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.
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
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.
