GRAHAM & BRIANS

DYJO JAZZ IMPROVISATION

COURSE

Not everything you need to know about jazzimprovisation - just a beginning.

B-flat version

In the following pages you will find reminders of what weve done in our

improvisation sessions. We start with the blues, then move through the II - V - I

sequence, and then use these ideas in The Flintstones and Autumn Leaves. Finally

we explore modal improvisation through Miles Davis Milestones.

This booklet and your CD are to help you practise these ideas at home; you are

learning a new language, and the more you try out ideas and techniques at home,

the more fluent and comfortable you will feel when you improvise.

Once youve got the appetite for improvisation, there are hundreds of more

publications to help you further your skills. This booklet is only a beginning!

GRAHAM & BRIANS DYJO JAZZ IMPROVISATION COURSE

Welcome to Graham & Brians DYJO Jazz Improvisation Course.

Actually, this booklet is not the course, but is aimed at helping you

remember the activities weve done with DYJO. The booklet

roughly follows how weve done things with DYJO, and is laid out

as follows:

What is jazz Improvisation? But how am I going to do it? What is on the CD? Jazz chords and the importance of riffs Fings Aint What They Used To Be - basic blues improvisation Straight No Chaser 12-Bar Blues: using the chords & how to

sound cool!

The II V I Sequence Structure of Jazz Tunes The Flintstones Autumn Leaves Modal Improvisation Milestones The next step

What is Jazz Improvisation?

... its the most exciting part of playing jazz! Its your chance to just

enjoy making music and play whatever you feel like. It is the most

obvious difference between jazz and most other forms of music.

But how am I going to do it?

Over the course of the year here at DYJO, we will have a session at

each Gathering Day working through the content of this booklet to

properly explain what it all means. Also, we will spend time during

the rehearsals practising our improvisation as a group. After each

session, you will have new ideas to go home and practise with the

backing CD provided. Not everything that we will do at DYJO in

covered in this book though, it is just a start!

Before you know it, you will be a jazz soloist with all the skills

necessary to take solos on our gigs and concerts.

What is on the CD?

Track 1 12-Bar Blues in Concert B-flat: Fings Aint What They

Used To Be

Track 2 12-Bar Blues in Concert F: Straight No Chaser

Track 3 The II V I Sequence

Track 4 The Flintstones

Track 5 Autumn Leaves

Track 6 Modal Improvisation: Milestones

& 214 wwww wwww wwww wwwwwwww wwww wwww

CMaj7 Dm7 Em7 FMaj7 g 7 Am7 Bm7(b5)

Jazz chords and the importance of riffs

I II III IV V VI VII

You can't do jazz improvisation without a degree of understanding of

jazz theory. Of course, improvisation is all about having fun making stuff

up, but if you don't know some basic 'rules' about how to make things

up that will sound good, it won't be so much fun! Don't worry, the

theory won't be very heavy for now, but you must know some ... so

here goes!

You can build chords on any degree of a major or minor scale just by

'stacking up notes'. On the stave above, you can see notes 'stacked up' on

each note of the C major scale. On top of each 'root note', we've stacked

up the 3rd, 5th and 7th, to make a series of '7th chords'. This is one of

the basic building blocks of jazz harmony. We'll come back to these

chords later. For now, just remember that;

'7' means a MAJOR chord with a MINOR 7th on top'm7' or 'min7' means a MINOR chord with a MINOR 7th on top

'M7' or 'maj7' means a MAJOR chord with a MAJOR 7th on top

This can be a bit confusing at first, because an 'M' or 'maj' applies to the

note at the top of the chord (in this case, the 7th), whilst 'm' or 'min'

applies to the 3rd (that is, it means it's a minor chord). Anyway, this will

all make more sense as we go on!

THE IMPORTANCE OF RIFFS

Riffs are little rhythmic ideas that jazz players make up, either in unison,

or in harmony. Using their knowledge of jazz chords, jazz players invent

interesting figures that they can play behind tunes and improvised solos.

As we go through this course, we'll make up some riffs for the various

tunes, so that we can make complete pieces ready for performance. Use

the spare pages of manuscript to write down any ideas the band

develops! Some of the most famous big band tunes are riff-based: At the

Woodchoppers' Ball, In the Mood, One O'Clock Jump, to name but

three!

& c j3333

C

. j j3333

. j C 7

5

j3333

F 7

. j j b j3333

C. j j

9

3333 jG 7

3333 3333 b n

F 7

j3333

C. j

Fings ain't what they used to beB flat

BASIC BLUES IMPROVISATION

Try improvising over this basic chord sequence two different ways.

First, try using the blues scale: C Eb F Gb G Bb C. This is a good way to get going on improvisation - any of the notes of the scale will

sound good over any of the chords, so you don't need to know which

chord you're improvising over.

Next, try using the scales and chords as written under the tune. Notice,

for instance, that that'll give you an E natural in a C or C7 chord, and

a B natural in a G7 chord. These notes don't appear in the blues scale,

but sound really good at the right point in the tune.

KEY POINTS

The blues scale is a good way to get going in improvisation, but

knowing your chords and using important notes over certain chords

will make your improvisation sound even better.

Track 1

& c

5

9

13

17

21

25

29

Fings - notes & ideas

& # c j # nG 7

# b . jC 7

# nG 7

# j n #

#5

# bC 7

. # jG 7

# nB min7 E 7

#9

# # # Amin7

# # D 7

# G 7

.

Straight no chaserB flat

12-BAR BLUES - USING THE CHORDS

Using this blues in G, try moving away from the blues scale (G Bb C Db D F G) and work more with scales and chords. If you work out the

chords, you'll see that the Bb only comes in the C7 chord - otherwise, Bn is a better choice. Similarly, notice that G7 chords have an Fn, but the D7 chord has an F#.Of course, overall, you'll be thinking in G major (one sharp), but you'll

sound much better if you can work out what are the important notes are

in each chord (the 'guide tones') and use them to help the listeners know

what the chords are.

KEY POINTS

Don't get stuck with the blues scale. Learn what the chord symbols mean,

and work out which are the important notes in each chord - these notes

will help your audience know where they are in the tune.

Track 2

& # c

#5

#9

#13

#17

#21

#25

#29

Straight No Chaser - notes & ideas

& 214 wwww wwww wwww wwwwwwww wwww wwww

CMaj7 Dm7 Em7 FMaj7 g 7 Am7 Bm7(b5)

The II - V - I Sequence

I II III IV V VI VII

The II - V - I sequence is one of the most commonly used in jazz. If you can recognise it when you see the chord symbols, and work out how to improvise over the chords, you'll be well on your way to becoming a jazz improviser.

Look at the chords above, and you'll see that if you find the chord symbols Dm7 | G7 | CMaj7 (or CM7), you've got yourself a II - V - I sequence. That means that all you need to remember for the sequence is that you just play in the key using NO SHARPS! Whatever key you're in, just keep remembering how many sharps or flats you should have. If you want to sound even better, just as in the blues, it's helpful to pick out important notes in the chords, like the root, 3rd and 7th.

To help you gain fluency in the II - V - I sequence, track 3 on the CD has the sequence in all 12 keys! Each key has the sequence twice; when it changes to the next key, the backing changes style. To help you work out the patterns, start by practising simply going up the scales for each chord. For instance, in C major, play DEFGABCD, GABCDEFG, CDEFGABC. Then do scales and chords, e.g. DEFGAFD, GABCDBG, CDEFGEC. Then you should be ready to go improvising over II - V - I.

Now have a look through the tunes in this booklet, and see how many times you find the II-V-I sequence - have a look at the last four bars of Straight No Chaser again!

On the next page you'll find all the key signatures for the track - if you want to, write in some notes to help you to work through all the scales and chords.

Track 3

B flat

& 44 .. ..Dmin7 G 7 CMaj7

bbbbb .. ..9 Ebmin7 Ab7 DbMaj7## .. ..17 Emin7 A 7 DMaj7

bbb .. ..25 Fmin7 Bb7 EbMaj7#### .. ..33 F#min7 B 7 EMaj7b .. ..

41 Gmin7 C 7 FMaj7###### .. ..49 G#min7 C#7 F#Maj7# .. ..57 Amin7 D 7 GMaj7

bbbb .. ..65 Bbmin7 Eb7 AbMaj7### .. ..73 Bmin7 E 7 AMaj7

bb .. ..81 Cmin7 F 7 BbMaj7##### .. ..89 C#min7 F#7 BMaj7

II-V-I sequence in all keystrack 3

B flat

THE STRUCTURE OF JAZZ TUNES

There are many familiar structures in the most common tunes and

knowing the structure helps you to stop getting lost, and allows

you to pick out the important chord changes in your solos. Apart

from the 12-bar blues, the most common structure is usually

described as AABA.

In an AABA tune, both the A section and the B section are both 8

bars long and the B section is usually in a different key. This form is

used in many tunes and can be likened to the Verse, Verse, Chorus,

Verse framework of the pop songs you sing in the shower!

The key point therefore is to pick out the change of key centre for

the B section in your solo. It is very important as, unlike the 12 bar

blues, you cannot just play the same scale all the way

throughwithout it sounding a little unusual! The Flintstones is a

classic AABA structure tune.

Youll see how structure is important in finding your way round the

next three tunes in this booklet: The Flintstones, Autumn Leaves,

and Milestones.

But remember all youve done so far. Your skills in negotiating

chords and scales will be really important in discovering what will

sound good for the standard tunes that follow!

& b c FMaj7

Gm7/C

FMaj7

Gm7/C

Am7 D 7

Gm7 C 7

wAm7

w

D 7

Gm7C 7

b9

FMaj7

Gm7/C

FMaj7

Gm7/C

Am7 D 7

Gm7 C 7

wF Gm7/C

F 69 Bb13

b17

A 7

# D 7

G 7

n C 7

b25

FMaj7

Gm7/C

FMaj7

Gm7/C

Am7 D 7

Gm7 C 7

wF

The FlintstonesHanna/Barbera

The Flintstones - made easy

Work out all the chords in The Flintstones, and you'll see that they're

nearly all straight out of the key of F major - in other words, just keep

ONE FLAT in your mind.

This is a typical 'AABA' tune. The really important bit, where the

chords change, is in bars 17-24, the 'B' section. Notice how we

suddenly go to A7 (chord V in D major, 2 sharps), then D7 (chord V in

G, 1 sharp), G7 (chord V in C, no sharps), then C7 (chord V in F, 1

flat).

KEY POINTS

In other words, to sound good improvising over the Flintstones, all

you have to do is to play in F major, but suddenly change key for the

'B' section.

Track 4

B flat

& b c

b5

b9

b13

b17

b21

b25

b29

Flintstones - notes & ideas

AUTUMN LEAVES

This is a classic chart that is terrific fun to solo over. It is played by

hundreds of jazz bands and if you learn it well you should be able to

sit in with anyone!

It is not an AABA structure but rather an AABC as the last 8 bars are

different from the first 8. However, unlike the Flintstones there is not

a huge shift in key centre at the B section. In fact virtually all of the

piece fits over one scale!

Now that you know how to relate chords back to a key centre you

can go through the piece and highlight which of the chords dont fit

over the main key of E minor/G Major. HINT start with the B7

chord in bar 7. This is a V chord in the key of E minor, which is why

there are so many accidentals in that bar.

To make it easier, each time you see a chord with funny

extensions such as a 9 or 13, just think of them as 7s

KEY POINT

Play over the chords (but thinking 1 sharp) for most of the piece but

watch out for those funny bars. If you pick out the correct notes of the

chords in these bars your solo will sound even better.

& # c j j J wAmin7

D 7

. J GMaj7

#5

j j j

CMaj7

wF#m7(b5)

# # B 7

wEmin7

j j J

#10

wAmin7

D 7

. J GMaj7

j j j

CMaj7

wF#m7(b5)

#15

B 7

wEmin

# j j F#m7(b5)

j j jB 7(b9)

#20

wEmin

j j wAm9

j D 13

G 9

#25

# C#7(b5)

. J j jF#m7(b5)

B 7(b9)

. Emin Eb7

#29

D min7 C#7(b5)

. CMaj7

B 7(b9) wEmin

Autumn LeavesJoseph Kosma

B flatTrack 5

& # c

#5

#9

#13

#17

#21

#25

#29

Autumn Leaves - notes & ideas

MODAL IMPROVISATION

Out of everything that we have learned so far, modal improvisation is the

easiest! Why then have we left it until last? Well at the same time as being

theoretically very easy, it is very difficult to be strict enough with yourself to

pull it off well.

We will listen to examples of modal tunes at our rehearsals but often they

sound very haunting or cool. They are not at all bluesy and the blues scale

will usually sound disastrous on modal tunes. Good examples to listen to are;

So What Miles Davis and Ronny Jordan have both made great

recordings of this, amongst others.

Le Freak Great pop tune with a very modal solo section in it

Kind of Blue Classic Miles Davis album is full of modal stuff

So without the safety net of having the blues scale to revert to, we must stick

strictly to the scales involved in the tune. We have already seen that for a Dm7

chord you can play a scale with no sharps or flats starting on a D. Well this is

called the Dorian mode. Similarly a scale starting on G with no sharps and flats

is called the Mixolydian mode.

(Dorian scales always starts on the 2nd note of a major scale)

(Mixolydian scales always start on the 5th note of a major scale)

When improvising on modal tunes, you will notice that the rhythm section also

play lots of strange chords which sound great provided that they are also

sticking strictly to notes on the right scale.

Given that you have very limited notes to make your solo interesting, this is

the time to think about all those other things that make a solo interesting.

Remember, a solo made up of lots of right notes can still sound dull unless

you think about some of the following.

Melody A nice melody (or links to the original

tune) often makes people feel comfortable and gives a happy feel

to your solo. Alternatively, very

crunchy solos with little melody can

sound dark or sad.

Tension/Release Great solos often build tension with

the listener and then release it all

again. There are lots of ways to do

this and it makes you think about the

overall shape of your solo. The

professional soloists that we play with

at the Teignmouth Jazz festival are

brilliant at this.

Loud/Soft Load can be exciting and angry

whereas quiet can often be tense or

cool

High/Low Just as with speech, raising the volume

or pitch or your voice/instrument

usually conveys excitement or energy.

Slow/Fast Often soloists build tension with

reserved cool passages which then are released with fast flowing runs etc.

Breaks and pauses Dont feel you need to play

continuously, the pauses say as much

as the notes. Miles Davis was the

master at this.

MILESTONES

Milestones is a classic Miles Davis modal tune with an AABBA structure.

Therefore you only need to know 2 scales to sound great. For the A section

you will notice that the predominant chord is Amin7, which is a chord II in G

major. Therefore, we need to play an A Dorian scale which is simply A B C D E

F# G A.

The B section is predominantly over the chord of Bmin7, which is a chord II in

A major. Therefore we need to play a B Dorian scale which is simply B C# D E

F# G# A B

You can see that the B section just moves up a tone and you need to listen carefully for this to make sure you dont get lost.

A section A Dorian 1 sharp

B Section B Dorian 3 sharps

The other chords written on the music are just there to support the melody

and although they are in the correct tonal centre, they probably wont be

played like that during the solo sections.

KEY POINT

Restrict yourself strictly to the notes on these scales and think about all the

other aspects of soloing mentioned earlier.

& # c Amin7 Bmin7

j CM7 Bmin7

Amin7 Bmin7

j CM7 Bmin7

Amin7 B min7

# ..6

j CM7 Amin7Bmin7

w # Bmin7

. j # . j

#13

# . j# w # Bmin7

. j # . j

#21

# . j# w Amin7 Bmin7

j CM7 Bmin7

#27

Amin7 Bmin7

j CM7 Bmin7

Amin7 Bmin7

j CM7 Amin7Bmin7

w

MilestonesMiles Davis

B flat

Track 6

& # c

#5

#9

#13

#17

#21

#25

#29

Milestones - notes & ideas

The Next Step

Hopefully you will have enjoyed this jazz improvisation course and

can see just how exciting it can be to be a soloist with a big band!

You can keep looking back at this booklet as a reference because

the principles within it underlie most of the musical situations that

you may find yourself in later on.

Obviously practice is always going to make the next step easier but

dont just practise at home! There are lots of opportunities to

improvise with bands like DYJO so make sure you take them. Its

much more fun playing with a real band than a CD. And

remember, the more you listen to great jazz improvisers, the better

YOU will be at improvising but you must LISTEN!

The next time your band leader asks Who wants to solo in this

tune? put your hand up and shout ME!

We have tried to equip you with all the musical skills needed for

life beyond DYJO (and there is one) as you grow older. There are

loads of bands around needing jazz soloists and the principles

learned will come in handy in Soul Bands, Funk Bands, Dance

Bands, Latin Bands, Big Bands and virtually anything else you may

want to do.

There are also plenty of local Jam sessions where you can just go

along and play with a real live rhythm section for fun. These are a

great way of stretching yourself and taking the next step