Elements of jazz improvisation included in the Jazz Improvisation Workbook
Updated 2023
Approaches to jazz improvisation
Some approaches the improviser can use while soloing:
- Melodic approach: scales, chords, melodic patterns, embellishments, quotes, clichés, silence.
- Harmonic approach: textures, different types of chords, chromaticism.
- Rhythmic approach: syncopated rhythmic patterns, rhythmic displacement, odd meters.
- Expressive approach: dynamics, articulations, ghost notes, effects, interpretation in relation to the beat, swing.
Voice, Tone and Mood
Voice is a unique trait of the improviser. Voice is a combination of an artist´s characteristics, it´s not a planned elaboration.
Tone is the musician´s attitude expressed with the interpretation.
Mood is the feeling the audience gets from the interpretation.
New Orleans Second Line Marchin´Band: funerary tone (sad mood) and change to festive tone (happy mood).
Grant Green. “Idle Moments” (1963). Listen and define the tone with an adjective (floating, meditative), and the mood (relaxed, stroller) with another adjective.
“The future of jazz will be more adventurous tonally, more chromatic, rhythmically freer, and form free, more ambitious.” George Russell (1958).
Elements of Jazz Improvisation
Accents
Expressive approach.
Accent: strong attack on note or chord.
Wes Montgomery. “Nica´s Dream” (Horace Silver, 1954). Accents, min 2:21-2:55.
Ahmad Jamal. “Poinciana” (Nat Simon-Buddy Bernier, 1954). Accents, min 4:52-6:20.
Embellishments: Bending
Expressive approach.
Bending: the string is pulled, making the note higher in pitch.
Romane. “Danube” (I. Ivanovici). Bendings, min 0:39, 0:59, 2:15.
Sonny Rollins. Saxophone Colossus (1956). “St. Thomas”. Bending, min 4:07-4:10.
Embellishments: glissando
Expressive approach.
Glissando: rapid sliding up or down of diatonic or chromatic notes.
Wynton Marsalis. “Portrait of Louis Armstrong”. Connecting gliss, min 2:47.
Embellishments: Turn
Expressive approach.
Turn (Gruppetto): playing adjacent notes above and below the main note.
Duke Ellington Big Band. “All Of Me” (Marks/Simons). Johnny Hodges. Turns, min 0:32 and 0:46.
Embellishments: Vibrato
Expressive approach.
Vibrato: regular change of pitch of a sound.
Sidney Bechet. “Petite Fleur” (1952). Wide vibrato.
“No vibrato.” Miles Davis
Intensity Arch
Expressive approach.
Intensity arch: gradual increase of the solo intensity.
Oscar Peterson. “C Jam Blues” (Duke Ellington). Live In Denmark (1964). Intensity arch, min 3:05-8:20.
Quote
Melodic approach.
Quote: fragment of a melody or solo.
Michel Petrucciani. “So What” (Miles Davis). Quote, fragment of the first phrase of Miles Davis´solo, min 1:57-2:01 and min 2:30.
Cliché
Melodic approach.
Cliche: overused phrase, or fragment of a well known melody or solo.
Cliche “The Lick”.
Lee Morgan. “The Sidewinder” (1964). The same blues cliché played by two different soloists, min 4:20 and min 6:13.
Start
Expressive approach.
Start: gradual or intense beginning of the solo.
Dizzy Gillespie. “Manteca”. Gradual start of the solo, min 3:27.
Dizzy Gillespie. “A Night In Tunisia”. Intense start of the solo, min 1:28.
Chromaticism
Melodic approach.
Chromaticism: superimposed diatonic language.
Dave Liebman. Jazz A Porquerolles (2010). Examples of chromaticism.
Chromaticism: side slip
Melodic approach.
Side slip: repetition of a melodic phrase transposed a half step above or below the original phrase.
The Cannonball Band ft. Gerald Albright. “Soul With A Capital S.” (Kupka-Castillo) (Tower of Power). Side slip, min 2:57, min 5:05, min 6:05, min 7:20, min 8:00.
Motif Development: Sequence
Melodic approach.
Sequence: transposed repetition of a melodic motif with same or similar intervalic or rhythmic structure.
Herbie Hancock. Inventions and Dimensions (1964). “Triangle”. Sequences: min 1:30-1:50 – 3:05-3:12 – 4:08-4:14 – 6:52-6:58 – 7:11-7:20 – 7:28-8:15.
Sonny Rollins. Saxophone Colossus (1956). “You Don´t Know What Love Is” (Raye/De Paul). Sequences: min 2:27 and min 3:00.
Motif Development: Motif
Melodic-rhythmic approach.
Motif: the smallest unit with thematic identity.
Sonny Rollins. Saxophone Colossus (1956). “St. Thomas”. Motif, min 0:55-1:20.
Motif Development: One Note
Rhythmic approach.
Joe Henderson. The Sidewinder (1964). “Boy, What A Night” (Lee Morgan). Repetition of one note with effects, min 1:59.
Johnny Griffin. “The Champ” (Dizzy Gillespie) (1951). Repetition of one note with different syncopated rhythmic patterns, min 3:35.
Motif Development: Melodic Repetition
Melodic approach.
Repetition of a note/phrase to build tension, support from the rhythm section, and resolution.
Pat Martino. “The Use of Repetition”.
Pat Martino Trio. “Full House” (Wes Montgomery).
Melodic repetition (guitar), min 4:00 and resolution, min 4:25.
Melodic repetition (organ), min 7:24 and resolution, min 8:03.
Sonny Rollins. Saxophone Colossus. (1956). “St. Thomas”. Melodic Repetition with rhythmic displacement, min 4:42-4:50.
Rhythmic Displacement
Rhythmic approach.
Rhythmic displacement of a phrase inside the bar.
Blue Organ Trio. “Slingshot Blues” (Smith-Monaco-Valentino).
Tony Monaco, Hammond organ.
Rhythmic displacement of the phrase, min 2:47-2:52 and min 3:04-3:15.
Rhythmic displacement of the blues cliché, min 4:46-4:52.
Dynamics
Effects
Expressive approach.
Effects: physical or mechanical devices that manipulate sound.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. “Nursery Song Swing”.
Trumpet cup, min 4:45-6:30.
Trombone cup, min 12:55-14:12.
Trumpet mute, min 17:40-18:48.
Formula
Melodic approach.
John Coltrane. “Giant Steps” (1960). Melodic formula: 1235 of each scale.
Phrasing
Melodic-rhythmic approach.
Phrasing: placement of the melodic lines in different parts of the bar.
Phrasing: silence
Melodic approach.
Miles Davis. Kind of Blue (1959). “So What”. Melodic lines framed with silences, min. 0:50-2:37 and min. 6:04-7:45.
“So What” (Miles Davis): Analysis
Sonny Rollins. Saxophone Colossus (1956). “Blue 7”. Sonny Rollins solo: melodic lines framed with silences.
Call and Response
Melodic approach.
Wes Montgomery. “No Blues”. Call with chord and response with melodic line, min 2:30-2:40.
Wes Montgomery. “Tequila” (Chuck Rio). Call with melodic line and response with chord, min 1:02-1:22.
Register
Melodic approach.
Register: range of the instrument from the lowest note to the highest note.
Sonny Stitt. “Lover Man” (Davis-Ramirez). Register of the saxophone from low to high, min 1:45.
Bobby McFerrin. “Lord, I Can’t Stay Away” (Traditional). Vocal Register from high to low , min 4:50.
Swing
Expressive approach.
Swing: the intention with which each note is played.
Stanley Turrentine: In Concert (1990). examples of swing, ghost notes, and dynamics.
“Jazz time is syncopation, that´s the true innovation in this music. It´s a rhythmic African innovation, and actually the jazz beat comes from the second line march beat from New Orleans.”
Hal Galper
Melody Variation of the Jazz Standard
Melodic approach.
Sonny Rollins. “Alfie´s Theme“. Alfie (1966). Part of Sonny Rollins´solo is a variation of the melody of the jazz standard, min 3:10.
Ahmad Jamal. “Autumn Leaves” (Kosma-Prévert). Melody variation of the jazz standard.
copyright©danielfedele2023