The aN ver F IMPROVISATION The Tao of Jazz Improvisation ce “Graduated Linear Training For Improvisation”(© 2008 Zandstorm Productions All Rights Reserved ‘No parte of thie publication maybe reproduced, Stored in retieval system, or tansmitted in any fora (0: by any means, clctoni, mechanical. photocopying recording, “without prior wsinen permission of Zandstom Prodections International Copyright Secured. Unauthosied copying of musics forbidden by law, ‘And aay reultin ciminal rcs acion, Music engraving: Sibelius Software ‘Cover Design: Sheldon Zandboer Published by: Zandstoom Productions ISBN: o78t483559247, ‘Table of Contents ade Linear Ting The Esence The Concept ‘The Appiason The Method Advanced Applied Concepts Adaptive Technique Jazz Vocabulary 7 Lines “The AuthorThe TAO of Jazz Improvisation Graduated Linear Training “Thee ft, the faster and mare poner youl b= Broce Le “here ave been many books waiten about the theory of fzz, the application of sales, modes, chord progressions sles, and their storia origins. Homever, none teuch onthe spontaneous biome dunia eat of actualy long azz. Dang the early days in the history of jazz thete was an absence of| cctablished institutions and no method books to supplement the pljer with learning material And yet, zz quickly developed and spread respectirey throughout the westerm hemisphere, Before 190, musicians had minimal acces o formal em waining in public schols, colleges, ad universes that ae in place today. Jaze was learned primary by- + Exposure tothe Idiom Listening to jaz live o seconds Kenny en rel erro “Tiling with exe: plished professional jzz musicians + Consistent application Playing jaz constant Proc tthe emergence of Rock & Roll. J2zz was considered to be = form of “pop” music st the time. Plyers could develop their craft on practcaly ev gig ‘+ Motvation- Paying to the best of your abies always. Players pushed themselves to excel because of competion, camaraderie the desc to explore jaz its filles poten ‘il (hich was a potent sims in itself), and tobe re bird in onde to ent and py the rent. + Seiscipine- Reqused constant practice. Leaning jazz was the sole sesponsbiy of the aspising jazz musician. + Stimulation. Eizonment us being in ajaz2 center 1‘New York Gin. Playing with muscins equal or beter than one self Players count help but to absorb some Iknonledge of jazz just by exposure o ater high eaiber musicians music and even ies ‘Most students and semi professionals have limited opportunities to py: ily, for long periods of time, consistent, and with more ad- vanced players. Jaz gge ate not neatly ae abundant a they used to be. Having a shythm section to aid your practicing sesions for a5 Jenga you desc is unealite “Te idea ofthe Tao of tnproisaton isto elite the intensity of the playing exvizorment in which the gieat masters developed their craft during the 1950's everytime they performed. ‘The Essence [Not since the advent of recordings has jazz been immoralied, and cherished. Recording jazz became an attempt to captuse a magical feagment in ene never to be exaly dupeaed. 1 ea document of sn event, bur not the event The vast maj of azz snot recorded. aking i memenary act for, Every moment in jazz isa calm nation of a combination of player's idea, spontaneity, the envi sonment, the mie, nd even the audience has an effect on the pet formance. There are thousands of subconscious calculations ocuaring conine wously and instantaneously during every musical pcformance. For insance: time, tempo, fel, ey, mood, te If we can automate or Jteralize the majority of the fnamenral elements, they become Jess ofa bunden on the player. The solution isto ran yourself such 25a martial arts would to reac nstintvly to your musical “evi senaient, ‘We can draw parallels ofjazto the marl ars. Both: + invovea high degre of sty and discpine + en instantaneous at form +e highly variable: opponent sil level, environment, e- sources, nteracon, sate of mind body, + require high amounts of innate information tat eequire ‘he conbatany/peforner toe instant access tit + else ink the spisiual intellectual and the physical (One ofthe finest nsproistiona’ artists inthe wold was Bruce Lee Ifyou study is philosophy you begin to understand the paral of| his rand the weld of impcorised music. Bruce Le founded the hyd xznch of masta ans called Jet Kane ‘Do which iaslves many ofthe best lemens ofall the other major foams of martial arts. “JKD" is designed so thatthe practitioner maycast adap to any combat (ge) situation that arises, You tain to react qui ficiently and instinctively. There becomes no second- guessing when executing a tsk. The tsk is completed and over be- fore you can think and reflect upon it The “Tao of Jazz Improvi- sti [TOT is a macro system. Youre not working ona particular chord progression or set of scales Youre working om becoming 2 Snely none, adaptive, holistic jzz performer “np yur ind, be fers, shape wate Sow yu pu wane ntact bcos thee, ou pu rte into tl Becomes the ot, You pt emo, Benes te tpt. Now ter an la ‘or itcan cas! Bete my fend” Brace Lee “Another theory derived ffom Jeet Kune Do sates that when engag- singin combat (gig) one must havea completly lear mind in oxder to instinctively act/eac to the events at faster than average human sate Enhanced speed and agility occur when the body is consistently susiad ata mocesntenee level and fr longer penods of ane than using combat ‘After consistent tization of the “TOI” you tain your eats/mind/ body to become vehicles to allow you to “empty” your conscious snd and eforessly express your higher create olf “The concious of fs the gente hindrance te he prope exection fel psi ection” ‘Brice Lee ‘The Concept Mind (im /rtrmaton Proceso Body Ear (Whe een (eur racenng) ‘The Too of jazz Improvisation i designed to simultansouly train the ear mind and body: and to increase the symbiotic relationship ofthe thes, 1 Tian the ear to guide the player more eficienty and quick 2 Train the mind to process musical stimalifnformaton sta faster cate 4 Tian the body to seuet and evceute the desived info ‘mation coming fiom the ease and mind at maianumn ffcency. This method deals with training the musician on the perfor smance of 222 a8 opposed tothe study of fz2 all the stdying in the world won' help, unless you can apply the skis forthe de sired sk‘The Application ‘Now tis isthe fan pa. tis Base ona sptem that engages: + Short term goal sein + Aseres of incemental successes + always challenging, but not overwhelming fr the pact sionee + Practicing wth groove not a metronome Video/compuer games have become vey popular One ofthe sea- sos ie that allows the player to play by himself and often pede. termine the dfcaly level to make it challenging, and yt. enjoyable AS most musicians ae aware, practicing i 2 lonely fie You spend countless hows by yourself practicing your instrument, Yet, Kids (and some adits) lim they often ply computer games for hours znd become telly unaware of the ime passing, Why tha? ‘One ofthe reasons you get acted isthe manner in which you work through 3 series of ‘levels* You work systematically towards completing each lee. Oc you complete a level, whats the next ‘ought in your mind? To complete the net level of couse! This is exactly how the “TO}T”wotks. ‘You complet she near mative at a specific tempo, Before you can progress to the neat ‘etl (tempo) you must conseeutively complete ‘wo parses around the cycle perfec. Therefore, your practicing be- comues “goal” not “ie” oietated, Incidentally, you will id your practicing time passing mach more quickly, and you wil get much sore constrctve pacing during that ie a wel ‘What yo wll be doing simply this: paetioe Knee on the LV progression, around the cyl ofits, Dray. Gmy-C7: Cmy-Fy: Fy Bb ee ‘While practicing the erercse you never “ave” on the “1” chord. “This challenges yous enn eat by never lloning tt come to ret on the “Y chord, Chord progressions that occur in the average jazz standard havea tension and release fect 17's ceste harmonic movement and momentum. The “” chord brings the chord progres Son to res, therey ging the inpeonse nd Katee shoe x eve. By not allowing your eat/mind to rest you intensify the prac- tie session beyond what woul be encountered in a estan. Fe is this consistent high intensity onthe threshold of collapse overlong time pereds that enable the ear/mind/body to learn and progress more assuredly and quickly. This also generates ‘postive sues! which more closely simulates an actual live performance envi By practicing ines you begin to search for (and hear) sequential elo solutions or shapes’ as opposed to logically thinking whatscale works over what chor. Associating sales and modes to play cover chords is a ‘et ran’ activity, somewhat ike doing times tables ‘hat you used to doin sath class in elementary school All this does fs ad another link in the cin of events the intellect brain ends ‘up performing concurrent in the process of creative improvisation. The “TOI” uses existing pattems that you must transpose and “Insc” a8 you pla thon aster fom he jane master in the bole axe spitc adopations ftom transcribed soles. Incidentally, at no ‘ime during a performance should you consciously quote ay ofthe practiced lines. Alter studying some tine with the “TOJI” your ow ines will appear have mere dapth an pedinee. Practicing the ines at incrementally increased tempi ensures that it fs aivays challenging bur nt overwhelmingly dieu othe pot of the practioner wanting to abandon the exercise. While doing so, you ace increasing your ivernal processing clock so that more ee sens of performing music ean be aan in a shorter space of tne and with es fot Playing at its esti ke aking with someone you now telly wel, that you fel vexy comfortable with and you fonget about time and space Youve inside the ideas tha you have. Youve ing each me. ment in avery particular way thats very nique to what the process of playing i all about, For me, when I'm playing realy good really not thinking ofan ‘hing. im just litening. And infact, more and more as ime has gone on ealize that paying realy more about stening than itis bout playing. Now what I mean by that is: if play one note and T really hear how hat note fits with what ererybody else is paving, theresa person inside me who's a fan of music whol a lstenee ‘Then I just ask the listener “ol, if you were just istening to this, ‘which you are, what woud you ike to hear nex?” and then I play ‘hat So ell it becomes the listening part of you who becomes the leader ofthe melodic pase. or whatere. So realm just kind of listening fm tying to realy hear the whole sound ofthe band and festhind of parsipatein it “Pat Metheny /e Lb Her DVD ines 1995 ‘We can oly surmise tat the speed of Pars mental processing clock {sso hight developed and incredibly fst hat it enables him the a 1 of time to make all these erative choices continuous ina fa on af second. magine having the tne tobe ale o Be abe to s- lec thousands of inmate choices while performing t whatever tempo yon dee! "Wot Bing ese but ready. Not hiking bt not deming. Not bing se but feibe Liberation fom he anean ene of confinement. Is being wally and qui oive,anare and ler, ready fr watever may come” Brace Lee‘The Method "Graduated Linea Tiaining Fr rnprovisation” “The wack ean easly be programmed an Reab Pro 2p sralble for Mac / iPad iPhone / Andro (Eample ‘on Page] or email sheldon zandboer gmail om and you wl be sent the track fo fie, lay and wanspose the 2 bar phrase inthe direction of, ‘he ‘tle of she chown in the previous chapter Do sot rite out the ranged les te hy you get though the exerci. (See examples, Page i) ‘When staning anew 2 bar line, ty play through the ‘ine around the cycle without audio. Once youre ale 1 play the Hnes taough the eyele on your own, ty laying with a track at « comfortable tempo. Quick’y rogiss or sip toa tempo that i challenging, Impoant lays progiess through the exercise by playing through the lines at tempos that are chal- Tenging almost to the point of breaking down. I fels 1 easy play, increase the tempo an the Read Pro app. Imensity must be maintained all ines. Allexecises start on (concen) Dmy-G7: Gmy-Cy: ee. (Ope change (ord pe bar, Py the paems pefecy through the cycle twice on secutive; before increasing the speed on the track. Do ot move oni you have completed hs se, rogsess toa new pater when you have completed ‘he careat pattern a ppronimately 1Gobpm- ie not equired to practice he book in onde [Nate to pianists: Optional performance possibilities. ‘While your right hand is playing trough the lines in the exescse you can comp with the lft hand. Double ‘the right hand wih the same line two octaves apart in the left hand. Play he line in te Jef band and acom- pany jouself with your sight hand. Pracheing on ‘weighted keys fs not essential, Weighted keys however increase the technical ifcaly ofthe ees [Noe to Hom players: After each track completed at a specific speed: give your “chop ares. Is very easy to get cought up and oter exert yourself. In ation you might find i necessary to cutoff the ends of some ‘ofthe lines in onder to breathe, Once the tempos i ‘crease you might find tat you can play many lines in succession with one heath, Use discretion to mai tain adequate orgen Sow ww7 oF e a o . Ss ernst we perigee w oot on aes om TPe SS sana QS eee aS eerie ce ® Ss 2 (SS Se SS You can also utilize ILV7 lines embedded in wansesiptions of your favorit jaz artis. n aditon, guitarists and pianists also have the option of waking though IV vlengs ia the same manne, “The mes imortane thing lok for a msc is whether he knows how tien”‘Advanced Applied Concepts Linear Momentum ‘What i a groove? This could be a very complex, lengthy and even ‘ela opic indeed. Webster's Definition 1 :aleag nacow chanel or depession 22:2 fzed routine : RUE D2 stusion suited to ones abies of interests: NICHE 3 top frm 44 the middle of the sre zone in baseball where a pte is most casi hit 53m enjoyable or extng experience (6: pronounced enioyabe rythm Lets just break it down into the most basic elements, A groove isa shyt that sifcen repeats ite so that not ony does it become slighty predictable, i also cares 4 matual organic moment or fw that keeps tn motion, Not to mention there is also the primal snd ethereal aspect ntsc to music tht grooves, shard to imag fine pec of mare roving ii change every bar ist i? The same thing applies to melodic improvisation. While you ae practicing these lines through the cycle of the you wil nocce that the become elongated snd devoid of any tonal center. Keys sat to blur and become es important Yet the ines seem to have aie of| {hel own, This ie Linear Moment, ecause the Hines ceplicatethemssves (melodic itera say the sane), but are tanepoted to suit the comrespondingILV they esate a sense of expectation and predictability. Once you stat practicing hase Lines a faster tempos you start oar where the ine i ead ng. The improvised line now has momentum and 2 tajectory. So, how can we use this? “TOTT” becomes a pomerfl device in yourszenal of improvisational tools You soon become aware that you are able to play long lines diectiy onthe changes, evr the changes, and ‘though the change. 1 Ow the duanges: the most conventional way. The fine comesponds to each chord below it Best described 2s lying ‘inside’ the chord structure or vertically. 2 Overthe changes this ca more linea approach were the ines lossy based on the changes butt ha a direction that doese't adhere sry to each chord that it passes 3 Through the changes: the line's directional momentum is stzong enough to Ktrally cut dough the changes 2nd ‘can ave line or no celation tothe chord truce it plays ‘eczuse these Knes allen Kear momentum they rarely sound ‘wong in each instance. They just havea diferent site effec. Adaptive Technique ‘Whale praicing the Lines you will notice that some lines feel moe paturl on your instrument than others. For instance, if you don phy saxophone you might ind that some of the Charlie Patker lines might feel awkward to ply on yoar om instrament. Prac: ‘icing lines performed by other instruments opens you up to new possbilies on your own respective instrument ‘This is another added bonus of the “TO” system, As you wotk a line thiouga the tnapoe inthe enecise you ml be fsced to adapt and seck solutions to enable you to play the line a that pariar tempo - in ea me. thereat technical problems wil sop up asthe tempo is inceased. When performing there is no time to workout Singerings of en smpreised ine, The “TO” wll enable you te ess ‘hat badge easy. Adaptive Technique ia kill that will evolve and develop as you work hough the eeciss, ‘You wl begin to paylines dicated by what you hear in your head. not by what comfortabiy lis “under the hands’ Jazz Vocabulary “There has boon an emphasis a jazz education forthe student tbe able to recognize and to emulate some sts aspects ofthe jazz asters jaz reperoive has baconte mace than ust knowing stan aad set of anes. 1 means to “speak the Language” orto be awate of some of the sist osynrasies of the jazz masters and tobe able to perform these cements at appropriate times. The linear examples ofthe avons jazz masters are deal veides to unconsciously ple. ment the “language” of jazz into your playing “ste your instrament maser the si ad then forge al hat ble shit and jus ply” Chrle Raker “The “Tao of jazz tenpovisation” i a faily easy method to under stand and implement. However the scope and depth of ts prac cally infinite and there is enough materia ere to keep you busy well, beyond your profesional years Enjoy your transformationII-V7 Lines 1 oy 67eeea 699102 105156 H0 4148158 9. 1601665 1 9 130 h # a ess FooMiles Davis=== —— oo 13D+29 240 Bill Evang,252290+ Pa 304 Dizzy Gillespie... 305306 31037 38 € rrr trie = = = Cepek Sede ee Dexter Gordon m9 320 321 325, 324 Herbie HancockGemy MUIIQGN 0. eee ee erce seen tee e cette een e reat eneneneneees 340 r SES ele Fe Fee Sete perce cete 41542 349 350 352Charlie Parker, beet Cin bert aayfee erttt pple terre = saad are45 x,418 4255a7 78Acknowledgements Many tanks +The Mount Royal Universi Jazz Fal. + My passat and fail for thei apport + Taal my students who have beta tested the Tao of Jazz Improvisation and excelled well bend all ay expec ‘isons Youll fad meet of thems ia many ofthe nee xe ‘nstutons ia North Artic, Al the jazz Masters in the past and present that paved the wy. David Baker and jamie Aebersold for gening us offen the sigh ack, uct Lee fr being ane of the meet original and isp sional inproisationa anise eve.‘About the Author dan