Jazz Improvisation I: Music 055-401

Required Materials:

Andrew Classen-Technical Studies-available at Copy Cat (on 25th St.)
Jamey Aebersold, Vol. 54 Maiden Voyage, Vol 3 ii -V-I and Vol 16 Turnarounds and ii-V's: Book and CD (available at Rieman's music),
Real Book, in concert pitch or your instruments key.
Loose leaf binder with manuscript paper
10 blanks CD's.

Class Objectives:

 Being able to improvise well is an extremely fulfilling and enjoyable experience: a supreme level of spontaneaous musical creation and communication. To achieve mastery of this art takes many years of diligent work. Through this course, you will take the theoretical concepts covered in Jazz Theory/Keyboard and applying them to your instrument. Most homework in this class will be in the form of practice assignments. It will take consistent daily practice of the material covered in the class to show results in your improvisation ability.

The major focus of this course will be learning to improvise on the blues and the ii-V-I progression. We will also discuss, learn and memorize many jazz "standards".

The only way to truly learn the jazz style is to study the masters of jazz improvisation. Throughout the course, the class will study solo transcriptions of artists including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, JJ Johnson and Clifford Brown. During the course of the semester each student will be required to complete three full transcriptions on their own on top of smaller transcription assignments. The student may elect to choose the solos or have them assigned by the instructor. All choices must be approved by the instructor. The solos will be due 10/1, 11/1, and 12/1. You will lose one letter grade for every class period they are overdue.

Every Monday, you will be required to turn in a jazz CD review. For each CD, you will complete a detailed listening report for two tunes. You will be require to have 20 tunes (off of 10 CDs) completed by the end of the semester.

In order to spontaneously create music in the jazz style, you must have great technical mastery of your instrument, especially in regard to scales and chords. After listening to a great deal of jazz, you may begin to hear the ideas, but without good technique on your instrument, you will not be able to get it "out of your horn." The mastery of these technical skills is imperative to development in improvisation, so 4-5 technical checks will be required throughout the semester, by individual appointment.

Bring to class everyday: your instrument (already warmed up, ready to go at beginning of class), notebook, blank manuscript paper.

Jazz is first and foremost a live musical art form, and so it must be experienced live. You will be required to go hear four live performances of a professional jazz combo during the semester (hopefully, you will hear more). All that is needed for credit is some proof of attendance (a bar napkin would suffice) and a list of the performers, and a one paragraph summary of what you heard.

Since you are learning a performance skill, class participation is extremely important. As such, you will be graded daily on your preparation and overall improvement.

 

Class time will be broken up into the following activities:

Chords, scales and patterns (very little in class)
Ear Training
Listening to, transcribing and analyzing jazz solos
Learning and improvising over jazz chord progressions
Discussion

Grading

Attendance/participation/improvement 20%
Scales/ Chords/ Pattern quizes 10%
Transcriptions 10%
Assignments/ Quizzes/ Tests 36%
Live jazz performance attendance 4%
CD Reviews 10%