Newsgroups: rec.music.bluenote

Well, about four months behind schedule, I have finally finished my first
draft for "A Jazz Improvisation Primer".  It is much more than what I
originally intended - 35 pages typeset with troff, 49 nroff, not including the
table of contents or the (to be written) glossary.  The table of contents is
included below to give you an idea of what is there.  It is intended primarily
for budding performers, although a non-performer who can plow through this will
probably find their ears have grown as a result - I hope this will be of use
to non-performers as well.

What I need now are a couple of reviewers before I make this publicly
available.  People to make sure I haven't confused my lydians and my phrygians,
referred to Jelly Roll Morton as a bebop saxophonist, stuff like that.  Also,
to point out anything (!) it looks like I might have left out that you feel is
important, like what to do when you are jamming with a bunch of guys and you
are sure the bass player is on the wrong beat (that one is in there...).  Or,
to give me comments like "I think it is counterproductive to bombard the reader
with every scale known to mankind before explaining what a blues progression
is".

Someone has already volunteered to make this available via anonymous ftp,
although I haven't contacted him recently to verify that it is still OK.
Please do not deluge me with requests for the primer; I will post the ftp
address when the primer is reviewed and finished - presumably in the next
couple of weeks.

So, those of you out there who think you have something to contribute, could
you please drop me a line at marc@hpmonk.fc.hp.com?  I'm especially hoping for
people whose opinions or musicianship I already respect - you know who you are!


                           Table Of Contents

1  Goals ..........................................................    1
1.1  Other Sources Of Information .................................    2
2  A Brief History Of Jazz ........................................    3
2.1  Early Jazz ...................................................    4
2.2  Big Band Jazz And Swing ......................................    4
2.3  Bebop ........................................................    5
2.4  Cool .........................................................    6
2.5  Hard Bop .....................................................    6
2.6  Post Bop .....................................................    6
2.7  Free Jazz And The Avant Garde ................................    8
2.8  Fusion .......................................................    9
2.9  Post Modern Jazz .............................................    9
2.10  The Present .................................................    9
2.11  Recommendations .............................................   10
3  Jazz Fundamentals ..............................................   10
3.1  Structure ....................................................   10
3.2  Swing ........................................................   11
3.2.1  Accompaniment ..............................................   13
3.3  Creativity ...................................................   13
4  Chord/Scale Relationships ......................................   14
4.1  Basic Theory .................................................   15
4.1.1  Intervals ..................................................   15
4.1.2  Major And Minor Scales .....................................   15
4.1.3  Chords .....................................................   16
4.2  Major Scale Harmony ..........................................   17
4.2.1  Ionian Mode ................................................   18
4.2.2  Dorian Mode ................................................   18
4.2.3  Phrygian Mode ..............................................   19
4.2.4  Lydian Mode ................................................   19
4.2.5  Mixolydian Mode ............................................   19
4.2.6  Aeolian Mode ...............................................   20
4.2.7  Locrian Mode ...............................................   20
4.3  Melodic Minor Harmony ........................................   20
4.3.1  Phrygian #6 ................................................   21
4.3.2  Lydian Augmented ...........................................   21
4.3.3  Lydian Dominant ............................................   21
4.3.4  Locrian #2 .................................................   22
4.3.5  Altered Scale ..............................................   22
4.4  Other Scales .................................................   23
4.4.1  The Blues Scale ............................................   23
4.4.2  Whole Tone Scale ...........................................   24
4.4.3  The Diminished Scale .......................................   24
4.4.4  Pentatonic Scales ..........................................   25
4.4.5  Synthetic Scales ...........................................   26
4.4.6  Chord/Scale Chart ..........................................   27
5  Applying The Theory To Improvisation ...........................   27
5.1  Playing Changes ..............................................   28
5.1.1  ii-V .......................................................   28
5.1.1  Major Keys .................................................   28
5.1.1  Minor Keys .................................................   29
5.1.2  Blues ......................................................   30
5.1.3  Rhythm Changes .............................................   31
5.1.4  Coltrane Changes ...........................................   31
5.2  Modal Playing ................................................   32
5.3  Chromatic, Atonal, and Free Playing ..........................   33
6  Accompanying ...................................................   34
6.1  Chordal Instruments ..........................................   35
6.1.1  Chord Voicings .............................................   35
6.1.1  3/7 Voicings ...............................................   35
6.1.1  Fourth Voicings ............................................   37
6.1.1  Polychord Voicings .........................................   37
6.1.1  Drop Voicings ..............................................   39
6.1.1  Other Scale Based Voicings .................................   39
6.1.2  Comping Rhythms ............................................   40
6.2  Bass .........................................................   41
6.2.1  Walking Bass Lines .........................................   41
6.2.2  Pedal Point ................................................   42
6.2.3  Counterpoint ...............................................   43
6.2.4  Other Bass Patterns ........................................   43
6.3  Drums ........................................................   43
6.4  Other Instruments ............................................   44
7  Playing With Others ............................................   45
7.1  Organization .................................................   45
7.1.1  Beginnings .................................................   45
7.1.2  Middles ....................................................   46
7.1.3  Endings ....................................................   46
7.2  Dealing With Problems ........................................   47
8  Listening Critically ...........................................   48
9  Breaking The Rules .............................................   48


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marc Sabatella           Winner, 1992 First Annual Bill Evans Lookalike Contest
marc@hpmonk.fc.hp.com
Newsgroups: rec.music.bluenote,rec.music.classical,alt.appalachia