BeginningBlues ImprovisationPedagogy

for the Non-JazzSpecialist MusicEducator

B y Be n ja m i n To ma ss e t t i

Learna
step-by-stepmethod
W he^ Shen I hear great jazz soloists, I can appreciate that for teaching
they are making beautiful music-improvised
music that transcends the choice of notes and blues improvisation
rhythms and communicates with the audience on
many levels. With this in mind, I have always ques- that does not
tioned why the typical jazz improvisation lesson or college course
has focused almost exclusively on scales and chords at the expense
of logically and beautifully expressed musical lines. This is not to requireprevious
say that studying chords and scales is without value. Quite the con-
trary-disciplined practice of these rudiments of jazz is the best jazz experience.
context for m) own approach to teaching improvisation.
I have developed this method and used it for more than ten
years in private lessons, workshops for high school students, and
college courses. This method has worked consistently with stu-
dents aged twelve and up, although this article focuses on the
beginning- and intermediate-level improvisation student. This
method is most effective when used with popular play-along
recordings, such as Jamey Aebersolds jazz improvisation series, or
computer applications like Band-in-a-Box (see Selected Resources
on pg. 18). Both the teacher and the student must have access to
these types of materials during lessons and for practice outside of
lessons.

BenjaminTomassettiis directoi
of the audio technologypiogramn
at American University in
Washington,D.C.

JANUARY 2003 17

Downloaded from mej.sagepub.com at LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES on May 13, 2015

 the blues scale. An answer phrase is
Selected Resources any phrase that ends on the tonic.
Don't let students use pitches outside
Books of the blues scale.
Improvisation exercises during the
Fleming,LissaA. GettingStartedwithJazz Band.Reston,VA:MENC, 1994.
lesson. All of the exercises can work in
Kuzmich,John Jr. Survey of TeachingMaterials for Jazz Improvisations.
a small-group or whole-class setting.
Compiled by Matt Betton. Manhattan,KS:IAJE,1990.
MENCand IAJE.Teachingazz: A Courseof Study.Reston,VA:MENC, 1996. Use one of the play-along series. If you
are not comfortable playing the exer-
Play-AlongMaterials cises, simply have the students take
turns, trade fours, and so forth. For
A series of twenty-four books with record-
Jazz:Howto Playand Improvise. the remainder of the article, descrip-
ings.JameyAebersold Jazz,PO Box 1244, New Albany,IN 47151- 1244; tions will focus on a typical private
800-456-1388; www.jazzbooks.com
lesson, but it should be emphasized
PG Music,29 CadillacAve.,Victoria,BC,V8Z IT3; 800-268-
Band-in-a-Box. that I have used this approachin class-
6272; www.pgmusic.com room situations and group lessons, as
well as in private lessons.
After the two types of phrases have
The ideas expressed in this article, rudimentary thematic development- been discussed and the student seems
as far as I know, are original. For this the student can successfully improvise ready,begin by trading four-barphras-
reason, there are no bibliographic ref- a meaningful melodic solo that emo- es with both you and the student using
erences. I have never heard of a teach- tionally and intellectually communi- only answer phrases. The purpose of
ing approach similar to this, and my cates with the audience, exhibits a this exercise is to make the student
own education in jazz was in every maturedramaticshape, and has a cohe- comfortable with targeting a specific
aspect different from what I recom- sive musical ending. note while improvising short state-
mend here. There is a lot of material for the ments. This step is very importantand
This approach to teaching blues student to absorb and master. Be should not be omitted.
improvisation does not rely upon hav- patient and allow the student several Afterthe student seems comfortable
ing the student transcribe, memorize, class sessions or private lessons to with this, progress to trading fours
or practice jazz and blues licks. The come to terms with each concept. A using only question phrases.This exer-
focus here is on teaching students realistic schedule for getting through cise is equally important.Have the stu-
basic phrase-based melodic principles all of these concepts, in one key, is dent end phrases on differentnotes in
and having them apply these princi- three to four lessons. For middle the blues scale. Ask the student ques-
ples to improvising melodic music school and high school students tak- tions about the sound of each phrase.
within the context of a twelve-bar ing a weekly one-hour private lesson, What does it sound like to end on the
blues (for definitions see the Basic an entire school year is a reasonable minor third from the blues scale?What
Jazz and Blues Terminology sidebar). timetable for getting through all about ending on the flatted fifth? By
This method teaches students to trust twelve major keys while using this having the student use different notes
and develop their own sense of cre- material. In a college setting, with the of the blues scale as ending notes in a
ativity and to conceive of each solo as class meeting at least twice a week, a question phrase, you are building a
an artistic musical composition. For single semester is reasonable. mental connection between the sound
students wishing to continue their of the music and the student's tech-
education in the jazz and blues field, Phrase Structure nique. This is very importantear train-
there will be ample opportunity to Students must first learn one blues ing and is crucial for successful
learn and memorize licks, transcribe scale. I recommend that they begin improvisation.
solos, and practice standardjazz tech- with concert B-flat, but any would After the student is comfortable
nical patterns and etudes. work. The B-flat blues scale is illus- with this exercise, trade fours, alter-
The three steps of this method are trated in figure 1. nating question and answer phrases.
simple: Once students can successfully At first, you should play the question
1. Students explore the two types of play the blues scale, ascending and phrase, and the student should play
phrases-question (antecedent) descending, for the entire range of the answer phrase. Then alternate
and answer (consequent)-using their instrument (not just one octave), who plays which phrase. By spending
the blues scale. they can move on to the study of an entire lesson on these exercises, the
2. Students work on the melodic ener- phrase structure. For this purpose, a student will learn to begin improvis-
gy and dramatic shape of a solo. phrase is four measures in length. ing cohesive melodic thoughts that
3. Students use basic compositional There are two types of phrases: ques- exhibit an open (question phrase) and
techniques for thematic develop- tion (antecedent) and answer (conse- closed (answer phrase) structure.This
ment. quent). A question phrase is any is the same structure as a composed
By masteringthese three concepts- phrase that does not end on the tonic melodic line, but in this case, the line
phrase structure, dramatic shape, and and therefore ends on another note of is improvised.

18 MUSIC EDUCATORS JOURNAL

 The next step is to have the stu-
dent improvise an entire twelve-bar
blues chorus (three four-barphrases).
The pattern of the phrases is ques-
tion-question-answer. Demonstrate
this and have the student try to impro-
vise several during the lesson period.
Figure 2 illustrates a one-chorus blues
solo consisting of three phrases (ques-
tion-question-answer) that are indi-
cative of a simple improvisation.
Don't let the student play outside
the blues scale yet. This is important
because the goal is to create melodi-
cally meaningful improvisations that
utilize the resources of the blues scale.
Only after the student can improvise
on all twelve blues scales should you
allow him or her to use the melodic
resources of the chord progression
(e.g., major mode with major-seventh
chords, Mixolydian mode with domi-
nant-seventh chords, Dorian mode
with minor-seventh chords). A stu-
dent who has mastered this method
and progressed to the study of harmo-
ny will able to improvise fairly mature
multichorus solos that have definite
dramaticshapes with cohesive musical
endings. Once the melodic structure
has been internalized, introducing
more advanced melodic and harmonic
concepts is easier and takes less time
for the student to learn.
Melodic Energy and Dramatic
Shape
The next step is controlling the
melodic energy and dramatic shape
during an improvisedsolo. First,define
what constitutes dramatic energy in a
solo. Typically,we think of musical
lines that exhibit less dramatic energy
as consisting of longer note values,
having more and longer musical rests,
being of a quiet nature, and not using
the extreme registersof the instrument
or voice. If these elements characterize
a melody of low dramatic energy,then
the opposite is true for melodies that
exhibit a high level of dramaticenergy.
Specifically,high-energy melodies use
shorter rhythmic values and syncopa-
tion, have fewer and shorter rests, are
often mezzo forte and louder, and
explore the extreme registers of the
instrumentor voice. You can tell this to
the student by simply saying, "Higher,
faster, and louder equals high energy;
and lower, slower, and softer equals
JANUARY 2003
Basic Jazz and Blues Terminology
Blues changes. The chord progressionfor any given blues tune.Two sets
of standardizedblues chord changes are taught.These are notated using stan-
dard harmonic Roman numeral designations.All of the chords are typically
major-minorseventh chords or dominant seventh chords. Both sets of chord
changes consist of one chord per measure of music.
Firstchord changes:
Phrase 1:17,17,17,17
Phrase 2: IV7,IV7,17,17
Phrase 3:V7,IV7,17,17
Second chord changes:
Phrase 1:17,IV7,7,17
Phrase 2: IV7,IV7,17,17
Phrase 3:V7,IV7,17,17
In the key of C, the chords can be identifiedas :17= C7 (C, E, G, B-flat),
IV7 F7(F,A, C, E-flat),andV7 = G7 (G, B, D, F).
=
Blues scale (blue note). The scale that has evolved from the blues tra-
dition.See below for the C blues scale:
1 b3 4 N4A5 5 b7 8
I
J
>5^ bi J( J)1I J h-
Chorus. One complete performance of the structure of the tune. For
example, in a twelve-bar blues, if the trumpet player plays a solo that is three
choruses long,then the solo went completely through the twelve-bar structure
three times, for a total of thirty-six measures.
Twelve-bar blues. The lengthof a standardblues tune. A twelve-barblues
contains three four-barphrases.
Trading fours. The act of two or more people trading four-measure
improvisedphrases.
FigureI. TheB-flatbluesscale
47 k bo to S" 0o I
low energy."While this is an overgen- energy of this demo solo can be
eralization, it works with most begin- defined as small-medium-big in terms
ning and intermediatestudents. of the three phrases. After your
Improvisationexercises during the demonstration, have the student try to
lesson. After you have explained improvise one. Coach the student
melodic energy and dramatic shape, while he or she is playing the instru-
begin with one-chorus blues solos. ment, specifically in terms of bringing
Start by demonstrating a simple solo the energy up and down.
that climaxes at the beginning of the Having a predetermined dramatic
third phrase and concludes with an shape for an improvisation is very
answer phrase. The general melodic important at this stage. Always pre-
19
 define the dramaticshape that the stu-
Figure2. One-chorus blues solo dent will strive to realize during an
showing phrase structure improvisation exercise. This teaches
the student to explore different levels
J=104 of musical energy while improvising
b Swing
1 and, when learned, will contribute to
a natural and mature flow of musical
energy.
JJ;1JW'
I7 b. 1 Do not forget to incorporate the
^K ideas about phrase structure that have
already been covered. A successful
9
strategy is to require the student to
7 conclude each solo with an answer
p c b ^^ ^
..TTtjg"^7
1
^A^^g"
n phrase. Other specific phrase require-
ments can be made, but concluding
each solo with an answer phrase dur-
ing these exercises teaches the student
Figure3. One-chorus blues solo to end each solo with a logical musical
statement that comes to rest on the
showing dramatic shape tonic note.
Experiment with various dramatic
Swing shapes for a one-chorus solo. Some
successful combinations are small-
h i medium-big, big-small-big, and big-
Ap mbbpi
medium-small.Figure 3 shows a sam-
ple one-chorus solo using the
Ibr
L, L,?_16 Ju J J J7_ small-medium-bigdramatic shape.
I' I I f. Once the student has achieved a
level of success with the one-chorus
X '1
'Jl'-,-- J..r -b.-
-. solo, it is time to move to a two-cho-
---- MP-
rus solo. The important factors are
/ mf p
building energy from the transition of
the first chorus into the beginning of
the second chorus, bringing the ener-
gy down at the end of the second cho-
Figure4. Two-chorusblues solo rus, and solidly ending the solo on the
showing dramatic shape tonic note. Figure 4 illustrates a sam-
ple two-chorus solo. The dramatic
shape of the first chorus is small-
medium-big, and the dramatic shape
of the second chorus is big-medium-
small. The last phrase of the solo ends
P
5 on the tonic.

mp
Using Thematic Development
in a Solo
Using thematic development sim-
b
r crif
7 Z | 8 ifl
7X r r ir ^cr ply means introducing the student to
improvisationas a method of composi-
tion. This can be accomplished in a
fm
straightforwardmannerby introducing
h itf f,ff ,, the student to three basic concepts:
17 1. The "idea"is your first improvised
phrase for the chorus.
165 f 6 II'rr ~'-~
yn $ tv i 4 r t II 2. Any "repetition"that is similarto but
21 not exactly the same as the idea is a
type of thematic development.
3. "Something different"is an inten-
====~P
mp tional deviation from the idea, con-
taining new material, and it helps
20 MUSIC EDUCATORS JOURNAL
 keep the solo from becoming too
repetitious.
Figure 5. One-chorus blues solo
With these basic concepts intro- showing thematic pattern
duced, demonstrate for the student a
one-chorus blues solo that follows the =88
Swing
thematic pattern of idea-repetition i Idea
(development)-somethingdifferent for
the three phrases of the blues chorus.
mp
This type of AAB formal structure is 5 related
Thematically Repetition-----
very common in blues lyrics, and it
works quite well in instrumental hy r
mf
bn r^ 'p-rr i JLJI 7:7 ^^
improvisationinstruction. 9 I Something Different
Figure 5 illustrates a one-chorus
blues solo that follows the thematic
patternof idea-repetition-something dif- f mp
ferent, while exhibiting the dramatic
shape small-medium-big.
Once the student has become com-
fortable with one-chorus blues solos
that possess a defined dramaticshape,
use clearly communicated thematic Figure6. Two-chorusblues solo
ideas, and have a coherent musical
showing thematic pattern
J=102
ending, it is time to expand into multi-
chorus blues solos that use these new
Swing
principles.Have the student begin with
two-chorus solos that follow this the- 5s
matic pattern:
* first chorus: idea-repetition-some-
thingdifferent 9
* second chorus: new idea-new repeti-
tion-bring back somethingfrom the
first idea as an answerto end. mY
f
Figure 6 illustrates this type of two-
chorus solo.
After the student is beginning to
feel comfortable with this level of
1f
17
7 >,3
artistic control, start adding predeter-
mined dramaticshapes to the themat-
ic structure. For example, have the 21
first chorus (idea-repetition-something
different)follow the energy pattern of
low energy-bringit up a little bit-build mf M-
energy into the second chorus on the
phrase level as the student is simulta-
neously controlling the thematic
ideas. The second chorus should fol-
low the energy pattern of keep the moment with my students makes it all Aebersold's Blues in All 12 Keys play-
energy up-bring it down a little worthwhile. along books and recordings or Band-
bit-bring the energydown and conclude in-a-Boxsoftware, the teacher and stu-
with a solid musical answer Conclusion dent have a practical means to explore
Once a student can successfullyplay Through the concepts of phrase these principles in the lesson and at
a logical two-chorus blues solo while structure, musical energy and dramat- home. This is a very teachable system,
controlling the musical energyinto and ic shape, and thematic development, and once the teacher is used to the
out of a climax, using clearly commu- you can effectively teach any student specific order of the exercises, it
nicated thematicideas and digressions, to improvise a musically meaningful becomes second nature. Being able to
and concluding with a coherent musi- solo. While the concepts are fairly improvise a musically satisfying blues
cal ending, then the student is begin- simple, the implementation requires solo is, in my opinion, one of the first
ning to master the art of jazz improvi- discipline and, above all, practice. By and most important steps in the life-
sation. As a teacher, performer,com- incorporating this system with the use long pursuit of fluid jazz improvisa-
poser, and lover of jazz, I feel that this of teaching aids such as Jamey tion. K

JANUARY 2003 21