Improvisation Method Book Recommendations
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It's pretty old, but https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Improvisation-David-Baker/dp/B004ZB6M5M.
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You can try my method if you like. Simple and fun method to learn/memorize licks and phrases quickly. This book has helped to get the sound and feeling of "Jazz as language" in the playing of many musicians.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSZDC2C
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSZDC2C
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The JAZZ THEORY BOOK by Mark Levine
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I have Mark Levine's Jazz Theory Book and it is excellent. However, I've found that Dan Haerle's book "The Jazz Language" is what I'd call the Cliff Notes version of Levine's book. I just did a search and found it downloadable here.........for FREE. An excellent book in my usual humble opinion. ;-)
https://cakardewa.files.wordpress.c...aerle-studio-publications-recordings-1980.pdf
https://cakardewa.files.wordpress.c...aerle-studio-publications-recordings-1980.pdf
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Sax, Flute, Keyboard, Vocal
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These are all great books. You might also grab a real book, learn how to identify chord types and learn heads of songs. This trains you not only on what scale or arpeggio goes where but also how a melody can be created using those chord symbols. If you learned how to arpeggiate chords and 50 heads from "jazz" songs you'd be very far along on the path. Even better is to learn the heads in a few keys. All of this will force. 1. Chord recognition 2. Possible chord scales 3. ways to use space in a melody. 4. ways to use repeated phrases in a melody 5 ways to link phrases 6 ways to voice lead from chord to chord. Its all there. K
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What’s your favorite album that has improvised solos? There’s your best method book. Licks are great for ideas and building technique, but it’s like having a pocketful of keys that almost work if you don’t grasp that feel and being in the moment is more important than blowing two choruses of trying to fit your licks in while you ignore what your accompanists are laying down.
For me, it's Bergonzi's Volume 6 of his Improvisational Methods series, "Developing a Jazz Language." You get a lot of tools in one place - building melodies using chord-scales, approach notes, diatonic patters, motivic devices, different approaches such as playing in a narrow range of notes across an entire progression, etc. I've been working on the stuff here for a long time and there is no danger of running out of things to practice. Great selection of standard-based playalongs as well.
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Anything taught by Gary Burton is worth taking.
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I know the Jamie Abersold series has gotten a lot of flack on SOTW over the years, but for someone just beginning to learn to improvise, Volume 54 "Maiden Voyage" contains a wealth of useful information IF the player starts at the beginning and reads and studies every word of the text in addition to working on the tunes.
I like Bergonzi's books and also Elements of the Jazz Language for the Developing Improvisor by Jerry Coker
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Jazz-Language-Developing-Improvisor/dp/157623875X
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Jazz-Language-Developing-Improvisor/dp/157623875X
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Indeed a nice condensed version of Levine's comprehensive book. Another great book is Jazz Theory by Peter Spitzer. Peter covers most of what's in Dan Haerle's book but he also gets into 'harmonic cliches' dissecting chord sequences that commonly appear in music. I find Peter's book the most clear and objective of these 3.
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Indeed a nice condensed version of Levine's very extensive book. Another great book is Jazz Theory by Peter Spitzer. Peter covers most of what's in Dan Haerle's book but he also gets into 'harmonic cliches' dissecting chord sequences that commonly appear in music. I find Peter's book the most clear and objective of these 3.
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Guto, thanks for that. I hadn't heard of Spitzer's book and will definitely check it out!
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Peter runs a great blog as well, open to everyone if you're interested in checking it out: https://peterspitzer.blogspot.com
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David Baker's series titled "How To Play Bebop" helped me quite a bit early on.
Volume 1 - Bebop Scales
Volume 2 - Learning the Bebop Language
Volume 3 - Techniques for Learning and Using Bebop Tunes
Recently, I've been transcribing (or finding the existing transcriptions) of lines that I really like and extracting the concepts from the lines.
For example, I might hear Sonny Stitt play a double-time phrase on a C Major chord and realize that he's outlining one chord per beat for a bar and then resolving back to the original major chord:
C Major, A7b9 (or C# Diminished, etc), D-, C Diminished (or Eb Diminished, etc), C Major.
From there, I'll decide on exactly how I want to think about this concept. I might break this down into multiple concepts. For example, do I want to imagine beat 2 as A7b9 or C# Diminished or something else that fits? Or do I expand this concept to be "any rhythm changes compatible changes over the one-major chord?"
Next, I practice the concept. I spend time making up my own lines that outline those chord substitutions when I encounter a I Major chord. I've been using iRealPro to create little loops to practice with and/or finding songs/play-alongs where I can apply these principles. Then, I move that work into other keys.
The do-it-yourself process is time-consuming, but it's paying off for me currently. Perhaps it's because my practice is based on lines that I like and am attracted to instead of lines someone else has created or curated in a book. Perhaps it's because I'm being very conscious about what I'm doing and practicing. The counter argument would be to take the lines/concepts that you like from books and focus intently on those.
Another thing that could help is to identify what is most lacking in your playing that you'd like to improve and focus your attention there. (There are many things lacking in my playing, but I find it helpful to focus on one thing at a time.) For me, I realized that my improvising was lacking over chords that lasted more than 1 measure. If I had chords that changed every two beats, I felt my material over those chords/situations was better than my material over a I (Major) chord that lasted for 2 to 4 bars. Therefore, I started gathering material from other players that I like in the situation that I lacked. IE, Sonny Stitt playing 2 bars over a I Major chord as described above.)
Thanks for this post! Some of the other suggested books have caught my interest and I've put them on my to-read list.
Volume 1 - Bebop Scales
Volume 2 - Learning the Bebop Language
Volume 3 - Techniques for Learning and Using Bebop Tunes
Recently, I've been transcribing (or finding the existing transcriptions) of lines that I really like and extracting the concepts from the lines.
For example, I might hear Sonny Stitt play a double-time phrase on a C Major chord and realize that he's outlining one chord per beat for a bar and then resolving back to the original major chord:
C Major, A7b9 (or C# Diminished, etc), D-, C Diminished (or Eb Diminished, etc), C Major.
From there, I'll decide on exactly how I want to think about this concept. I might break this down into multiple concepts. For example, do I want to imagine beat 2 as A7b9 or C# Diminished or something else that fits? Or do I expand this concept to be "any rhythm changes compatible changes over the one-major chord?"
Next, I practice the concept. I spend time making up my own lines that outline those chord substitutions when I encounter a I Major chord. I've been using iRealPro to create little loops to practice with and/or finding songs/play-alongs where I can apply these principles. Then, I move that work into other keys.
The do-it-yourself process is time-consuming, but it's paying off for me currently. Perhaps it's because my practice is based on lines that I like and am attracted to instead of lines someone else has created or curated in a book. Perhaps it's because I'm being very conscious about what I'm doing and practicing. The counter argument would be to take the lines/concepts that you like from books and focus intently on those.
Another thing that could help is to identify what is most lacking in your playing that you'd like to improve and focus your attention there. (There are many things lacking in my playing, but I find it helpful to focus on one thing at a time.) For me, I realized that my improvising was lacking over chords that lasted more than 1 measure. If I had chords that changed every two beats, I felt my material over those chords/situations was better than my material over a I (Major) chord that lasted for 2 to 4 bars. Therefore, I started gathering material from other players that I like in the situation that I lacked. IE, Sonny Stitt playing 2 bars over a I Major chord as described above.)
Thanks for this post! Some of the other suggested books have caught my interest and I've put them on my to-read list.
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