Jazz Improvisation - Guiding the Young Person and Adult Learner

One important link between jazz and classical musicians is that they tend to learn initially from books, of some variety. These include instrumental/vocal method tutors as well as books containing scalar/harmonic information and repertoire. This literacy-based style of learning might help explain why more and more jazz qualifications are being offered alongside existing classical ones at music colleges and universities in the UK. In many ways, jazz is taught along many of the same lines as classical music at these institutions. The emphasis on technical development of one's instrument, analysis of musical styles and grasp of historical context of the music are all examples of how the two are taught similarly. While it is important for the student to have developed a reasonable instrumental technique before embarking on improvisation, too many jazz educators emphasise method books at the crucial, early stages of improvisation. Using books may not hamper some learners, as they already may have a reasonable idea of what they are after, having listened and/or studied jazz previously. With others though, the words do get in the way as they spend too much time and energy reading and trying to understand what is on the paper, to the detriment of making music spontaneously. Many improvisational concepts and challenges are not ones that are easily explainable by written means. Playing by ear and feeling the rhythmic pulse of the piece is generally a more effective way from which to create a solo, especially in the early stages of this often disorienting challenge. Too much written material may have a counterproductive effect on non-classically trained players. To begin with, many pop, rock and folk artists do not learn from conventional means. Lucy Green's recent work in this area represents further compelling evidence of the efficacy of learning by listening and doing. Improvising can already be as daunting for them as for classically trained players and the difficulty is compounded if the learning is from a book, a medium which may well be foreign to them. Attempting to extemporise musically while being glued to the page is an unfamiliar practice for musicians of this kind and does little to inspire them. The continued study of written information should not be discouraged though. Practising, memorisation and command of harmonic, scalar and rhythmic studies is recommended and necessary. Charlie Parker in a 1953 interview with Paul Desmond, mentioned several different classical and theory music tomes that he studied as a teenager. The problem lies in the student trying to read and improvise simultaneously. A beginner's mind does not easily divide into enough areas to accomplish this and such a process serves only to exacerbate an already confused state. The following are solutions and approaches I would recommend in guiding the young person and adult learner improviser: Teachers can often get good results from beginner improvisers by emphasising the more engaging and affirming aspects of the repertoire under scrutiny. One example is to get the student to focus on the rhythmical pulse and attributes of a given piece. Instead of staring at a piece of music of vertical or linear information, the student could be encouraged to clap, tap or play an important rhythmical keystone of the piece. This can be taught and done by ear and allows the player to grasp the piece in a more intimate way. This is an effective way to open up improvisational fluency in the student; Another area that deserves investigation is the way improvisation tutors relate differently to instrumentalists in a workshop or class. In many cases, the teaching emphasis is on the players with the melody line, leaving not enough time and attention to the rhythm section. As a result, the rhythm section players are often left to do their own thing, and are relegated to "chonk chords" while melodic soloists are constantly reminded of what scales they should be playing. This teaching approach can create problems for the entire group. By being largely ignored, rhythm section players often lack an understanding of their role in the whole equation. Their struggle to keep steady time, while effectively demarcating the forms of the tunes, will have an adverse effect on everyone. In addition, rhythm players are not encouraged to "converse" (musically interact) and make visual contact with soloists enough. A tutor who addresses these important rhythm section areas will enable soloists to feel more comfortable and confident in their roles, along with realising an overall improvement in the group sound; The choosing of jazz repertoire can play a major role in encouraging beginning improvisers as they are often unfamiliar with many aspects of this new challenge, such as new harmonic and rhythmic structures and playing in unusual group contexts, not to mention having to invent their own melodies. I recommend highly including familiar source material to improvise over. Popular songs and pieces from a non-jazz canon can be engaging vehicles for newcomers to jazz improvisation. Well-known themes from classical music that can be adapted are good, as are pop melodies that have a suitable harmonic scheme to improvise over. Folk tunes are also effective as they often contain simpler structures and can be identified with as a part of the learner's past and/or early musical training. Simple tunes are generally recommended because of the flexibility and ease in adapting them to other styles and educational focus. Playing repertoire that is previously known to the student, regardless of the particular context, is likely to bring out the best in his/her attempts to improvise. This suggestion should be applied judiciously, however as it is important that the classic repertoire of the jazz tradition be recognised, understood and shared equally with that of other styles and genres. In summary, Jazz improvisation is a form of self-expression that more and more young people and adult learners are interested in acquiring. As tutors, we can make this enjoyable and often life-changing activity possible for them if we apply these THREE teaching approaches: Making improvisation accessible for players who are new to the music and come from diverse musical backgrounds. Emphasising the rhythmic aspects of their initial improvisation efforts instead of imposing too much written material on them. Presenting a balanced, wide-ranging and engaging repertoire to encourage better results from learners who are new to improvisation. To finish, here is an anecdote from my days working with legendary jazz singer, improviser and lyricist Jon Hendricks. In adapting an arrangement for him of Gil Evans and Miles Davis's version of "The Maids of Cadiz" I asked him which key - E or Eb, was better for his voice. Without missing a beat he responded, "which one is higher?". I was amazed at this initially, but subsequently remember him sitting down at the piano, quietly outlining the harmonic structure of the piece, which assured me that he did indeed know which key was higher. He may have disguised his knowledge about musical constructs with questions like that from time to time, but will be remembered for the unique vision, nuance and distinctive individual qualities that he has given to the world of jazz song. It is these aspects that we should emphasise to our students equally as much as the basic technical constructs of improvisation. April 2002 - Improvisation: page 1 - Response to this article from Dr Charlie Beale