Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • December 2015
11
“Improvisation” may be the scariest
word in music education. For the
vast majority of educators, the notion
of teaching improvisation, jazz or
otherwise, is perceived to be so vague
and susceptible to failure that most
simply avoid the subject all together.
The word “improvisation” is fairly
misleading—as much of what an
improviser uses to create a solo is
actually preconceived, and therefore
can be taught beforehand.
When it comes to jazz improvisation,
preconceived concepts regarding
form, rhythm, melody, harmony and
solo construction are just some of the
elements that are tirelessly practiced
and perfected by great improvisers (i.e.
masters). This forms the basis for what
will be played. In addition, masters
have preconceived concepts regarding
how they will play. Tone, technique,
time feel, articulation, phrasing and
vibrato style are often the thing
that most identifies a master, being
carefully formulated and developed,
then repeated over and over again.
For example, if you’ve listened
much to Charlie Parker, Miles Davis or
Thelonious Monk, it would probably
take you just a few seconds to identify
them on the radio. The same can be
said about virtually any historic jazz
figure. The fact is that masters have a
preconceived concept of what they’re
going to play and how they’re going
to play it. The thing that separates a
master from everyone else is:
A.
the quality and quantity of
what’s preconceived
B.
art
C.
taste.
The good news is that
A.
can be
studied and practiced to the point
that a student can gain control over
a massive amount of preconceived
concepts. The bad news is that not
everyone can create
a work of art, and
not everyone has
exquisite taste.
Masters strike a
balance
between
preconceived con-
cepts and going with
the moment, letting
their “spirit”, for
lack of a better term,
lead them to very
human expression.
This creates a kind
of inspired flow. This
sense of balance
between essentially
“knowing and not
knowing”, to quote
Chick Corea from
a 1976
Keyboard Player
magazine
article, is informed by incredible taste
and yes, talent. But here’s the thing: it’s
very tough to create
B.
and
C.
without
A.
—and
A.
is something that most
definitely can be taught.
In
The
Jazz
Conception
Company
multimedia course “Jazz
Improvisation-Part 1”, I don’t focus
much on chord/scale theory. In the
beginning, it’s just not that important.
Three scale types and correlating
chords are the only relationships I
introduce over ten lessons. What I
do focus on are the building blocks
of melodies, timing and balance. This
gives students defined material which
they can then use to develop musical
instincts.
The first step is to search out a
bunch of melodies and melodic
fragments, which I’ll
call “ideas”. The best
way to find great
ideas is by listening
to recordings of
bona fide giants of
jazz and transcribing
them. In fact,
these recordings
are the best source
for all elements of
improvisation and
jazz style. Listening
is obviously para-
mount, and our
i m p r o v i s a t i o n
course
includes
over 130 historic
audio and video
performances.
However, transcribing may be a bit
daunting for many students, so in the
beginning it’s fine to use other sources,
such as books or course material, to
build a collection of ideas. An idea
could be something as simple as one or
two notes using a syncopated rhythm,
a scale fragment or an arpeggio. It
could be a blues idea or ideas utilizing
timeless concepts such as enclosures
of chord tones or lines guided by
“goal” notes, all of which I discuss in
the improvisation course. Students
don’t need a ton of ideas when starting
out, but they should have a variety of
ideas, mostly two measures or less, at
Teaching “Improvisation”
Jim Snidero
The fact is that
masters have a
preconceived concept
of what they’re going
to play and how
they’re going to play it.
Masters strike a
balance between
preconceived concepts
and going with the
moment, letting their
“spirit”, for lack of
a better term, lead
them to very human
expression. This
creates a kind of
inspired flow.