Jazz Improvisation Basics

Course details

You've always wanted to try your hand at jazz or blues, but when you sit down in front of musicians you've never played with, and you are presented with music you've never heard or seen before, what do you play, and how do you play it? Waltons New School of Music's Jazz Improvisation Basics course addresses these questions by preparing the player thoroughly, from the ground up, and takes a step-by-step approach to all of the skills needed in order to effectively prepare you for any improvised setting. Music terminology, scales, ear-training, analysis, transcription, timing and phrasing are among the many tools that are explored. And by the end of the course you will have learned:

• What to play – melodies, solos, 'comping' (accompanying) rhythms, bass lines, scales and modes, etc.
• How to play – how best to use the above.
• When to play – using your musical creative judgement to decide when, in the music, it is appropriate to use the techniques you have learned.
• Where you fit – your own role and the role of every other performer in the group.

Jazz Improvisation Basics, which is intended for instrumental or vocal students with at least one year's playing or singing experience, is an ideal introduction to improvised music making.

While this is not an ensemble class, playing your instrument (or singing) in the class is essential in order to apply practically what has been discussed in theory. Participants should have a grounding in basic music theory, including treble and bass clefs, note values, time and key signatures, scales, and frequently used terms and signs.