Full Description
You don't have to be a jazz expert to give your students a great introduction to improvisation.
The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation provides what music educators have sought for decades: an easy, step-by-step guide to teaching jazz improvisation in the music classroom. Offering classroom-tested lesson plans, authors John McNeil and Ryan Nielsen draw on their combined 54 years of teaching experience and extensive work as professional jazz musicians to remove the guesswork and mystique from the teaching process.
Each lesson is founded in the authors' realization that the brain responds differently to improvisation than it does rote memory. The resulting lesson plans are flexible, easy to use, and equip students with a quick understanding of the simple choices they can make to create effective jazz lines. Lessons are designed for a range of settings, from ensemble rehearsal to private instruction. Music educators may find relief in the concrete, straightforward materials on rhythm section instruments like bass, drums, piano, and guitar. Beyond the nuts and bolts of improvisation, this book contains carefully curated listening lists, honest discussions about the meaning of the music, and talking points to advocate for jazz programs to administrators and parents.
With an inviting and conversational approach, The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation is an essential resource for all music educators, from early career teachers to seasoned instructors.
Contents
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 #b7 to 3 to Move from Chord to Chord
Lesson Plan 18: Hearing #b7 to 3 on the II-7 | V7 | Id7
Lesson Plan 19: Using #b7 to 3 to Improvise on a II-7 | V7
Lesson Plan 20: Using #b7 to 3 to Improvise on a V7 | Id7
Lesson Plan 21: Using #b7 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 #b9 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
