,

immersion should not be disregarded. For example, if one were to learn a foreign

language, that person will learn at a much faster rate if he/she were immersed in the

culture, surrounded by people speaking the language. Simply by ‘just listening’ to other

people use the language on a daily basis will excel the learning process compared to

learning ‘parrot fashion’ through tuition books and audio tapes. This practical ‘hands on’

experience is vital when learning how to improvise, this may seem obvious, but the

importance of it can be overlooked. It is a perfect opportunity for the student to put into

practice what they learnt (music theory) from their teacher. Although, the teacher may

accompany the student during the instrumental lessons, it is not the same as improvising

in a group setting. This is because each individual would play a different instrument, may

have different musical influences, and have a different musical background, all of which

will give them their own distinct individual voice.

This to us is the greatest excitement in improvising: the confidence that an

interesting response to our efforts is likely to emerge from those we improvise
with, and at the same time the tension that the responses may be heavily
contrasted, even opposed, and will certainly be unpredictable!

(Dean, Pg.111. 1989)

36
For an aspiring jazz student to have the opportunity to be involved in this creative

environment cannot be expressed enough. Each musician can listen to one another’s

improvised solos, listen to one another’s particular way of phrasing, listen to the different

rhythms, and how the band connects as a whole. There is no substitute for this. It cannot

be found in books, it cannot be taught, only experienced. Something as simple as group

of musicians getting together, creative collaboration, having fun improvising (jamming),

then each individual will absorb more about the essence of jazz improvisation than

anyone can teach them. Frequent exposure to such a creative environment is the crux to

becoming an outstanding improvising/jazz musician.

37
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Web Sites

About North Indian Music: www.buckinghammusic.com

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www-cs.canisius.edu/~bucheger/AebersoldTeachesThe Wolrd.html

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Audio

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Appendices

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Appendix I (Cd: track 1)
You stepped out of a dream Nacio Herb Brown

C maj7 C maj7 Db Maj7 Db maj7

C major scale, C lydian (G major scale). Db major scale, Db lydian (Gb major scale).

Eb7 Eb7 Ab maj7 Ab maj7

Eb mixolydian, D-F-or E melodic minor- Ab major scale, Ab lydian.
Ab harmonic minor, Eb lydian dominant.

Gm7 C7 F maj7 F maj7

G dorian C Half-whole tone- F major scale, F lydian (C, major scale)
scale

Am7 D7 Ebm7 Ab7 Dm7 G7

A dorian, B minor - D diminished Db major scale G whole tone scale
Minor pentatonic.

C maj7 C maj7 Db maj7 Db maj7

Same as the opening six bars.

Eb7 Eb7 C dim7 F7

C diminished scale Eb symmetrical -
diminished scale.

Fm7 Bb7 C maj7 Am7

F dorian Bb whole-tone C lydian mode E minor pentatonic

Dm7 G7#9 C maj7 Eb7 Ab maj7 Db7

E minor pentatonic Ab melodic minor C maj triad, Eb7 triad Ab maj triad, Db7 triad

Underneath each chord are displayed scales, triads, arpeggios, or pentatonic scales that
the improviser may choose. Although there are many other options, this example
demonstrates the level of chord and scale theory that a jazz student has to learn.
Appendix II (Cd: track 2)

42
 Giant Steps

(Coltrane, in Reeves, Pg.170. 1989)

Appendix III (Cd: track 3)

43
 So what

Dm7 Dm7 Dm7 Dm7

D dorian
D aeolian
D phrygian

Dm7 Dm7 Dm7 Dm7

As above

Ebm7 Ebm7 Ebm7 Ebm7

Eb dorian
Eb aeolian
Eb phrygian

Dm7 Dm7 Dm7 Dm7

D dorian
D aeolian
D phrygian

By using this concept, Davis could apply one mode per chorus. For example, the dorian

mode (raised a semitone higher for Ebm7) could be used throughout chorus one, and then

the aeolian mode for the second chorus; in fact Davis could have simply thought of a

minor tonality.

Appendix IV (Cd: track 4)

Naima

44
Bbm7/Eb Ebm9 F#m9/Eb Eb7#9 Abmaj7/Eb

Abm9/Bb Fm9/Bb Abm9/Bb Fm9/Bb

Bb7#5 Abm9/Bb Fm9/Bb E/Bb

(Coda).

F#m9/Eb Eb7#9 Abmaj7/Eb F#m9/Eb Eb7#9 Ab maj7/Eb

Ab maj7 Db maj7 Ab maj7 Db maj7 Ab maj7 Db maj7 Ab maj7

This chord progression is an example of how Coltrane used a drone effect, which was

inspired by the music of India, in a jazz standard.

Appendix V (Cd: track 5)

Solar

45
Cm7 Cm7 Gm7 C7

Fmaj7 Fmaj7 Fm7 Bb7

Ebmaj7 Ebm7 Ab7 Dbmaj7 Dm7 G7

46